Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital garden gets £50,000 national funding
A garden for patients with spinal injuries has been given £50,000 from the National Garden's Scheme.
Horatio's Garden will be build at the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital near Oswestry.
Designed specifically for patients and their families, it will have a power supply that will enable beds and lifesaving equipment to be plugged in outside - as well as a conservatory for bad weather.
At the launch of National Garden Scheme’s 2018 Garden Visitor’s Handbook in London, the garden was one of many charities to benefit from a record £3.1 million given out from funds raised at garden openings in 2017. This year the scheme increased its donations to charities who are promoting the health benefits of gardens.
The scheme has gardens across the UK, including scores in Shropshire, which open to the public on special days in the year.
Olivia Chapple, founder and executive trustee of Horatio’s Garden, said “We are absolutely thrilled and so very grateful to the NGS for such a generous donation to Horatio’s Garden Oswestry. This will be the fourth Horatio’s Garden and is such an amazing transformational project for patients at the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.
“We have seen the impact a beautiful garden space can have on spinal injury patients at our gardens in Salisbury and Glasgow and look forward to bringing this to Oswestry. We also greatly appreciate the local support for our fundraising, which, this year, includes a lunch and garden tour at Hodnet Hall on May 17, hosted by Sir Algernon and Lady Heber-Percy, long-term supporters of the NGS Open Garden Scheme”.
The Horatio’s Garden at the Midland Centre has been designed by Bunny Guinness, well known as a Gardeners’ Question Time panellist on Radio 4 and a writer for the Telegraph.
Owen Paterson, the Conservative MP for North Shropshire, who broke his back while out riding, said: “Having spent several weeks immobile in the outstanding care of the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries, I fully appreciate the extraordinary value, for those who may have to spend months on their back, of getting outside, seeing and touching plants and flowers and spending time with family and friends.”
Owen’s wife, Rose Paterson, has led local fundraising for Horatio’s Garden Oswestry Appeal and said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear of this incredibly generous donation from the National Garden Scheme to Horatio’s Garden’s Gobowen appeal. This is a cause close to my and my husband’s heart, and we know the garden will be a joy and a haven for spinal injury patients and their relatives.”
For further information visit horatiosgarden.org.uk
