Stephen, an out-patient at Thames Hospice who we interviewed in 2023, explained how the therapeutic beauty of the Great Outdoors at the hospice made the world of difference to his quality of life:
“I’m an outdoor person. Being cared for next to this level of beauty and of nature is everything to me. It’s what I was before I was diagnosed, but it allows an overlap between the two.
“There’s a healing aspect to what we do. Whether it’s planters, a flowerbed, bird box, hedgehog feeding station, or a bee hotel – stepping out to do little important jobs, we work together, patients, volunteers, health professionals, to make something tangible. It’s what a community does.”
Graham Stone, former Garden Volunteer and Ambassador at Thames Hospice, also believes in the power of The Great Outdoors for the hospice’s patients:
“When you have patients coming in, they just walk out, and you can almost see a little bit of weight coming off. This environment is so special – there’s always something to distract. The movement: butterflies, the bees, dragonflies, the changing colours of the water, the whole context of the garden. It just gives them that bit of reassurance that they’re ok.
“Everybody fights for this place – and that’s what I love.”
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