A gardening project has been started at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough by Ray Wheatley. This project started approximately 1 year ago and is dependent on volunteers helping out to keep this project going. To get started there has been a bid from Camelot (National Lottery) for manual labour. The reason behind this project is to try to create an environment that helps patients to escape that hospital feeling in between treatments, the garden is also open to them at other times as place for them to come and relax, this is known as horticultural therapy and has been proven to reduce stress, which is why it is important to keep this garden as nice as possible. It provides a quiet place for people to sit and relax. This project has been mainly designed for cancer patients but it is open to all long term patients as well as carers, family and friends. Awareness of this project spread when patients on other wards began chatting and joining in the informal therapy. There are raised flower beds which are on stilts and there are also some lower flower beds which have wheelchair access, these flower beds have been created using materials with local partners which caters to all ailments, shapes and sizes. This project caters for buildings, featuring flower beds and multi-sensory zones, as well as gardening, featuring planting, watering, growing and tending, as well as social interaction and solitary areas when needed.
The sensory area was made using subsidised soil, compost and timber provided by JT Atkinson, the area aims to hit all 5 senses, there is a herb garden, rockery, flower garden, reflecting area and musical instruments. The work being done at the garden is in line with complementary therapies and is made for all ages.
“None of this would have happened without the help of all the volunteers over the year, not to mention the materials from local businesses like yourselves” said Ray Wheatley on the impact JT Atkinson and other businesses have had in helping the project start and continue.
"The Trinity Holistic Centre is a great local service provided free of charge to the whole community helping long suffering patients and their families. After visiting, we saw the difference it's making to people lives so naturally we are happy to do what we can to help with patient's horticultural therapy." Joe Kibirige - Public Relations at JT Atkinson.