Helping to keep the Abbey Gardens a joy to visit

Drone photograph of Abbey Gardens by Paul Smith Summer 2021

Welcome to Abbey Gardens Friends of Bury St Edmunds

Abbey Garden Friends is a lively community group, working in partnership with West Suffolk Council to help keep the Abbey Gardens a joy to visit. The Abbey Gardens Friends have been doing this successfully since its formation in 2011, more than 15 years ago.

Our volunteer gardeners work alongside the West Suffolk professional team undertaking a multitude of routine garden tasks such as weeding, pruning, sweeping, planting and completing “one off” projects. The volunteer gardeners help keep the garden at its best for the enjoyment of the one million plus visitors who walk through the Gardens every year. We also have volunteers who lend a hand maintaining and restoring gardening tools and equipment and create the sculptures which can be seen around the garden.

We work very actively with several community partners, all of whom have a strong association with the garden. These include local primary schools, social enterprises, local businesses and community groups. We periodically offer small scale financial support for Abbey Gardens related projects, offer outreach talks promoting the Abbey Gardens, and organise and host walks within the Abbey Gardens to explain current developments and its history.

To make all this possible, we raise funds to invest in the Abbey Gardens. Our fund raising includes seasonal plant sales, provision and maintenance of a donation box near the Abbey Gate, selling tickets for guided garden walks, and a membership subscription. We are also fortunate to occasionally receive sponsorship for events such as the Summer Reception for members and be in receipt of donations from other sources, including legacies.

Many of our members do not actively work in the garden but are keen to show their support for the garden, by maintaining an interest in its development and by so doing helping to ensure its long-term future. We really value this type of membership.

We keep in contact with our members by producing a quarterly newsletter about the Abbey Gardens, organising visits to other gardens, sending out notifications about special events, and organising an Annual General Meeting where members can talk with the Abbey Gardens Friends Committee and the professional staff of West Suffolk Council who are responsible for the running of the Gardens. We also host and maintain our own website dedicated to our work.

We are involved in Bury in Bloom and the RHS Anglia in Bloom competitions for floral excellence. We also maintain membership of the Royal Horticultural Society and Suffolk Gardens Trust. The Abbey Garden Friends has an elected committee, drawn from the membership, which co-ordinates activities.

Join us and lend your support to the Abbey Gardens Friends and help keep the Abbey Gardens a joy to visit.