Dame Mary Berry has been the President of the gardens and health charity, the National Garden Scheme (NGS) since 2016 and has opened her garden for the scheme for over 20 years.
Commenting on the announced role change, Dame Mary Berry said: “It has been a privilege to serve as President of the National Garden Scheme, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. My husband Paul and I opened our own garden in support of the charity for more than 20 years, so I was very familiar with the charity’s extraordinary offering of enjoyment for visitors and charitable impact. During the ten years of my presidency that impact has expanded massively thanks to the efforts of so many people. At the same time the charity has championed the remarkable benefits of gardens and gardening to everyone’s health and wellbeing. I am delighted to be handing the baton to my dear friend Alan who I admire with great affection, a proper hands on gardener who will bring warmth and enthusiasm to the role and I am thrilled that the Trustees have kindly asked me to stay involved as President Emeritus.”
Speaking about his new appointment, Alan Titchmarsh said: “I am thrilled to have been invited to become President of the National Garden Scheme and honoured to be stepping into the elegant shoes of my dear friend, the peerless Dame Mary Berry. In my opinion there is nothing quite like the National Garden Scheme, either in the world of gardens and horticulture or beyond. Not only does it offer visitors thoroughly affordable enjoyment and education – and at the same time championing the varied gardening skills of the British nation; it also raises and distributes quite extraordinary sums of money. More than £4 million raised and £3.5 million distributed in 2024 alone. Bravo! It has been doing this for nigh on one hundred years and that I will be the charity’s President when it celebrates its centenary in 2027 is something for which I am immensely grateful and to which I will give my all.”
