Greenfingers, the charity dedicated to creating magical gardens at children’s hospices around the UK, has started work on its first new garden of 2014 at Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice in Sussex...
The charity is creating a fully accessible magical woodland walk for the children and families who use the hospice to enjoy, utilising existing woodland that has previously been inaccessible to the children. Renowned garden designer Ann-Marie Powell has designed the woodland garden, with a landscape team from Garden House Design building the project.
Greenfingers have received amazing support from suppliers across the industry to help with the project at Chestnut Tree House. The charity rely heavily on gift in kind support for these major projects, with this garden benefiting from the products and services of Winner plant hire; The Millboard Company Ltd; Arun Landscapes; Stanton Bonna, Sussex Transport and Simon Groves, a local chainsaw sculptor who is creating woodland creatures for the garden.
As the project gets underway Emma Hanford, Greenfingers’ Garden Project Manager, took the opportunity to say thank you to those already involved ‘We are now on the cusp of creating a really wonderful woodland walk for the children at Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice. We couldn’t do it without the wonderful support of those who have supplied us with essential materials, manpower and services to create all the elements we need – a huge thank you to all who’ve been involved in getting the project to this exciting point.
Emma Hanford continued: ‘Although we are now ready to start building to garden there are still other materials and products are in need of – we are still looking to secure native woodland plants, composted bark and wildlife habitats – if anyone can help us with those items we’d love to hear from them!’
The woodland garden is expected to be completed in around three months, in time for the children and families who spend time at the hospice to enjoy it over the summer.
The woodland garden at Chestnut Tree House hospice will be the 42nd garden to be built by Greenfingers. This garden will be built as part of the charity’s ‘Rosy Cheeks’ appeal, which aims to build at least ten more gardens at children’s hospices around the UK over the next two years.
To get involved in the garden please contact Greenfingers on 01494 674749 and for latest project updates follow Greenfingers on twitter @Greenfingerscha
Photo caption: L-R Rod Winrow, Garden House Design; Peter Field, Greenfingers trustee; Hannah Hunt, Greenfingers; Emma Hanford Greenfingers; Ken Gillingham, Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice; Ann-Marie Powell, Garden Designer; Peter Cornwell, Chestnut Tree House children’s hospice.
