John Curtis, Chief Executive of Ventnor Botanic Gardens CIC has opened the new’ Four Seasons Garden’ at St Mary’s Hospital, Newport.
The garden has been created specifically for any person with dementia to use and visit together with their family, friends or carer when they are receiving any form of healthcare treatment at St
Mary’s as an in-patient, out-patient or as a visitor them self.
It is a quiet outdoor sunny secluded site, with raised flowerbeds, full disabled access, special handmade outdoor furniture and beautiful artworks. It is the ideal place for persons to have quiet conversations and escape from the stress of a hospital visit.
It is located in the North Hospital opposite Shackleton Ward.
The Garden design and brief has been co-ordinated by Healing Arts who consulted with the Shackleton healthcare team, West Wight Alzheimer’s Café, and AgeUK’s West Wight Memory Club and awarded the garden construction contract to Crag Ratcliff of CAR Gardens, Ryde; the furniture contract to Peter Matthews of Clifford Matthews, Whitwell; the glass window designs and glass sculpture to
Martin Evans of GloryArtGlass, Sandown and the mosaic artworks to Boris Moscoff and his community studio team at Seahorses Studio, Freshwater.
The Garden construction cost has been funded by the King’s Fund, London in partnership with the
Department of Health and the artworks commissioned with a grant from the Arts Council’s ‘Grants for All’ National Lottery funded scheme.