Almost a year after the Garden of Memories, based on the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital site, was opened virtually due to COVID restrictions, the area was formally opened with a small celebration attended by Chief Executive Martin Hodgson and Chair Eileen Fairhurst.
The completed Garden has been created with the support of a number of local organisations, as well as the Trust’s charity ELHT&Me, marking an investment in the estate of the hospital which will make a real difference to patients, their families, colleagues and visitors.
“The last 18 months has been a time like nothing we have experienced before”, said Chief Executive, Martin Hodgson.
“The impact of the pandemic on the Trust has been brutal and the response from everyone across the organisation has been incredible.
“The creation of this memorial space, with a focus on Covid, is one example of where all colleagues have contributed to our response. The Garden is already valued by colleagues, patients and their families who need a place to come and be able to think and reflect.
“Thank you to everyone who has been part of this project – it could not have been any better and against the backdrop of everything else we have faced, it is a tribute to the Trust that we have been able to invest in something so positive and beautiful.”
The Garden was officially opened by Trust Chair Eileen Fairhurst and Executive Director of Nursing Christine Pearson.
Canon Andrew Horsfall, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Manager, and Chair of the Bereavement Steering Group, who had the original idea for the garden project, dedicated the garden with these words:
“We dedicate this garden as a place of remembrance, a place where hurting and anxious hearts find healing.
“A place we recall the never-ending pressures. A place to show tears and to wipe them away. To let go of the bad and take hold of the good.
“For the beauty of nature and for this place of peace and refuge. For treasured memories of those who once journeyed with us. For the solace and comfort of friends and colleagues who still surround us. For the inner strength we gain from those we are close to, work with and share our lives with day by day.
“For those who will find in this garden a precious moment of quietness and reflection to discover again who they are, to recharge tired bodies minds and spirits. To contemplate significant news about health.
“For those who made this Garden of Memories possible.
“May it remind us of the importance of relationships, time to reflect on life, inner peace and resilience and the hopefulness of human life.
“For all these things and more, we say thank you.
“We hope that this new garden planted with love will grow roots and thrive. We hope that patients, families, staff and everyone who visits the garden will find it a special place.”
The Garden was funded through donations gifted to the Trust’s official charity, ELHT&Me. Donors included Engie, Prosol, Piggot and Whitfield, Wood Integrated Building Services, Marland Electricals, Thorne, IHP and Pendle Signs, who contributed time and/or materials for the Garden. Financial donations were received by HCP, Turners, D&G Builders, Medi Teknique Ltd, Brooktherm Refrigeration Ltd, Quartz and Bannister Hall.
The opening of the Garden was also marked by the burial of a time capsule, which contained the day’s newspaper, a copy of the opening blessing, a lateral flow test, knitted hearts from the Spiritual Care Centre, and a set of 2021 coins.
Gardeners Eddie McMahon, Steven Lloyd and Trevor Heywood were thanked expressly for their hard work and commitment to developing the garden, choosing specific plans and designs to create an ideal space for reflection, mindfulness, ‘time-out’, conversation and remembrance.
Ian Turner, Maintenance Supervisor, said: “I am extremely proud of the dedication shown by my team to create a space that will benefit everyone who visits the Trust site, providing comfort and a safe space to take some time out.
“The Garden has been months in the planning and some team members have dedicated their own personal time to make it in to a reality. I am so impressed with what they have achieved and hope it will be enjoyed by everyone who visits it now, and in the future.”