Horatio’s Garden Oswestry awarded £50,000
Horatio’s Garden Oswestry has been awarded £50,000 at the launch of National Garden Scheme’s 2018 Garden Visitor’s Handbook in London.
The National Garden Scheme (NGS) announced that it had made a record donation of £3.1 million from funds raised at garden openings in 2017 and increased its donations to charities who are promoting the health benefits of gardens.
Olivia Chapple, Founder and Executive Trustee of Horatio’s Garden, said “We are absolutely thrilled and so very grateful to the NGS for such a generous donation to Horatio’s Garden Oswestry. This will be the fourth Horatio’s Garden and is such an amazing transformational project for patients at the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH).
“We have seen the impact a beautiful garden space can have on spinal injury patients at our gardens in Salisbury and Glasgow and look forward to bringing this to Oswestry. We also greatly appreciate the local support for our fundraising, which, this year, includes a lunch and garden tour at Hodnet Hall on May 17th, hosted by Sir Algernon and Lady Heber-Percy, long-term supporters of the NGS Open Garden Scheme”.
George Plumptre, CEO of the National Garden Scheme, said about funds raised in 2017, “It’s been another record breaking year for the National Garden Scheme and we are extremely pleased to be able to fund even more vital work in the areas we are passionate about – nursing, gardens and health and support for training gardeners”.
The Horatio’s Garden at the Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries, which serves Shropshire, Cheshire, the West Midlands, North Hereford and North Wales, has been designed by Bunny Guinness, well known as a Gardeners’ Question Time panellist on Radio 4 and a writer for the Telegraph. Bunny has created a beautiful sanctuary for patients and their families, which will include a spectacular garden room, so patients can enjoy the garden whatever the weather and a fabulous greenhouse within a garden therapy area.
Owen Paterson, the Conservative MP for North Shropshire, who broke his back while out riding, said: “Having spent several weeks immobile in the outstanding care of the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries, I fully appreciate the extraordinary value, for those who may have to spend months on their back, of getting outside, seeing and touching plants and flowers and spending time with family and friends.”
Owen’s wife, Rose Paterson, has led local fundraising for Horatio’s Garden Oswestry Appeal and said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear of this incredibly generous donation from the National Garden Scheme to Horatio’s Garden’s Gobowen appeal. This is a cause close to my and my husband’s heart, and we know the garden will be a joy and a haven for spinal injury patients and their relatives.”
