An accessible garden for people with spinal injuries to enjoy has been officially opened in Sheffield by The Princess Royal.
The garden – located at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre, part of the Northern General Hospital – was unveiled on Wednesday 23rd July.
It is the latest project from Horatio’s Garden, a charity dedicated to creating and maintaining therapeutic gardens in NHS spinal injury centres across the UK – and Country Living’s charity partner for 2025. The gardens provide patients in long or mid-term care with crucial access to nature.
Princess Anne attended the opening ceremony, where she met with spinal injury patients and their families, hospital staff and the charity’s founders; Dr Olivia and David Chapple.
To mark the occasion, the founders presented the Princess Royal with a symbolic plant from the garden – an Aruncus ‘Horatio’ – which she planted during the ceremony. She also unveiled a plaque to officially declare the garden open.
Dr Olivia Chapple (le) and Princess Anne, who planted Aruncus ‘Horatio’ during the opening ceremony Ellie Grace Photography
“We were honoured to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to open Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East,” Olivia Chapple said.
“With Her Royal Highness’s long association with spinal cord injuries and having opened the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in 1995, Her Royal Highness really understands how vital the garden will be to people as they adjust and find a way to navigate the future.”
Designers Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, who said it has been “an immense privilege to bring the garden to life”, were also in attendance. Their design premiered at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where it received both a gold medal and the Best in Show award.
Drawing inspiration from Yorkshire‘s rich history, geography and industrial heritage, Horatio’s Garden Sheffield & East features a water element made from historic Sheffield cutlery casts and stone cairns crafted by fifth-generation master stone wallers.
Princess Anne met with people with spinal injuries and their families as well as NHS staff Ellie Grace Photography
Most crucially, the garden has been designed around wheelchair accessiblity, giving patients access to nature during rehabilitation. Many patients remain in spinal injury centres for several months, and sometimes up to a year.
Margaret Coles, who has been rehabilitating at the centre since May, said: “The garden is amazing – there is so much to look at and it has such a healing effect. My dad was a Yorkshire stonemason and to see the incredible craftsmanship in the garden is beautiful.
“Being out here in away from the hospital environment is really helping me feel more like myself especially having been in the centre for a long time. I can already see what a huge difference this is going to make to my recovery.”
Read more on the inspiring work Horatio’s Gardens does here.
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