Community Wassailing event held at historic Wilderness garden attracts more than 100 people

The Wilderness held a wassailing event for the community which was attended by more than 100 people.

The Wilderness is a seven-acre historic garden situated within MHA Hall Grange, a care home that offers residential and dementia care for up to 86 people.

Orchard wassailing is an ancient custom upheld in cider-producing regions of England to encourage a good harvest for the coming year.

With the support of the Black Swan Border Morris Dancers, visitors to The Wilderness enjoyed dancing, singing, and poetry reading to mark the end of the festive season.

Susanne Haynes, Community Coordinator for The Wilderness said: “We set up the event to start the year of 2023 with a positive energy.

“Wassailing is an age-old custom which we wanted to share with a community who may not have experienced it before.

“2023 is a very important year for us, MHA celebrates 80 years of caring for older people, and it is 100 years since the death of Reverend William Wilks and 180 since his birth. 

“Without Wilks, The Wilderness would not exist and we are most grateful to him and MHA for conserving this space and allowing so many people to enjoy it.

“The event was a success since it brought in so many people who were otherwise unaware of this beautiful garden.

“Events like this play a huge supporting role in our Green Care strategy which is all about promoting health and wellbeing in nature.

“Following on from our success, we’ll be running more events that allow people to use The Wilderness as their ‘green prescription’ and improve their sense of wellbeing.

“We look forward to welcoming more people to the garden in the coming months.

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