The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are more associated with Victorian grandeur and lavish expense, but now recipients of universal credit and pension credit can get tickets to Kew Gardens and sister site, Wakehurst, in Sussex, for just £1.
The offer encourages families, regardless of household income, to enjoy the great outdoors. Where advance adult tickets usually cost £15 per person, Kew’s new concession prices hope to make the Royal Botanic Gardens “accessible to a wide range of audiences”. The offer applies both online and in person to those who are applicable.
Richard Deverell, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens emphasised that, “Everyone is welcome.”
Between 2019-20 over 2.5 million people visited Kew and Wakehurst, with memberships totalling 127,462 according to its annual report. Declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, London’s world-famous gardens are welcoming low-income people through its gates in the hope to become more inclusive.
Kew and Wakehurst is also introducing a new £9 Young Person’s ticket for 16-24 year olds andover the summer the gardens will offer significant discounts for daytime visitors after 4pm on any day during extended opening hours.
Renowned for its vast gardens, greenhouses, exhibitions and family-friendly events, Kew Gardens has been open to the public since 1898 when it was opened by Queen Victoria. Along with Wakehurst’s 535 acres of land, Kew holds a Guinness world record for the largest collection of living plants right here in the UK.
