THE beautiful Jason’s Garden overlooking the sea at Teignmouth will be open to the public on Sunday, September 5, in aid of the RNLI.

Open between 11am and 4pm admission will cost £4, children free and tea, coffee and cakes will be available as well as the RNLI souvenir stall. All proceeds from the day will go to the RNLI at Teignmouth.

Contactless payment will only available on the souvenir stall. Directions can be found on www.jasonsgarden.org.uk.

The garden is dedicated to the memory of Jason Pope. He was born in Newton Abbot Hospital in 1973 and along with his younger brother Damian and sister Vashti, went to Hazeldown Primary School in Teignmouth followed by Teignmouth College.

Jason then went onto Exeter College graduating from Kingston University with an honours degree in geology followed by a post-graduate degree in Mining Exploration at Leicester University.

After university he worked in gold mines in Australia and was later offered a job on an Angolan Diamond mine whilst studying business management.

Following his first leave home, on 8 November 1998, the diamond mine where he was working was attacked by rebels.

Several of his colleagues were killed and Jason, along with three expatriates and five Angolans were last seen herded into the bush.

Sadly, to this day, it is not known what happened to Jason and his colleagues.

Jason’s parents Nev and Alan, were able to purchase a small plot of land on the cliffs at Teignmouth and along with Jason’s brother, Damian, Jason’s Garden came to be – although no one had any idea how it would finally be developed. It was featured on ‘Open Gardens’ with Carol Klein who said it was one of her favourite gardens.

Thousands of pounds have been raised on behalf of various charities. Jason’s family say they get enormous pleasure from hearing visitors’ reactions to the Garden – many people visit more than once.

There are many interesting sculptures and a fun ‘trail quiz’ makes a wonderful activity for children of all ages (as well as adults!) to enjoy whilst meandering through the Garden.

The RNLI Fundraising Team would also like to take this opportunity to thank Sarah Field of ‘Fields Powerhoop’ who ran an event on Sunday, August 15, on the Den at Teignmouth, which included demonstrations of power hooping and the public having a go. £70 from a raffle organised by Sarah (who, for information, is also a Maths tutor!) was donated to the RNLI Teignmouth. £250 was also raised fromtheour souvenir stall at Dawlish Warren on Wednesday, August 18.