City hospital to have Chelsea garden thanks to Teapot Trust
WHEN he r y o u n g daughter was seriously ill in hospital, Laura Young would spend what few breaks she had taking a walk in nearby Kelvingrove Park.
“Just being able to get some fresh air in beautiful surroundings, even for an hour, kept me sane,” she recalled.
“What disappoints me, with this fashion for massive hospitals, is that they have lost all connection with the outdoors and nature, when we know how important that is to our mental health.
“A garden, with plants and flowers and space to breathe, would have meant the world to us when Verity was ill.”
Verity Young died, aged eight, after a long fight against lupus and cancer.
Her parents, Laura and John, set up Teapot Trust in 2010 to provide art therapy for children with chronic health conditions, who often spend long periods in hospital having invasive tests, injections and treatments.
Since then, the charity has supported more than 13,000 children and young people, working with hospitals, patient support groups and GPs.
Next year, in a rare opportunity for a small Scottish charity, it will create a garden at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Afterwards, it will permanently relocate to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, where Verity was treated.
“Verity spent hours drawing flowers and trees and butterflies when she was in hospital, and I realised only many years later, through my knowledge of art therapy, that she did that because she was so starved of the outdoors and nature,” explained Laura, a former Glasgow Times Scotswoman of the Year, who lives in East Lothian. “My heart goes out to people stuck in these concrete, highly medicalised buildings, with no space to process what is happening to them, to their child.”
The Elsewhere Garden has been created by landscape designers Semple Begg, and while details of the plants and flowers involved are being kept strictly under wraps until the show, vivid colours and exciting shapes will be key.
Sarah Randell, chief executive of Teapot Trust, said: “The opportunities this show garden will give Teapot Trust are hugely significant. It’s a platform from which we’ll share the impact of our work and draw more children and families in need to us so they can access art therapy without barriers or cost.”
Laura left Teapot Trust in the summer, although she remains an ambassador for the charity. Getting plans for the Elsewhere Garden “over the line” was her last project, she explained.
“Now, it’s the marvellous team at Teapot Trust who will see it through,” added Laura.
“I’m very proud of everything we have achieved with the charity.”
Visit Teapot Trust’s Elsewhere Garden at RHS Chelsea from May 22 to 27, 2023, or virtually via a web portal at teapot- trust. org.