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Date of release: 16th July 2024
Hospital garden gets makeover
A hospital garden has been overhauled and brought back to life with new planters and colourful decorations thanks to the kindness of the local community.
Employees from The Mander Shopping Centre in Wolverhampton joined forces with patients and staff from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) to spend the day revamping the green space outside the Neurological Rehabilitation Unit (NRU) at West Park Hospital.
They planted new flowers, tidied up the flower beds, built wooden troughs for vegetables to be grown in, painted the pagoda and installed a new table and chairs.
The volunteers also installed new solar lighting so the garden can be enjoyed at all times of the day. The makeover cost £3,000.
Laura Taylor, Marketing Manager at The Mander Shopping Centre, said:
“Our security, cleaning and management staff joined together to revamp the gardens as it is really important for us to give back to the community who shop at and use the Mander Centre.
“A lot of our team have experienced care from the hospital and we know how important the garden is for patients.”
The garden has already been well received by patients, including Sophie Evans-Carey, 19, from Wolverhampton, who spent two and half weeks at West Park receiving treatment for functional neurological disorder (FND).
She said: “It has been so lovely to see the difference the Mander Centre has made to the garden. Being able to see it from start to finish, and the transformation of colour, and all the different ornaments that have been put around the garden, has been magical.
“It is going to make such a difference for so many people.
“Hopefully we will be able to come out here with our families and enjoy the sunshine.”
Emma Stewart, Matron for NRU, said: “We would like to say a massive thank you to the Mander Centre team for coming and revamping our garden.
“It is a huge improvement for patients and is somewhere nice for them now to come and sit and enjoy, to help with their recovery.”
Amanda Winwood, Charity Development Manager for the RWT Charity, which funded the project through a donation from Willenhall Area Relief Rehabilitation and Nursing Trust (WARRANT), said:
“It was lovely spending the day at the NRU and helping with this transformation. Getting to meet the patients and hearing first-hand the difference this will make to them is the best part of my job.
“A huge thanks to Laura and the teams from the Mander Centre, you truly have made an impact at the NRU and we can’t wait to see the garden flourish and be used by all.
“We also want to thank WARRANT for the donation of funds for this project. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to make the transformation and purchase all of the items.”
ENDS