Butterwick House Children’s Hospice open ‘transformed’ garden – thanks to Greenfingers and The Garden Centre Group

The new garden has been built by Greenfingers, the national charity dedicated to creating gardens in children’s hospices around the UK. The charity is committed to providing beautiful and inspiring outdoor spaces for children with life-limiting conditions to enjoy with family, friends and siblings, whether through play and fun, or therapeutic rest and relaxation.

The garden at Butterwick House has seen a great improvement of the outdoor space available for the children at the hospice to spend time in.  The renovated garden incorporates a water feature, vegetable beds and new softer, sensory planting plus a ground level trampoline for play.  The garden will now offer children an enhanced space in which to play, relax and engage with the natural environment whilst they are at Butterwick House.

The funds to build the renovated garden were raised by The Garden Centre Group, who run the nearby Stockton Garden Centre. Staff from the Stockton Garden Centre also got their hands dirty, and provided valuable help, by volunteering recently when it was time to plant the new space.

John Ashley, Vice Chairman of Greenfingers, opened the garden today, saying: ‘The garden at Butterwick House is now the vibrant, exciting space the children who use the hospice deserve. Greenfingers are thrilled the garden has now been declared officially open and is ready to be enjoyed! We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at The Garden Centre Group who raised the money, and donated their time, in order to transform this garden in to what it is today. Without them we would have been unable to revitalize this garden. I just know it is going to be a place for much laughter and fun for all the children and families who spend time in it.’

Alison Appleby, Head of Care at Butterwick House Children’s Hospice, said: ‘The garden is a very important part of the purpose built facilities which were created to both stimulate and relax the children and young people who benefit from this service. It is also a wonderful space where families can spend quality time surrounded by nature. Every child’s bedroom at Butterwick House opens out onto the garden and we use the special areas in the garden as often as we can.

This transformation created by The Garden Centre Group and Greenfingers Charity has enhanced the garden beautifully. I know that the children and their families will benefit greatly from this lovely tranquil space.’

The garden opening was attended by Adam Butterfield and his mother Nicola; Adam, 4, visits Butterwick House Children’s Hospice regularly for respite care and enjoys spending time in the garden when he is there.