The beautiful Greenfingers Charity ‘Garden of Colour’ at Claire House Children’s Hospice (Bebington, Wirral) was officially opened last week and now provides a stunning sensory place of enjoyment and rest for those life-limited children and their families that call Claire House ‘home’.
This latest Greenfingers Charity garden has been designed by award winning designer Carolyn Willitts of CW Studio and created by Cheshire based landscapers Landstruction. The garden features a ‘creation station’ where children and their families can get their hands dirty and experience nature up close and personal whatever the weather. Falling leaves also adorn the garden, adding a touch of colour and intrigue with multi-coloured perspex leaves that hang perfectly to catch the light throughout the day. A rainbow garden and hangout zone is complemented by a quiet place of reflection whilst the rustle of leaves in the birch grove now brings a smile to children’s faces.
Work started in February 2019 as the original space lacked hard landscaping suitable for wheelchair access. It has now transformed into a multi-functional garden, giving children in wheelchairs and beds an outdoor environment for play, learning, therapy and rest. Talking about the project Carolyn said: “This garden for Claire House Children’s Hospice is to be a place with a feeling of intimacy and escape. We wanted to create a journey through this garden and a link to nature, a place where, for a moment, you can be immersed and feel calm. We wanted to inject colour, humour, curiosity, and whimsy along the way, inspiring stories and interactive play.
“The journey starts at the Creation Station, passes Falling Leaves and leads into the Rainbow Meadow, then onto A Quiet Place and finally, Birch Hill, where wildflower edges to long grass and spring bulbs line a meandering mown path through the trees.”
Speaking about the new garden, Claire House Hospice Lead Nurse, Clare Doig said “As a member of the Nursing team at Claire House Hospice, I know just how important it is for our children to experience different sensory sensations, unfortunately our old garden didn’t do that for them. We are so excited to have this opportunity of a brand new sensory garden. To be able to take the children outside, for them to experience different colours, smells and sounds from the Garden of Colour will be amazing, even to take part in growing their own plants. It is now a very special place where families can spend time together, enjoying nature and already the different insects, bees and butterflies attracted to our garden. Thank you so much for doing this for us, we are forever grateful.”
Greenfingers Charity’s 56th magical garden would also not have been possible without the help and support of all those that helped to fundraise through the annual Garden Re-Leaf Day activities, as well as the ongoing support of Kew Green Hotels, GIMA, HTA, GCA and many others. As well as friends of the charity who have tirelessly fundraised, others have ensured the garden could become a reality by donating gifts in kind, including Chris Nangle, Hardscape, Vestre, Kinley, CED Stone, Green-tech, Infinite Playgrounds, Cacoon World/Mojosi, Laser Lea, Woodlodge, Zest 4 Leisure, Vegepod, Barton Grange, and Burleydam Garden Centres.
Linda Petrons, Greenfingers’ Director of Fundraising & Communications said: “We must thank all the individuals, groups and businesses who have supported Greenfingers Charity and made the building of this wonderful new garden at Claire House Children’s Hospice possible through their continued generosity. This new magical garden will now provide life-limited children and their families with a place to create a million memories and a provide a sanctuary of care which would not be possible without the help of so many wonderful friends of Greenfingers.”
