Our 25th Anniversary Garden Party
- Jilly McNaughton
- Aug 31
- 2 min read
Friends old and new gathered in the sunshine in the Walled Garden today to mark 25 years since the establishment of our charity - The Friends of Bridge End Gardens.
Around 100 ‘Friends’ shared a picnic lunch and cake and toasted the achievements of the charity to date. We enjoyed music from local bands 'The Nightingale Trio' and the 'SWukes' - a Saffron Walden ukulele group.
The Mayor of Saffron Walden, Cllr Milon Ahmed, attended the event and thanked the assembled volunteers on behalf of the Town Council with some very warm words.
Commending the charity, he said, “With your efforts the Garden remains an asset to Saffron Walden and its visitors.”
“Each one of you do a wonderful job in maintaining the Garden and we regularly receive compliments regarding the well-kept beauty of the place.”
Liz Lake, the current Chair of The Friends of Bridge End Gardens, said, “It is lovely to see some founder members here, former officers of Uttlesford District Council who did so much to make the restoration a success, current and former volunteers and committee members and all those who have helped to keep this Garden special.”
Our charity was founded in the late 1990s at a time when the garden was in a state of decline. The Garden had become overgrown and buildings and ornaments had been vandalised and were in poor repair. Local people were becoming concerned for the future of the much-loved garden.
In 2007-2008 the Walled Garden was restored, followed by the construction of the Visitor Centre in 2015.
Regular volunteer mornings take place on Thursdays from March to December. Volunteers also enjoy a sociable picnic lunch in the Garden once a month.
You can become a 'Friend' of Bridge End Gardens here and find out more about volunteering here - or why not make a donation to support the upkeep of our beautiful garden here?
