THE Shropshire county organiser for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) says she is hoping they will be able to provide a service towards the end of summer.

The NGS usually operates from spring to autumn but with the current situation, many gardens are not open to the public.

Allison Walter, county organiser for Shropshire, believes there are still ways for people to enjoy the beautiful gardens on offer and to also contribute to their upkeep.

"While it is the choice of our garden owners whether they open their gates, we remain very positive here in Shropshire that we will be able to welcome visitors to our gardens over the summer and into the autumn," she said.

"There may be changes to our normal opening procedures – for example, we will ask for honesty donations rather than selling tickets; there will be no refreshments (unless they can be served without human contact) and garden owners may not offer toilet facilities.

"But we are all determined to carry on and to raise money for our nursing and caring charities, who will be relying on us even more now for much-needed funds.

"If you are unable to visit one of our gardens, we have set up a donations page at Just Giving at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shropshirengs, where you can make any donation of your choice.

"We may even come up with some ingenious ways of doing virtual garden tours – who knows?"

To keep up to date with cancellations and postponement of garden openings, please regularly check the website at www.ngs.org.uk