Welcome to the East Carleton Website

This website was initially established many years ago to promote the East Carleton open gardens event, it has now grown to complement the village’s monthly newsletter.

St Marys church is the hub of the village, where coffee mornings and other events are held. The first few open gardens funded the building of a toilet at the church, and was achieved after only a few open gardens.

We have raised money for a number of charities using the website to advertise them. The village votes on a funding project for that year at our coffee mornings. So far, funds have gone to East Anglia Air Ambulance, Leonard Cheshire Home in East Carleton, Edith Cavell Day Centre, St Marys fabric fund, a Defibrillator for East Carleton and Blood Cancer UK.

2020/2021 presented challenges for fundraising due to the restrictions of Covid-19. The 2020 Open Garden event was cancelled, but we did manage to finish raising funds for the defibrillator. We successfully applied for grants, received kind donations, ran a cake baking and delivery service, and socially distanced carol singing. As of June 2021, the Defibrillator was up and running.

Money raised in 2022 went to Little Lifts; based in Bawburgh their mission is to support women undergoing treatment for breast cancer by providing ‘little lift’ boxes to patients. Each box contains treats specially chosen to support their physical and emotional well-being.

Our nominated 2023 Charity is Cancer Research UK

The Open Garden event is not our only event to raise money for village projects and charities. We regularly hold quiz nights, soup lunches, curry and chilli nights, bonfire nights, Christmas concerts, mid-summer choral events, garage sales and a Car Show in 2021.

Take a look at the 2012 Open Garden event video below.