Yahoo News Durham hospice to receive garden from Chelsea Flower Show celebrating its essential work
A hospice in Durham is set to receive a garden from the Chelsea Flower Show celebrating its essential work. After the show, St Cuthbert's Hospice will receive a 'Garden of Compassion' created by Hospice UK.
Award-winning designer Tom Hoblyn is creating the garden, and he said: "Having designed hospice gardens in the past, I know first-hand just how valuable they are. What is beautiful is also hugely beneficial – for a patient’s mind, body and spirit, and of course for their family and friends as they tackle life’s most difficult journey.
"The Garden of Compassion will raise awareness of the vital work being done by Hospice UK, while offering visitors a space for reflection, and for celebration of the compassion and care that hospices provide."
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St Cuthbert’s Hospice is located just outside Durham city centre and cares for people diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, people approaching the end of life and people who are bereaved. The care is free of charge and support is extended to family members and carers.
Tom Hoblyn’s design is said to 'highlight the sensory experience' and showcases an array of colourful Mediterranean plants, some of which have never been seen before at the flower show. The garden will be designed to ensure that there is always something in bloom, no matter what time of the year it is.
John Eggleston, a volunteer gardener at St Cuthbert’s for the past 13 years, said: "In my first few weeks of volunteering at St Cuthbert’s Hospice, I met a patient on the veranda which overlooks the space where the garden will be replanted. He’d been helped outside to enjoy the view and said to me: ‘you know what mate, I know I’ve not got long left and I just want to spend my last days looking at these gardens’.
"Those words have stayed with me. I know the garden is going to mean so much to people here. We’re all absolutely over the moon and it’s going to be a real pleasure to help maintain this special garden that many people will enjoy for years to come."
Jeff McWaters, from Spennymoor, has been attending St Cuthbert’s Hospice since February 2023, as he has Huntington’s Disease. He added: "It’s fantastic to hear that the hospice is getting this garden from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show next year, as I ove watching it on the telly and look forward to it.
"I’m always asking the garden volunteers what each plant is, and I used to have my own allotment and greenhouse but had to give it up as I couldn’t handle it anymore. Gardening has lovely memories, like growing baby cucumbers for my granddaughter’s lunchbox, and I’ll look forward to looking around the new garden when it comes."
