Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, wearing another hat as President of the Friends of Holy Trinity Church, met his own target of visiting all 13 gardens which were open to the public as part of the FOHT Rayleigh Garden Trail, on August Bank Holiday Monday.
The Garden Trail is a well established local event whereby supporters of the Friends open up their gardens to be viewed by members of the public. The event has proved popular down the years allowing other gardeners to view a variety of different garden designs across the town, which have often inspired them to come up with new ideas of their own.
Thirteen gardens were open this year, most of them in Rayleigh but with a couple in Hockley and one in Hullbridge as well. Several hundred people are believed to have taken part in the event (judged on the number of programmes which were sold both before, and on the day). In addition, people were able to get lunch and refreshments at a number of the gardens and at also the Holy Trinity Parish Centre.
Commenting on the success of the garden trail, Mark Francois said:
“The Friends of Holy Trinity Rayleigh Garden Trail is a very good example of local community spirit, with people opening up their gardens to raise money for a good cause but also to allow other gardeners to see what can be achieved. I was pleased to get round all of the gardens and whilst doing so, I bumped into one couple who had come across the river from Kent in order to participate in the trail – so if we are attracting visitors from the Garden of England, it strikes me that our own garden trail can’t be doing too badly. I would like to thank all of those people who helped to organise the event and who opened their gardens to raise money for the Church and I am pleased to say that the event was a considerable success”.