A new information board in Benenden Hospital’s sensory garden has been officially unveiled.
The board was made by Fitzpatrick Woolmer and the firm’s Finance Director Sharon Dawe attended the unveiling ceremony. It was produced at a discounted rate as Sharon’s parents, Maureen and Peter Watts, used to work at the Hospital. Maureen worked in the linen room and Peter was a former gardener.
The information board details the plants which are in the garden and explains how the sensory garden came about thanks to a legacy left by Edna Winter, a former member of Benenden’s Committee of Management and a keen gardener. Edna was born in 1931, she joined Benenden in 1945. She was a stalwart member of the Rising Mercury Society, friends and fundraisers for the Hospital. She died in 2011.
Carol Head, head grounds person at Benenden Hospital, said: “Edna was an enthusiastic supporter of the Hospital. She donated trees and shrubs and left a beautiful legacy in the form of the sensory garden which is named Edna’s Retreat. The garden is an oasis of peace for patients, visitors and staff.
It’s great that now with the information board we can tell visitors more about Edna and all about the plants in the garden which appeal to all five senses.”
Carol’s daughter Jeanette Head, from the University of Christ Church in Canterbury, who lectures in health and wellbeing, helped with the information board, which is made from green oak. Information on the board will be changed seasonally.
Those attending the unveiling ceremony included members of the Hospital’s Grounds team, Director of Infrastructure and Support Services Helen Freeman and Director of Business Development and Performance Denise Telford.
Published on 09 November 2016