Help to Build Hospice Gardens With Us

December 22, 2016

Having over fifty gardens under your belt would make any landscaper proud. It’s something that Greenfingers, the national charity dedicated to creating beautiful outdoor spaces for children’s hospices, has barely blinked at.

One of the gardens at Bluebell Wood Hospice, Sheffield

In fact, they’ve got their sights set firmly on the next fifteen, as they have a longer waiting list than ever of hospices crying out for well-designed green spaces for children and families to enjoy.

That’s one of the reasons we’re so proud to be one of Greenfingers’ charity partners, and donate £10 (shared with Perennial, who we caught up with last month) every time a new member signs up to our Landscape Specialist Scheme. So far this year, you’ve triggered us into donating a very respectable £650.

This year Greenfingers has launched two new gardens. One, at The Earl Mountbatten Hospice, Newport, Isle of Wight, involved a relocation of The Royal Bank of Canada’s 2015 Chelsea Show garden by Matthew Wilson. It was opened by Alan Titchmarsh in July this year. He pointed out that relocating and then recreating the garden was no mean feat. “Finding the funding, organising designers, supporters, suppliers and the final constructors and planters,” he said, “is far from an easy matter.”

Alan Titchmarsh cuts the ribbon at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice in July.

Earlier in the year, work was completed at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, Sheffield, on two spaces which transformed a hideous tarmacked area outside two bereavement suites. While many hospice gardens put in place by Greenfingers are designed around the needs of the children who come to stay, with space for fun and activities with their families and therapists, these have been designed to provide a tranquil and beautiful space at a deeply distressing time. Careful thought went into providing planting that would look attractive throughout the year and attract wildlife.

Tranquil space at the Bluebell Wood Hospice Garden, Sheffield.

Both Bluebell Wood and Earl Mountbatten Hospice gardens were among the fifteen on the waiting list. Which leaves quite a few more to do. To raise the money, last year Greenfingers launched A Million Moments Appeal, to raise £1million to enable 5000 more children in hospices around the country to get out into the fresh air. At the launch of the appeal, Greenfingers chairman, John Ashley, said, “We are inundated with hospices who need our help.”

So, don’t let us sit on our laurels (prickly as they are!). If you haven’t yet joined our Landscape Specialist Scheme, then why not sign up for the many free benefits and trigger another £5 donation towards the next gardens urgently awaiting attention?