St Elizabeth Hospice officially opened a newly designed and landscaped section of their garden this week.
The garden was declared open by hospice chairman, William Barnes, and four schoolchildren from Sproughton Primary School, who helped design the garden as part of the Help the hospice grow – garden design competition sponsored by Scotts Miracle Gro.
The hospice launched the garden competition last summer for Primary and Secondary pupils to enter to design a section of the garden which was affected when the day centre extension was built.
Dozens of young adults came up with designs and the six lucky winners, four from Sproughton and two from Bungay High School have had their ideas incorporated into the final garden including: children’s play area; a statue made by day care patients; a summer house and Wendy house; coloured bricks to brighten the area up and vegetable plot.
Andrew Bruce, facilities manager at the hospice, said: “Our garden is at the heart of the hospice and is loved by everyone who comes here: patients, families, staff, volunteers and visitors.
“Patients and families in particular spend a lot of time in the garden, and the new space has been created to take into consideration their needs, such as wheelchair access, raised plant beds for patients to tend to, a quiet area for people to reflect in, and the incorporation of all the senses, using lights, smells and colours.”
Scotts Miracle-Gro, the UK’s leading supplier of garden and lawn products, donated £5,000 to sponsor the competition, as part of their GRO1000 community outreach initiative. A representative from Scotts Miracle-Gro, Elaine Gotts, who was also one of the judges in the competition, said: “It is a brilliant use of the garden space and we’re sure it will bring many hours of pleasure to everyone at St Elizabeth Hospice. Congratulations to all the winners of the garden design competition and everyone involved.”
Mr Bruce added: “We couldn’t have created our beautiful garden without the support and generosity of many local businesses and groups who helped us buy the equipment, supplied the plants and who gave up their time to help build it.”
With thanks to Scotts Miracle-Gro, Sproughton Primary School, Bungay High School, Suffolk Mid-Coastal Wood Turners, Exotic Garden Company, Darsham Nurseries, Katie’s Garden, Swann Nursery, The Walled Garden, Kiln Farm Nursery, HSBC, B.T, AXA, Carpet Cuts, Suffolk Life , Thrive Group, Grange Nurseries, Trust Maria, the Cornforth Family and hospice staff and volunteers for all their contributions.