Strictly Head Judge Shirley Ballas opened a special ‘Urban Foraging Station’ at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital yesterday (Wednesday 31st August 2022) after it was showcased at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Funded by ‘Project Giving Back’, the garden is the creation of Hugh and Howard Miller and has been designed to support children’s mental and physical health by encouraging engagement with nature through foraging, sharing healthy food, play and relaxing.
The NHS’s 5 steps to mental wellbeing – connecting with people, being physically active, learning new skills, giving to others and mindfulness – have all been integrated into the garden’s design.
The garden won a Silver Gilt Award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show back in May and will now has a permanent home in front of Alder Hey’s new mental health inpatient Unit ‘Sunflower House’ which will open its doors this Autumn.
Shirley Ballas supported Alder Hey Children’s Charity in a major fundraising drive for the new building, bringing attention to the fact that 7 out of 10 children and young people who experience a mental health condition in the UK do not get appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age. This new Unit will enable more children to access the treatment they need at the time they need it.
Shirley officially opened the garden and met some of the children and young people who the garden will benefit.
For more information about the Urban Foraging Station go to: https://vimeo.com/705508385/abacf7db80
Photo credit: Gareth Jones
