Helen & Douglas House was today delighted to receive Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall on her first visit to the two hospices as Royal Patron. Her Royal Highness marked the occasion by opening the new sensory and play garden at Helen House as part of our 25th anniversary celebrations of providing hospice care for children and young adults.
During her visit Her Royal Highness met with a number of children and young people who use the hospices, some of whom were able to show her around the garden at Helen House with its new tree house, discovery area, wheelchair roundabout and sensory features. The garden has been most generously designed and funded by the Greenfingers Appeal, the charity of the gardening industry which is currently dedicated to improving the gardens of children's hospices around the country. Her Royal Highness formally opened the garden by unveiling a plaque.
Inside the houses Her Royal Highness spent time with some of the parents using the hospices and heard about their experiences in caring for a child with a life-shortening condition. She also enjoyed meeting children who were having fun in the arts and crafts room and the music room at Helen House and young adults in the bar and games room at Douglas House.
Founder of Helen House (for children) and then Douglas House (for young adults) Sister Frances Dominica said, "We are really delighted that Her Royal Highness accepted our invitation to become our Royal Patron as we know that she doesn't undertake such commitments lightly. Not only will her patronage help us to maintain awareness of the work that we do but I am sure that her visits, today and in the future, will be a source of excitement and enjoyment for our children, young people and families who have to cope with so much in their daily lives."
The 25th anniversary garden
The garden, designed by Clare Matthews, has been carefully tailored to meet the varied needs of the children - many of them suffering from conditions that result in some degree of sensory impairment - their relations and friends, and the staff. Although compact, the garden has a number of distinct areas, all of which are accessible to wheelchair users, with each providing a different experience.
A magnificent mature lime tree has been cleverly incorporated into the scheme as the centre of a wheelchair accessible tree house - the ideal play den and a great hide to observe the birds and butterflies in the wildlife area.
A sea of planting, supporting shoals of mirrored stainless steel fish, forms the basic structure of the highly creative water garden section which also has a perspex rill, mirrors and wobble bridges. Other play features includes a raised sandpit, blackboard and wheelchair roundabout.
Tactile and scented herbs fill raised beds along the Herb Walk at just the right height for children in wheelchairs to trail their hands through them and raised planting benches in the vegetable garden ensure that wheelchair users can enjoy cultivating their own plants.
CEO of Helen & Douglas House, Tom Hill, says, "We are so grateful to the Greenfingers Appeal for funding the redesign of the garden and of course, to Clare Matthews and the contractors for the actual design. As well as being lovely to look at it is so much more, offering stimulation through touch, smell and sound. It also appeals to every child's spirit of adventure with the tree house and discovery pit. We couldn't have asked for more."
The Greenfingers Appeal
The Greenfingers Appeal, the charity initiative of the horticulture and gardening industry, has been raising funds for the last five years to build and enhance the grounds and gardens of Children's Hospices in the UK.
The money raised through The Greenfingers Appeal is directed towards specific projects in Hospice gardens and grounds - improving the environment and relieving hard pressed budgets. Whilst the children are often too ill to get actively involved, the grounds of a hospice can play a vital role as a place of peace, solitude and calm for the parents, friends and relations.
Greenfingers was launched in 1998 by garden writer and broadcaster Richard Jackson, with the objective of focusing the charitable efforts of the entire industry, encompassing growers, retailers, manufacturers and landscapers. The response to date has been tremendous, with industry wide support for a variety of fund-raising projects ensuring that the Appeal has been able to disburse an average of £100,000 a year to charity.
According to the Charities Commission, this places the Greenfingers Appeal amongst the top 10% of UK charities in terms of fund-raising - no mean achievement for an initiative not even six years old.
Twenty-five Hospice garden projects have been completed so far. There is, however, still much work to be done to benefit the remaining Children's Hospices in the UK and the new Children's Hospices currently in the planning stage or under construction.
Without the support and dedication of individuals and businesses operating in the garden industry, none of this would be possible. The Appeal depends for income on fund-raising initiatives run by the industry and works hard to ensure that the activity complements and benefits the industry as a whole.
For more information go to Greenfingers Appeal
