News

On 05 March 2022 we held our Coffee Afternoon / Table Top Sale at River Village Hall.

We were very surprised and happy to see so many people attend this event, the room was full of cheerful chat and smiley faces. We would like to thank everyone that attended this event and also all of our committee members and helpers. There were many homemade cakes on sale and tea, coffee & biscuits were provided free of charge.

We would like to thank our friends at River Co op for donating some fabulous raffle prizes, which was much appreciated. As a result, the raffle did very well, raising much needed funds for the club.

We would also like to thank the Hawkinge Gardeners Society for the extremely generous and unexpected donation that was made as a result of the unfortunate closure of their club. We would like to extend an invitation to their members and families to any of our future events.

Three local businesses (Primrose Fayre Catering, She sells Refills by the Seashore & Mary’s Crafts) attended our Coffee Afternoon running sales tables, and we hope to see them again at future events.

We were also pleased to see Cllr Beaney attend our event, engaging with many of our visitors. Dover Community Radio was also in attendance and have been helping us promote our events on their local radio station, a big thank you to their team. (listen to a recent advert run on DCR below!)

It is nearly Spring again and we are already looking forward to seeing you all at one of our events. After nearly 2 years, we had our first event in December last year. We held a coffee afternoon and we were pleased to see so many of you there.

We are holding another coffee/tea afternoon on Saturday 5th March at 14:00 – 16:00 at the village hall and there will be free tea coffee and biscuits and a selection of home-made cakes for purchase. There will also be some local businesses with stalls and a raffle. Come along and see old friends and enjoy a cup of tea on us.

We are also intending to hold our shows this year starting with :

• Spring Show: 09 April 2022 @ 14:00 – 16:00
• Summer Show: 02 July 2022 @ 14:00 – 16:00
• Autumn Show: 17 September 2022 @14:00 – 16:00

Why not come along and support local entrants or enter one of the many classes yourself, Whether it is growing, cooking, arts and crafts as well as photography there is something for everyone young and old, Everybody is welcome. Email us at [email protected] for further details.

We are also looking for volunteers to help at our events as we are short on numbers and we are also in need of a secretary if anyone is interested.

About RGA:

River Gardeners’ Association is a local, friendly club for amateur and ‘armchair’ gardeners of all ages. Our members’ interests include growing fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers, home produce, crafts, floral art and Photography.

We hold several shows each year in River Village Hall which are open to all members, with separate sections in the shows for children. New members are always welcome.

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rivergardenersassociation

reach out on email: [email protected] 

Visit our website: https://rivergardeners.com/

River Gardener’s Association brings Summer Colour with their fun “Virtual” Summer Show which went live on Saturday, A Local Secondary School along with local residents took part in the online event. Visit: rivergardeners.com/virtual-summer-show-2020 or search “River Gardeners Virtual Show” to access the Show for free.

On Saturday, 04 July 2020 local hobbyist’s club “River Gardener’s Association” hosted their 64th Annual Summer Show online bringing a splash of summer colour to local residents from the safety of their armchairs. Due to the CoronaVirus outbreak, holding “Virtual” Shows has become a necessity over the past few months with Public Gatherings and community events currently not-possible amid risks of spreading the virus in enclosed indoor spaces. The forward Thinking committee didn’t let COVID-19 stop proceedings though, and the idea of a completely online show was born.

River Gardener’s Association hosted the much loved competition on their website, the first time in the 64 year life-time of this now family favourite event in many Riverites’ calendar. The Local response was overwhelming with over 100 entities across all categories including Photography, Cookery, Crafts and Horticulture. The Photography Class from a local Secondary School also submitted an excellent range of Photographic Exhibits, which were then judged by Mr C Allen a local photographic expert. Alongside the amazing Photographic work, there were Summery Floral displays and examples of the freshest local produce. Some contributors even got busy in the kitchen making jams and chutneys. 

River Gardener’s Association Show Secretary said: “I had thought that we wouldn’t have a Summer Show this year due to Covid 19 but we had over 100 entries in the Virtual Show. I would like to thank everyone that took part and now if you are sitting comfortably, I invite you to sit back and enjoy the Virtual Show.”

