A record £11,000 was raised for St Helena Hospice by the Brightlingsea Hospice Support Group over the recent Open Gardens weekend.
A total of 30 gardens were open with many offering plants, refreshments, cakes and other goodies, and hundreds of visitors enjoyed touring the town and chatting to the owners.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Once again we were very lucky with the weather. It is always such a special weekend with visitors from near and far and a lovely atmosphere in the town, and a magnificent total raised for the Hospice. Special thanks go to Julie at Springmead for all her help, the Press Gang for the programme – kindly sponsored by Orsted – plus local Tesco and Morrisons stores  for providing lunch items. What an amazing weekend.”

The Support Group will be out and about again this weekend (July 16 & 17) at Brightlingsea Regatta where it will have a stand featuring a hamper raffle, jewellery and other items for sale, and entry forms for the paddleboard race.
(Photo credits: Nick Slinger)