Wedgwood House therapy garden

Let us take you on a tour of the journey so far…

Our project is to transform a piece of wasteland into a multi-sensory and wildlife rich therapeutic garden at the adult acute unit at Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds, and we need £90,000 to do it.

We’ve already raised half of that from crowd funding, grants and local business so are well on the way to creating this space to be used by patients, staff, and other vulnerable user groups.

Non-patients living in the community who are struggling with their mental health will also have access to the garden and the planned outreach programme of therapeutic and educational garden activities which will be held there.

Fundraising started in 2021 when the father of a previous patient generously raised £700; 2022 kicked off with £6,000 raised from crowd funding which paid for design and development work.

The site has been carefully pruned to allow in more natural light and NSFT estates team has moved existing wild primroses to protect them in preparation for the garden to be built in the spring.

The project has been a collaborative effort from the start, with patients and staff involved in developing the design with the project team, which includes assistant psychologist Katherine Falk, volunteer co-lead Mossy Kennedy and project partner Greener Growth, a Community Interest Company based in Suffolk which provides educational and therapeutic horticultural activities in schools, prisons and other community settings.

“Our goal for this garden is to enable change and transform the lives and future opportunities of all Wedgwood House patients and other vulnerable user groups: to fulfil their potential by empowering them with new skills, increased confidence, greater resilience, an appreciation for the natural living world and a chance to play a meaningful role in their communities.”

You can donate via JustGiving at Wedgwood House is fundraising for NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK NHS FOUNDATION TRUST CHARITABLE FUND (justgiving.com)