Three stunning gardens in Dulwich’s Court Lane are open to visitors next weekend to fundraise for the Mark Evison Foundation.
All three gardens back on to Dulwich Park, and between them have wildflower meadows, a swimming pond, a circular vegetable bed, plantings and a pond for wildlife, herbaceous borders, roses at their seasonal best, interesting species planting and a blue plaque.
All owners are holding the open gardens to support the Mark Evison Foundation, a charity set up in memory of an army lieutenant from Dulwich who died after being injured in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2009. Mark had suffered a gunshot wound while attempting to get his platoon, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, to safety following an ambush.
He was described by Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE, as “one of the finest young officers of his generation and a truly remarkable young man” who had been known as ‘007’ by his platoon for his ‘capability, style and charisma’.
He was also known for taking great care of his soldiers and for being hugely talented in a range of fields including music, for which he had achieved a scholarship to attend Charterhouse school.
A diary he kept during his time in Afghanistan was later serialised in a broadsheet newspaper. It revealed he was becoming increasingly worried about the equipment given to his men, lack of radio signal and communication problems, and lack of medical packs.
His bereaved family set up the charity to offer awards for non-academic personal challenges to sixth formers at London state schools, often in areas of high deprivation.
In 2019 it made 105 individual or group awards of up to £500 to 320 students from 48 schools across 28 London boroughs.
Project applications this year are as diverse as dark sky gazing in the Brecon Beacons, cycling the 240-mile Caledonia Way (Campbeltown to Inverness), creating a Japanese animation, walking to Paris and recording a first music album.
The open gardens are held on Sunday June 13, from 2-5.30pm at 1 Court Lane Gardens, 118 and 142 Court Lane.
There will be tea and home-made cakes at 142 Court Lane, and plant sales at 118 Court Lane. Combined entry is £8 – start at any of the gardens.
Visit www.markevisonfoundation.org for more information about the foundation.