Find out more about the Royal Pavilion Garden volunteers

Volunteers play a fantastic part in maintaining the Royal Pavilion Garden and welcoming visitors to the Royal Pavilion Estate.

The Royal Pavilion Garden has one full time head gardener and one part-time assistant working with 18 volunteers.  Together they maintain the historic garden surrounding Brighton’s iconic Royal Pavilion using natural planting techniques and organic methods. Volunteers carry out tasks such as weeding, pruning and deadheading and host periodic seed ‘giveaways’ so you too can grow some of the Royal Pavilion’s plants in your own garden.

During the summer months you may spot one of our 19 volunteer Garden Greeters who can tell you more about the Royal Pavilion Estate. The Greeters are all local and include secondary school and college students.

The Garden Greeter scheme is well-established and was set up by the Royal Pavilion Estate’s partners - The Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, the Chapel Royal, Pavilion Gardens Café and the Theatre Royal.

Nicola joined the Garden Greeters in April. She said: “I really enjoy volunteering because I meet new and interesting people and it is completely different to my work environment. I get a lot of fun out of volunteering and it is always interesting.” 

All the volunteers learn about the history of the Estate and its buildings as well as the Garden. It’s a great way of getting ‘behind the scenes’ and learning more about this special place. In the last financial year 2017-18 Garden greeters donated 1,139 hours to the Royal Pavilion Estate.

Sue, a Garden Greeter since May 2017, said: “The Royal Pavilion Estate is a wonderful asset to Brighton & Hove. Volunteering in the gardens enables me to be part of it all. I enjoy meeting all kinds of interesting people from both the UK and abroad that visit this inspiring place”. 

Claire has also been a Garden Greeter since May last year. "Having lived in Brighton for more than 30 years I know it well and am extremely proud of it. The Royal Pavilion and the estate are the icing on the cake and I want  to share it with people," she said.

With the council facing ongoing financial pressures, volunteers play an essential part in looking after the Garden. You can help too by telling us how you think the Garden could be maintained and improved long-term. Please take a moment to complete the Royal Pavilion Garden survey The Garden greeters are also helping to  distribute paper copies of the survey in the Garden.

Interested in volunteering in the Royal Pavilion Garden?