The Online Summer Show is now available online for anyone to access and enjoy for free, visit: rivergardeners.com/virtual-summer-show-2020 or search: “River Gardeners Virtual Show” if your interested in getting involved with our next Show, please contact us at: [email protected]

River Gardener’s Association in brief:

River Gardener’s Association is a local, friendly club for amateur and ‘armchair’ gardeners of all ages. Our members’ interests include growing fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers, home produce, crafts, floral art and Photography. River Gardener’s Association is based in River near Dover in Kent.

River Gardener’s hold a number of shows each year in River Village Hall which are open Members and Non-Members with separate sections in the shows for children. New members are always welcome.

“Virtual” Summer Show

Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 situation still causing disruption we have taken the decision to cancel our Summer Show to protect the General Public Health, inline with current Government Guidelines. In its place, we plan to hold our Second “Virtual” Show (this proved to be a success for our Spring event, which you can see here: https://rivergardeners.com/virtual-spring-show-2/) We’d like to encourage as many people as possible to enter this Fun, Free Online event. You don’t need to be a member or gardening expert to take part. All you need is a digital camera or Camera Phone. All you need to do is take photos of your “Exhibits” and send them to us at: [email protected] by Wednesday 01 July 2020. We will then collate all entries and publish our “Virtual” Summer Show for all to enjoy. The Exhibit Categories along with full instructions are available on our Website at: https://rivergardeners.com/virtual-summer-show-2020/ We are hoping that Autumn Show can go ahead as planned, pending further Government advise and we will confirm this nearer the time.

Quiz 2020

The ever popular Quiz we had planned in May was unfortunately postponed due to the pandemic, however we will be looking to hold this later in the year – watch this space for more details!
We hope you are all staying safe and well and we all look forward to getting back to normal as soon as possible.  

The River Gardeners Team!

Although we have sadly had to Cancel our Spring Show in an effort to do our bit to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we haven’t given up hope of letting our eyes feast on the Dazzling Daffodils, Creative Craft, Fabulous Photos or Beautiful Bakes!

We’d love all our Exhibitors, members and friends to Photograph, or send in some words about the Exhibits they were preparing for our Show!

We will collate them together and share them on our website and here so that everyone can enjoy a “virtual” Spring Show on Saturday 04 April 2020

Simply email your contributions to: [email protected] with your Name before 04 April 2020.

An open Letter from the Chairperson

Dear Members, Exhibitors and all Visitors,

As you are likely aware the situation regarding the spread of COVID-19 / Corona Virus has deteriorated over the last few days and Government publications indicate this is likely to get worse in the coming weeks and months.

With the above in mind, we the River Gardeners’ Committee have taken the difficult decision to Cancel our Up-coming Spring show, which would have taken place on 04^th April 2020 as well as the “Floral Art Masterclass” which would have taken place on 03^rd April 2020. Although cancelling any of our events is always a last resort and a difficult decision to take, we feel it is the right thing to do for the protection of the local Community to help curb the spread of the virus – particularly to those in the high-Risk Groups.

In addition, we are delaying our “Quiz with a difference” which was due to take place on 16 May – a new date will be released for this in the coming weeks.

Please do keep checking our website / Facebook Page for further updates. You can also join our Mailing list at: https://mailchi.mp/52a03523fb41/river-gardeners-association to be notified about all our events, news and important information.

We would like to take this time to Thank you for your patience during this time, and look forward to welcoming our members, exhibitors and hopefully new-faces to our events as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Paul and the RGA Committee

Chairperson

With the festive season almost upon us, all of us at River Gardeners’ Association would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We have a very exciting year of events planned in 2020 – sneak previews below!

River Gardeners’ Association are offering Members and Non-Members alike an amazing 30% discount on orders from our supplier, Kings Seeds.

Seed catalogues can be obtained from our Village Garden Shop on Bylan Road on Sundays between 10:30 and 12:00.

All orders and Money needs to be sent to Tony Kember by 14 October 2019. Cheques should be made payable to River Gardener’s Association.

For more information about this incrdible offer, please contact [email protected] or call Tony on 01304 824810.