The Lord Mayor of Chester Councillor Sherin Akhtar, along with Father Paul Shaw from St Werburgh’s Roman Catholic Parish, have officially unveiled a new inclusive community garden at Grosvenor Manor care centre in Chester.

 

The stunning new garden was the idea of the wellbeing team at Grosvenor Manor, senior wellbeing coordinator Lisa Forth and wellbeing assistant Siobhan Rands, who invited the whole community around the highly rated care home to get involved.

 

Reaching out to schools and community groups, the idea was well received and grew at pace with many donating knowledge, time and gardening expertise and others bringing energy, enthusiasm and equipment.

 

Land and sea were represented with the British Army and Royal Navy who were joined Cheshire Police and also the Salvation Army helping with all areas of design and construction.

 

Local schools were also heavily involved. Reflecting its passion for music and desire to provide a space to host entertainment for residents, Bishops High School worked to create a small stage area and ‘rock’ garden.

 

The Kings School undertook a number of watercolour painting sessions with residents, turning everyone’s works of art into an amazing backdrop for the garden, Kids Planet Nursery have created an area for an allotment so that they can grow potatoes and make homemade chips and children from Cherry Grove Primary School planted a cherry tree.

 

And Janet and Bronte the dog from Therapy Dogs Nationwide have worked with residents to brightly paint a number of pots for plants during their regular paws crafting sessions.

 

After a blessing by Father Paul, Lord Mayor of Chester Cllr Sherin Akhtar had the honour of officially opening the new garden for all to enjoy. She said: “This really has been a whole community effort and the result is a stunning new communal outdoor space for all to enjoy. It has clearly taken many hours of hard work to create the garden and is testament to what can be achieved when communities pull together. Everyone should be very pleased with their efforts.”

 

Senior wellbeing coordinator Lisa Forth said: “At Grosvenor Manor we have some beautiful outside space that we enjoy making the most of and already had a wellbeing walking path that finished around the back of the home. It was a lovely and natural space, but nothing particularly special until we reached out to our wonderful local community and invited everyone together to create a fabulous space that could be enjoyed by all.

 

“Our fully inclusive community garden has been developed and created by the local community, not only for the wellbeing of our residents, but for the wellbeing and enjoyment of the whole community. Our residents have enjoyed watching and supporting all involved, but we don’t stop here, this is an ongoing project and we look forward to welcoming everyone into the home to tend to their parts of the garden and enjoy spending time here.”

 

Wellbeing assistant, Siobhan Rands, flew with this project supporting everyone involved. She said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing this project grow from a grassed area to the beautiful garden that we see today. It has been a lot of planning, speaking to our nursing residents to establish what they wanted in the garden and reaching out to local schools and other organisations to pull it together.

“Each section has been made with love and attention to detail and blends well as one garden overall and will only bloom further with everyone’s shared love and passion. I feel extremely proud to lead this project that was given to me as a challenge and that it is the start of something incredible.”

 

“I am extremely proud of Siobhan’s efforts and achieving such an amazing garden,” concluded Lisa, “From the little seeds of an idea planted, it has blossomed into something truly amazing.”

 

Thanks go to Lieutenant Antonio Valente and Commander Kev Stockton (Royal Navy), Warrant Officer 2 Scott Green and Captain Rob Whalley (British Army), Dr David Kay and        Reverend Hana Amner (Bishops High School), Jen Hughes (Cherry Grove Primary School), Lorraine Black (The Kings School), Jamie Lee (Kids Planet Nursery), Janet and Bronte the dog (Therapy Dogs Nationwide), PCSO Jamie Carpenter and PC Chris McCue (Cheshire Police) and Corps Officer Gay Tonks and Corps Officer Andy Tonks (Salvation Army).

 

New Care, now part of the Lovett Care Group, is one of the UK’s leading care home operators with a portfolio of stunning care facilities and an enviable reputation for outstanding care that is second to none. For further information on Grosvenor Manor, please visit https://www.newcarehomes.com/care-homes/grosvenor-manor-chester/ or call 01244 565 495.