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Gardens at Addenbrooke's

Golden Jubilee Garden

Gardens provide a retreat from the busy Hospital environment for patients, carers, visitors and staff for all users of the Hospital site.

The Golden Jubilee Garden was the focus of the Hospital's celebrations of the Queen's Golden Jubilee 2002. On 18 October 2002, it was officially opened by The Lord Lieutenant Mr James P Crowden KStJ.

The Jubilee Garden is an important Addenbrooke's project to create a relaxing, quiet space for all users of the Hospital to enjoy. It is just one of our projects to help improve the environment for patients, visitors and staff.

A staggering 6000+ members of staff and up to 53,000 inpatients and 375,000 outpatients could use this garden each year. The garden is friendly to wheelchair users and safe for accompanied children.

Team members were particularly keen to develop an open-access area for those patients who are rehabilitating and would benefit from practising their exercises surrounded by nature.

One of the clients of the
Activity Centre with a member
of the Centre's staff planting
up one of our planters with
bulbs.

Staff use the area for their own relaxation and during their daily work. We created accessible areas for the elderly clients of the Activity Centre to do some light gardening, and the physiotherapists use the area for walking practice.

Who developed it and now maintains it?

In 2002, the project was co-ordinated by Addenbrooke's Arts, working with Estates and Facilities and a small project team of volunteers. It was planned and developed by a small project team of patients, visitors and staff.

Now it is maintained by the gardening team at Addenbrooke's.

Who supported it?

The garden has core support from Addenbrooke's Charities but donations are very welcome for its future development and maintenance. In 2002, local organisations, businesses and individuals supported this worthwhile addition to the Hospital's facilities.

'Art in the garden': we aim to fundraise and commission artworks for this space, and have used it for Addenbrooke's Art's exhibitions and other artistic events.

Location

There are green text signs to the garden - pick them up from the concourse by the hairdressers or from the Clown corridor.

From the concourse, go past the hairdressers and the C&D lifts, turn left slightly following the signs to the Brain Imaging Unit, at the end of this corridor go left towards the discharge lounge, right past the lounge, right a bit more and left past the entrance to the F&G gym and take the door outside as if you were going to the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre or the Forvie site. It is only two minutes from the concourse but it is quite easy to get lost along the way.

You can also get to it from Robinson Way (the circular road around the south side of the hospital); turn into the car park by the R Block, go past the R block entrance and carry on past the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre towards the Children's Day Unit.

Description of the garden:

The area retains its original central turfed area with two mature lime trees and three younger blossom trees. Three wheelchair- (and pushchair-) friendly paths have been created across this area. These meet in a new circular 'sociable' area with seating and a central bed with a commissioned sculpture (from the Cardoza-Kindersley Workshops).

On one arc of this circle, we have built a 'tactile' raised bed at waist-height, with embedded pebbles and casts of seashells and fossils. This slopes down into a grassy mound for relaxing against/running up (if you are small or young at heart!).

To one side of the triangle, the remnants of a covered walkway have been converted into an open pergola (with trellis) for scented climbing plants. New seating has been placed between these uprights to provide a shaded area for sitting.

In response to requests from staff, we have moved the existing seating away from patient areas and offices and have tried to protect their privacy and confidentiality by planting wide beds next to the windows.

A volunteer has made some windowboxes and planters for us.

The Royston & District Angling Club have made and donated a toolbox for patients and volunteers to store their tools and other garden equipment.

Other projects to improve the environment...

The Jubilee Garden is just one of Addenbrooke's projects to help improve the environment of users of the Hospital site. Many internal areas of the site are continually being upgraded and new buildings built.

The internal and external environment is being enriched by Addenbrooke's Art projects including the

As part of our 2020 vision project, Estates and the Capital Planning Manager are working on a site-wide landscaping strategy.