Volunteer with us

Volunteers help run all of the Perennial gardens by offering their time, passion, support and skills. Our volunteers help maintain the gardens, welcome visitors and groups and promote the work of Perennial. 

In 2015 Sir Roy Strong kindly gifted his home and garden to Perennial. Since then we have been working hard for The Laskett, a once private and hidden gem, to be a fantastic visitor attraction. We can only make this happen through the brilliant support of our volunteers. 

You can help us to:

Look after the garden

Garden volunteers enhance the work of our small garden team. It is a brilliant place to share your existing horticultural knowledge or learn new skills. Jobs in the garden include, but are not limited to:

• Weeding
• Pruning
• Sweeping leaves
• General garden upkeep

What qualities are needed to volunteer at the garden?

• An enthusiasm for horticulture and gardening
• A passion for Perennial and the charitable work that we do
• The ability to spend long periods of time outside
• To be proud of the work that Perennial does

Look after our visitors

Volunteers who look after our visitors are essential to the gardens as they help

• Meet and greet our visitors

We are always looking for friendly faces to greet our visitors and groups and get them set up to tour the garden. At the Laskett we offer a unique experience by giving our visitors a “pod” headset so they can tour the garden in their own time and listen to Sir Roy Strong narrate the story of the garden. This role will include making sure the pods are working, showing people how they work and answering questions about the garden and Perennial.

• Promote the garden and the work of Perennial
• Help recruit volunteers, answer visitor questions
• Promote and sell Perennial memberships
• Sell products in the shop

We know a lot of people visit the Laskett because it is a unique garden with an amazing history. Our volunteers can help promote the crucial work of the charity and help turn a visitor into a supporter. By either joining our membership scheme, volunteering, or fundraising for us. 

What qualities are needed to volunteer with our visitors

• A friendly attitude towards our visitors
• A great passion for the work of Perennial and a desire to promote it
• Focused on providing an engaging experience
• Confident in promoting our membership package as well as volunteer and fundraising opportunities

Ensure visitors have a memento of their visit

Over the past couple of years, we have been curating our gift shops to add to the visitor experience. We sell products for the garden loving public that include greeting cards, gifts, jigsaws of the garden, small tools for the potting shed and a range of products specific to the garden. We also sell our memberships at the Gift shops so our visitors can then explore all of the Perennial gardens whilst supporting the charity. Jobs in the shop include, but are not limited to:

• Selling products
• Promoting and selling Perennial memberships

What qualities are needed?

• Attention to detail with the daily running of the shop
• Happy with cash handling

Fundraising for The Laskett and Perennial

It's not just about visitors coming to our gardens, if you are interested in fundraising for Perennial or have any local shows where you would like to promote Perennial, please get in touch and we can help you spread the word.

Our commitment to our volunteers

We want to inspire more people to volunteer so we are committed to

• Treating all volunteers with dignity and respect
• Providing meaningful and engaging volunteer opportunities where our volunteers will get satisfaction from their work
• Ensuring volunteers are recognised for the help they give the charity and feel valued
• Offering training that supports our volunteers and where we can utilise their diverse skillset

Join our team today!

Email: volunteer@perennial.org.uk or call 01372 235434