Jane Hartley, Sustainability Marketing Manager (and one of the climbers), explained, “With all the funds being raised I wanted to show our staff where the money goes, so with the help of Linda Petrons, Head of Fundraising at Greenfingers we found a hospice that needed to create its own garden from scratch. The Nook, near Norwich, and its ‘Rest and Reflect Garden’, will now form a haven for children and families to create lasting memories, as well as a beautiful area to find peace and calm to reflect.”
When Evergreen team members visited in November 2023 the garden, designed by Ann Marie Powell, was in the process of being built. Kev Gwilliams from the 3 peaks team helped plant a Japonica (Acer) tree which will be the central point of the garden. The garden will radiate tranquillity, with a path winding its way through fields of bulbs, shrubs, and lawn, to a bench nestled around the tree – a true haven.
Touring the Nook hospice facilities
Whilst there, we took the opportunity to have a tour around the facility, which pulled on all our heart strings. Here are some thoughts following the visit.
Kirsty Taylor wrote “The thought of visiting a children’s hospice is not easy, it makes you think about the reason the hospice exists and, as a mother of 2, it’s something you try not to think about. However, the team at The Nook were incredibly welcoming and the presentation and tour, whilst being sad, also highlighted how important it is that places like this exist. The environment and the work that the staff do, allow the children and their families to make memories together – whether it’s giving the children some freedom in the hydrotherapy pool, enjoying the sensory room, or watching the staff putting on a panto!”
“It was lovely to see that the children are already getting enjoyment from the garden we fundraised for – watching the diggers from the window. The garden has been designed so carefully to give the staff and the users of the Nook somewhere to enjoy outside. I can’t wait to see what 6,000 bulbs look like in the spring!”
“Taking on our fundraising challenge was hard – training, raising money and walking up those mountains were all painful at times but seeing the work that Greenfingers and The Nook have done makes it 100% worth it.”
Jess Nicholson, explained “After visiting The Nook and seeing the facilities and services that they offer to not just the children, but all their family really struck a chord. It is safe to say it was an incredibly emotional day that brought both gratitude and a newfound understanding for the differences these hospices make. To know that our efforts to raise money for this hospice help create a beautiful garden was amazing. I would, with no hesitation, happily climb those mountains and break a toe all over again to see the difference it makes. This space will not only service the children, but the families the staff and the community for generations to come. And, well, that really is just magical isn’t it?”
Anya said, “The Nook is an incredible place! It has so much to offer to the families in need. But however incredible, you would never want to use it. All of us were very emotional during the visit, and when I got home, I just grabbed my children in a big hug and thanked God that I have them and they are well, healthy and happy (most of the time 🙂). We did raise money, but they need more. So, I think it is very important to keep talking about what we can do to make the life of those families a little bit better.”
Kev Gwilliams, explained, that “The 3 peaks was much harder than I expected, but the support from everyone was incredible. I did not know what to expect from the visit to the Nook, I found that what they do there is inspirational and more varied than I could imagine. They deserve all the help we can give them.”
Vicki Kennard, highlights “I think it was very important for us to see where our fundraising has made an impact and, would highly recommend anyone to go and see what a difference we have made.”
Everyone in the team felt the visit was worthwhile and we are determined to keep on fundraising to help fill the unbelievable gap in funds that this amazing hospice must raise. David Bartholomew, Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at the Nook explained that children’s hospices get very little funding, only 15% of their income comes from government grants. £15m is needed each year to help fund the Nook and two other hospices in the East Anglia Children’s Hospices network. In this network there are 620 individuals currently receiving care and support, yet only 1 in 4 families who need support can currently access it.
We hope that our visit to The Nook and the difference we have made will inspire more people in Evergreen Garden Care to raise money for such a worthwhile cause with Greenfingers.
Benches create an opportunity to enjoy the outside space
Since 2020, Evergreen Garden Care, has been working with garden centres and the recycling industry to setup a system for recycling our compost bags. In 2023 23 million bags were sold, which currently go into landfill, so we wanted to show that this was unnecessary and that through collection schemes, these bags can be recycled into items that make a real difference to communities.
The pilot trial collected bags which were combined with other flexible packaging to create picnic benches. Four of those benches were donated to The Nook near Norwich, a children’s hospice for kids with life limiting diseases. These benches have enabled staff, families, and children the opportunity to use the outside space during the summer months, which up until this point had no seating.
Jane Hartley, Sustainability Marketing Manager at Evergreen Garden Care explained, “It was great to see that the efforts of consumers bringing back their old compost bags to garden centres has really been put to good use. To know that those bags did not go into landfill, but instead created benches to support hospices, made it worthwhile.”
Here is the team from Evergreen Garden Care, who visited the hospice, using one of the benches:
