Pam Golding Properties 6th annual garden show, in aid of East London’s charities, will be held on the weekend of 01 and 02 October 2016.
Having raised more than R530 000 for local charities over just five annual events, this year’s Pam Golding Properties Garden Show promises to be as successful as ever, says Hanlie Bassingthwaighte, area principal for Pam Golding Properties.
“Last year alone (2015) this event raised R170 000, which is a testament to the fact that local residents have fully thrown their weight behind this worthy cause.”
The initiative was first launched in 2011 by Bassingthwaighte in order to benefit local charities through donations from members of the public who visited and viewed the city’s most beautiful gardens. Every year support for the event has grown.
This year’s garden show will be held on the weekend of 1 and 2 October 2016 and is expected to be another popular, successful event on the calendar. This year there are 25 participating gardens and charities and 6 000 tickets have been released.
“Apart from recognising the beautiful gardens in our town, the show helps illustrate the potential every garden has to add value to a property while at the same time creating an attractive and tranquil space for relaxation and enjoying quality family time. There is no doubt that an appealing and well maintained garden creates a favourable first impression from the outset, which pays off when the owners wish to sell.
“This annual event continues to exceed our expectations year on year, with thousands of people visiting the gardens and with so many charities benefiting from the funds that we have raised to date.
This eye-catching garden in Cecil Lloyd Street in East London will be on show at the annual event
“We have again tried to include as many worthy local charities as possible and our agents have helped in identifying these. They include The Carel du Toit Centre, the SPCA, East London Woman prisoners, The Compassionate Friends, Greensleeves Place of Safety for Children, Masithethe Lifeline, the Sophumelela centre, African Angels, Salem Baby Centre, Uthixo Ulungile Ministry, Alzheimers, CANSA, Berea Gardens Service Centre, Felzoo, Passion for people, Child welfare, McClelland Adult Centre, Breath of Life, Child Welfare and Hilltop Animal Outreach. Charities taking part for the first time this year are the Guild Theatre’s “The show must go on” fundraiser, Shellybells Home, Buckaroo sterilisation and the Intervolve Soup Kitchen.”
All the charities are given a number of tickets to sell at R50 each, which they can sell in advance or on the weekend of the event. From these sales, they receive 100 percent of the money. With the consent of the garden owner, charities may also erect stalls or bring in extra entertainment.
Bassingthwaighte is putting her money where her mouth is this year and has decided to open her own garden on the banks of the Nahoon River for the Guild Theatre’s “The show must go on” fundraiser. It will be an ‘entertainment garden’ with performances from some of East London’s highly esteemed performers such as Kerry Hiles and Cindy Bester. There will be a performance on the hour every hour on both Saturday and Sunday, with something for every one’s taste, from belly dancers to singers to pianists. There will also be a fully fledged coffee bar manned by Jason Stone from Grind Coffee fame as well as delicious meals and cakes to enjoy while taking in the performances.
In addition to the garden show Pam Golding Properties also runs a township garden competition for vegetable gardens. “A notable entrant is the Garden of Peace of Uthixo Ulungile Ministries, This is situated at the Amalinda tips, where local dwellers grow a variety of vegetables and run a soup kitchen under the leadership of Joshua and Rachel Minter, where they feed 250 people. This garden also feeds approximately 45 pre-schoolers, taught by Zoliwsa Nkata. It is extremely worthwhile to take a trip to the Amalinda tips to view this garden and support this initiative.”
A noteworthy entrant in the township garden competition is the Garden of Peace of Uthixo Ulungile Ministries.