HORATIO’S GARDEN GI VING PATIENTS ACCESS TO NATURE
H oratio’s Garden is a charity that aims to create, and lovingly tend, beautiful gardens at NHS spinal injury centres. It works with leading designers to develop stunning sanctuaries for patients who face spending many months in hospital and whose treatment is assisted by the beauty and stimulation of purposedesigned gardens.
The charity is named after Horatio Chapple, a schoolboy who wanted to be a doctor and who volunteered at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre at Salisbury Hospital in the summers of 2010 and 2011. After witnessing the catastrophic and life-changing nature of injuries suffered by patients there, he resolved to create a place away from the wards where they could see the sky, inhale fresh air and begin the long process of learning to live with their injuries.
His research showed that at times of stress, being outside and close to nature contributed to a feeling of wellbeing – yet the patients he met had little opportunity to do that.
Tragically, Horatio’s own life was cut short, aged 17, while on an expedition in Svalbard, Norway, in 2011 when his camp was attacked by a polar bear. His legacy lives on, however, in the first Horatio’s Garden, which opened at Salisbury Hospital in 2012.
Designed by Cleve West, the garden has transformed the experience for patients in Salisbury. Rather than being confined to bustling, noisy wards, they can now find much-needed solace in the garden, whatever the season, or enjoy a cup of tea and a slice of homemade cake there with family or friends. From their hospital beds, they can take part in horticultural activities, try art therapy and enjoy concerts and numerous other activities in the garden.
The charity is now seeking to bring similar green spaces to all of the UK’s 11 regional specialist spinal centres.
The second Horatio’s Garden, designed by James AlexanderSinclair, will open in 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit in Glasgow, which cares for patients from all over Scotland. And the charity is now raising funds for the third Horatio’s Garden, designed by Joe Swift, at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, which cares for 150 new patients each year, including teenagers and children.
The charity wants as many patients with spinal injuries as possible to experience the happy atmosphere of Horatio’s Garden. Its team of volunteers, doctors, and gardeners, some of whom have spinal injuries themselves, are carrying Horatio’s vision forward and giving people hope at a time when it is most needed.