Long serving members of staff were treated to a special garden party in the grounds of Glenfield Hospital, where they enjoyed afternoon tea in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Doctors, nurses and other members of staff, enjoyed sandwiches, tea and cake in the ‘secret garden’ at Glenfield Hospital earlier today (June 3), which was created back in 2019 as a “peaceful, reflective space” for staff, patients and visitors.
A commemorative tree was also planted in the grounds to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, and also to officially open its newly planted ‘blossom walk’.
At the event, Richard Mitchell CEO of University Hospitals of Leicester, showed his appreciation for her Majesty’s long service, and also that of staff at the hospital.
Speaking of the garden, he said that it is used as a place of reflection, for staff and patients to go and get a bit of respite and quiet time on their own.
“We try and encourage patients who are able to safely get out of their bed to visit the garden, and we also wherever possible encourage colleagues to take some time out of a very busy day to come here, and have an opportunity to spend some time on their own”, he said.
“For anyone who hasn’t been here, it’s really a place of sanctuary. It’s surprisingly large, it’s an old ward Victorian garden, with so many different elements to it, so whenever I’m over here at the Glenfield, I do try and take five minutes to pop in and say hello to people”.
Dozens of guests attended today’s event, the largest gathering the garden has seen since its inception.
To highlight the Platinum Jubilee theme, all tables were marked with royally appropriate names, including ‘Windsor’, ‘Clarence’ and ‘Balmoral’.
Karen James, Commercial Services Manager at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, was instrumental in the garden coming to fruition, and was at the forefront of raising funds to enable the vision to come to life.
“It’s just a little vision that I had, so I started speaking to people to ask what the ground was used for, and what they’d want for it if we could get the garden back to some sort of state”, she revealed. “And that’s where the journey started”.
“It took a lot of hard-work and arm twisting, a lot of conversations with people, but we’ve had some investment from the Trust, and our charity team. However, the majority has been through the goodwill of others, through local businesses and grant applications”, she added.
To find out more about the garden, visit: https://twitter.com/secretgardenuhl
