Horatio’s Garden is a national charity that creates and nurtures beautiful gardens in the heart of NHS spinal injury centres.
The charity is collaborating with the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board at University Hospital Llandough to create an exceptional garden project to compliment the new world class, Welsh Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Centre for patients from all over Wales which is due to open in 2021. The award-winning charity is renowned for extraordinary projects which improve the wellbeing of everyone affected by spinal injury and the NHS staff who care from them.
The garden is being designed by award winning Welsh designer Sarah Price, and will be fully accessible. Sarah is using design inspiration from various iconic elements of the Welsh landscape, with the internal pavilion space ensuring that the garden can be enjoyed in all weathers. It will also lend itself to a range of activities and groups, as Horatio’s Garden run numerous therapeutic workshops with the spinal centre to support patients’ rehabilitation.
Robust evidence shows that gardens improve all aspects of wellbeing and particularly for patients who spend months in hospital. This has been highlighted during the pandemic when the charity’s gardens have been a vital safe space for patients and NHS staff alike.
As a result of Coronavirus many of the planned fundraising efforts to bring this garden to Wales have been cancelled; they included large fundraising dinners, charity cycle rides and an operatic evening. People across Wales have been coming up with their own ideas to raise the final £275,000 needed to complete the fundraising appeal so building can start this year.
One such supporter is Amanda Harris, former patient at Rookwood Hospital following a cycling accident which paralysed her in 2014. Amanda said “ the moment that really helped during my 6 months in hospital was being wheeled in my hospital bed to the open door of the ward and feeling the sunshine on my face, watching the bumblebees and seeing flowers and hedgerows blossoming in the summer sun. Just for a moment my worries were gone”.
Amanda is ‘cycling’ a total of 150 miles on her static recumbent bike instead of taking part in two road cycling fundraising challenge which have been cancelled due to Coronavirus. She is keeping a video diary of her exploits and is well on her way to her fundraising target – no mean feat as she juggles childcare, a part-time job and puppy training in conjunction with her spinal cord injury. See more here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amanda-harris36
If you feel you would like to help Horatio’s Garden Cardiff reach their fundraising target by the end of the year, please get in touch. This is your opportunity to be part of an exciting movement to enhance the lives of people from all over Wales who have been affected by spinal injury.
To find out more about how you can help, please visit www.horatiosgarden.org.uk or email Horatio’s Garden with your offer of help info@horatiosgarden.org.uk