A popular open gardens event has raised a record amount to support children’s charities, air ambulance services and church upkeep.
Stogumber Open Gardens, now in its 45th year, took place the weekend of June 13 and 14 and raised a record £14,000.
The funds will be split between Children’s Hospice South West, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and St Mary’s Church.
Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, visited the event on Sunday, June 14 and met organisers and spoke with garden openers about their work.
Ms Gilmour said: "I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Charity Open Gardens event.
"Stogumber is lucky to have such beautiful gardens, and even luckier to have so many people willing to put in the hard work needed to keep them that way.
"It was lovely to meet so many of them on the day. Everyone involved should be incredibly proud of what they've achieved for our local charities."
Visitors explored 15 gardens, some travelling from as far as Cornwall.
Many also enjoyed food made by volunteers and served in the village hall.
The money raised for the church will go towards regular maintenance and small repairs, helping it avoid the costly emergency appeals that ancient buildings often need.
Ms Gilmour has previously spoken in Parliament in support of maintaining funding schemes for historic buildings.
She has backed making permanent the scheme that allows churches to reclaim VAT on repairs, and argued for removing the current funding cap.
