For her second year of office, after raising over £6000 last year, Councillor Linda Wallraven, Mayor of Seaford has chosen 2 local charities to support in 2012, these are:-

So the Mayor's Open Garden Trail 2012 will be raising funds for these worthwhile local charities. Come and support us in getting The Mayor off to a great start with her fund raising for 2012 and help her beat the great total she achieved last year.

Norman Baker MP will open the event at 1pm in Driftwood and be present all afternoon. Hopefully we can get him to visit all gardens and judge his personal favourite

OLLIVERS RESTAURANT

Proud sponsors of the event.
Many thanks to both Juliet and Steve Anderson for their financial support to this event. Click logo below

Proud sponsors of the event. Many thanks to both Steve and Sava for their significant financial support, their aim is "to serve freshly prepared, home cooked food using the best ingredients from local suppliers". Click name below for details.

Following Linda Wallraven's great success in initiating the first two Mayor's Open Gardens, in the summer of 2011, Seaford Town Council approved a proposal to make it an annual event, at their meeting on the 27th October 2011.

We now have 5 uniquely different gardens open for visitors to stroll around on the 8th July, 2 of which have never opened up their gates to the public before 2012. Come and see what you could create yourself from these interesting and idyllic spaces. You will see from above both Pomeganate Cafe and Ollivers are very kindly sponsoring the event.

Flyers promoting the event will soon be found at Pomegranate, Ollivers, and Tourist Information Office and other locations in and around Seaford and Newhaven.

Tea and cakes along with garden decorations will be available at Driftwood and cold drinks and cakes at Cosy Cottage, along with plant sales at both venues.

Click on images below to see larger pictures.

1. Kingsmead
	David and Mary Holland will be opening their fabulous courtyard garden at 9 Kingsmead, for the very first time. Visitors will be able to appreciate what can be done to create a stunningly beautiful and wistful space full of wonderful planting with an eclectic mix of garden features
2. Cosy Cottage
	Carol and Ernie Arnold will be opening up their beautiful, peaceful and tranquil cottage garden at 69 Firle Road. Cosy Cottage has a mixture of shrubs, flowers, vegetables and trees. Explore the variety of paths, some secret, the ferns and heathers around the 3 shady ponds or just relax on the lawn with cold drinks and cakes. Plants for sale as well.
3. Driftwood
	This Independent Magazine listed seaside garden to see, will also be opening it's doors for the event. This year there will be a chance for visitors to come and see the new front garden, set out as a beach garden, complete with small rowing dinghy, coastal groynes and lobster pots. There will be tables and chairs set out for visitors to enjoy their tea and cake with views of the sea or at the back in amongst the sumptuous planting. See examples of the fare on offer on the cakes page of this site. Throughout the day there will be an exhibition of sculpture in the garden by Serena Thirkell. along with photographs and pictures by Mark Glassman with plants and garden decorations for sale.
4. Exchange Project
	The Garden Team at the Exchange Project have kindly agreed to open up the garden for the day as well to visitors. For those that are not familiar with the garden, their mission statement is to creatively develop a garden that will empower and develop the participants leading to a significant improvement in the quality of life for the wider community. Click on the links to the left to go direct to their web site and facebook pages.
5. Coastguard Cottages
	5 Old Coastguard Cottages, will be opening its beautiful and unusual coastal garden for the first time this year. The terraced, gravel garden combines strong landscaping with lush eclectic planting, bursting from its borders. Self-seeded plants spill out around scattered salvaged objects from the sea, creating a vibrant and intriguing space.

The first ever Mayor's Open Garden event took place at Driftwood on the 14th August 2011 and was a great success. Richard Plowman, Chairman of WAVES Family Support Service expressed his immense gratitude to us and all our helpers at Driftwood and said how delighted and grateful he was with our support for families in need, in Seaford.

Norman Baker, MP, the Mayor of Lewes, the Young Mayor of Seaford and her Deputy were among the 200 visitors who came to the garden between 2pm and 5pm. With donations, the proceeds from the Bric a Brac stall and tea and cake sales we raised almost £600.

A nice article, along with pictures of the event, appeared in the Argus on Tuesday 16th August and Sussex Express on Friday 19th thanking all those who had supported the event, check them out on the media page.

Below are some images captured on the 14th August at Driftwood. Left click on each to see the larger picture.

Liz Holland, Norman Baker and Linda Wallraven discussing the garden.	Mayor of Lewes, Mayor of Seaford & her consort.	Maddie Jay, Young Mayor of Seaford (right) and Amy Gough, Deputy Young Mayor (left)
Taking tea and looking around the garden.	Richard Plowman, Chairman of Waves on left.	Mayor of Seaford drawing the raffle.

The 2nd event was held at at White Corner, 80 Sutton Road, Seaford, the home of Mike and Jenny Wright, on Saturday the 10th September between 2pm and 5pm. Jenny reports that, apart from the Waves' stalls (household items, books and plants) they had the Young Mayor of Seaford running her own Tombola, a "Guess the Weight of the Cake" and a student selling cup cakes, cards and jewellery. With the Mayor of Seaford, came the Mayor's from Newhaven, Telscombe Cliffs and Peacehaven, also joined by David Allam the Deputy Lieutenant of Sussex!

Click on the article below that appeared in the Seaford Gazette on the 14th September.

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