Wakehurst celebrates 100 groups joining the Community Access Scheme and looks ahead to Community Festival

The new year brings an exciting milestone for Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden, as the spectacular Sussex site celebrates welcoming 100 community groups and organisations into its Community Access Scheme (CAS), with 800 total CAS visits to the gardens across 2025. Now in its third year, the Scheme invites organisations and groups supporting people who may face barriers to visiting by providing new opportunities for members to connect with nature. Wakehurst now invites members of CAS, alongside local charity and community groups, to book onto the Community Festival, a free, two-day event celebrating art and nature, encouraging everyone to connect with nature.   

Members of the Community Access Scheme benefit from free entry to the gardens year-round and priority access to community events and workshops, with members coming together at the end of summer to celebrate at the Wakehurst CAS Summer Party. Through the wider Community and Access Programme, Wakehurst also delivers off-site sessions and work experience, whilst working with other teams to ensure accessibility and inclusivity across the Wakehurst landscape. In total, the combination of on and off-site sessions supported 4,723 individuals in 2025.  

Harri Oliver, Participation Manager, commented: “We’re extremely proud to have reached this milestone and are delighted to be working with such a diverse group of organisations, communities, and individuals across the region. As we celebrate this achievement, we’re aware it also highlights the need for the creation of more Access schemes like ours. We know there are many more people who face physical, sensory, financial or social barriers to visiting gardens like Wakehurst, and we’re determined to keep developing and adapting our wider Community and Access offer so that everyone can experience the restorative power of nature.”  

This milestone comes at the beginning of a new chapter for Wakehurst – a year of connecting to nature. Throughout 2026, events, tours and workshops for all ages will inspire stewardship of the natural world, connecting participants to the horticulture and science that form Wakehurst’s remarkable landscape. Over the past few years, Wakehurst has been transformed into a living laboratory through the Nature Unlocked landscape ecology programme, where Nature Connectedness wellbeing research aims to provide scientific evidence on how nature benefits our mental and physical health. Grounded in these studies, Discovery and Access events on offer for CAS members aim to foster a passion for protecting the environment, including monthly Dementia friendly walks, inclusive socially-prescribed wellbeing sessions and a Sow and Grow gardening group. Visitors can also become citizen scientists through the Trees for Bees research programme, which aims to investigate which trees attract the most pollinators. The free trail, curated with Nature Unlocked pollination scientists, invites participants to count the number of pollinators they see, with all recorded data going straight to researchers. With events spanning music, crafts, gardening and accessible tours, there is something on offer for every generation and background.  

Of the groups that make up the Community Access Scheme, the Butterfly Project was one of the first. The Horsham-based day centre provides space and support for adults with learning disabilities, who have benefitted from multiple Discovery and Access events at Wakehurst, such as Sow and Grow, Moving Sounds, Glow Wild lantern making and regular self-led visits.  

Jacqui, Support Worker at The Butterfly Project shared: “Being part of Wakehurst’s Community Access Scheme has been transformative for us. Our participants have had opportunities to engage with nature that would never have been possible before, building their confidence, skills and sense of identity. Whether it’s planting seeds, making lanterns or simply exploring the stunning landscape, these activities and events have opened doors and broken down barriers to connection and calm in nature. Wakehurst are very inclusive to the people we support and go above and beyond to make their experience with them educational and fun. We’re so excited to continue celebrating this year and engaging with the natural world in new ways.”  

Wakehurst also works with healthcare providers, to offer the gardens as a destination for social prescribing, meeting the practical, social and emotional needs that affect individuals’ health and wellbeing.  

Lena Abdu, Director of Transformation at Alliance for Better Care commented, “At Alliance for Better Care, we know that time spent in nature can have a profound impact on mental health and wellbeing. Our collaboration with Wakehurst has shown how social prescribing can open doors to accessible and engaging experiences in nature. Through programmes like Discovery and Access, we’ve seen first-hand the positive, measurable impact that time outdoors and community connection can have on mental health and overall quality of life.   

The highlight of the calendar is the free Community Festival, which promises to open the gardens to even more members of the community, with a new Changing Places Toilet, food stalls provided by Migrateful and a puppet show courtesy of creative charity Bloomin’ Arts. Taking place on 8 and 9 May, the Community Festival line-up includes poetry workshops, botanical printing, bio-yarn weaving and much more. Wakehurst invites those who face barriers to visiting, as well as organisations and charities, to join the Community Festival for a taster of the diverse opportunities provided by Discovery and Access at Wakehurst. Over two packed days, the event will offer an exciting schedule of hands-on activities and workshops that connect participants with the natural world, inviting everyone to experience the healing power of nature.  

For more information on the Community Access Scheme visit this page. 

ENDS