How we used the legacy

For many decades since the Society was founded in 1929, we had no central hub where our members could access support and information.

In 1988 we were gifted an incredibly generous £500,000 in the will of Anthony Pettit to further our charitable objectives. We sought opinion from our members as to the best way to spend the fund and were committed to putting the full amount towards one solid project. The consensus was the construction of a resource centre, open to all AGS members. And so our Pershore centre was born.

The AGS Centre is where our office staff are based, the meetings of the Trustee Board are held and the place from where our seed exchange operates. The doors are also open to our members, who can browse the extensive reference library, seek advice from the office team and purchase books.

We chose Pershore as we wanted a central location in a peaceful setting. We are also lucky to be located next door to Pershore College (a national centre for horticulture) so it has become something of a horticultural hub.

About Anthony Pettit

Anthony had been a member of the Society for twenty years when he died aged 63 in 1988. He was also a member of the local AGS Birmingham group. He had an impressive bulb collection and enjoyed plant-hunting holidays.

Anthony had been the owner of a clothes factory in Staffordshire before he retired from ill health. Upon his retirement, Anthony moved to Wiltshire. It was the funds from the sale of his Wiltshire house and London flat that were so kindly donated to our charity.