by Denise Stanborough | Dec 7, 2021 | news
Our #GiftofThanks campaign is a heartfelt thank you to local NHS heroes, powered by community love…
We have all experienced two years like no other before them. NHS staff at our four hospitals have worked tirelessly to care for patients and their loved ones in incredibly difficult circumstances. So this Christmas, Love Your Hospital is saying a big THANK YOU to our wonderful staff who have given so much!
Join us and thank NHS staff for making a difference
We’d love to connect with our local community to hear your personal stories and give you the opportunity to share a message of thanks to NHS staff at your local hospital. Have you received kind and caring support from the teams at our hospital this year? Did one of our staff members go over and above to support you, or a loved one, going through Covid-19?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Email us on: [email protected] with your pictures, videos or messages of thanks and we will share them on our social media channels and with our hospital teams.
You can also share your message on social media. Use #giftofthanks to join the conversation and tag us on:
Facebook – @Loveyourhospitalcharity
Twitter – @Loveyourhosp
Instagram – @loveyourhospital
LinkedIn – @Loveyourhospital
Your ongoing support of Love Your Hospital enables us to provide:
- Hot Christmas lunches to all staff who work on Christmas day
- A mince pie for all patients in our hospitals on Christmas day
- A festive gift for all staff across the Trust’s 7 hospitals
Donate here
- £10 pays for mince pies for patients in 4 wards
- £50 pays for 10 staff Christmas lunches
Thank you for your support!
by Denise Stanborough | Oct 21, 2021 | news
A parent’s room at St Richard’s Hospital has received a charity-funded makeover with a tranquil garden-themed wall mural taking centre stage.
The room, which is situated on the children’s ward, is a space for parents to take time out by providing a self-catering facility to make a hot drink and meal or take a shower.
When the room was closed during the pandemic, ward play specialists, Kerry Brunnen and Shelly Hill, saw a perfect opportunity to give the space a much-needed revamp.
The wall mural was inspired by West Dean gardens
Kerry said, “When parents have a poorly child staying with us on the ward, they often don’t look after themselves properly. They’ll sit bedside for hours on end, skip meals or won’t want to trouble a member of staff for a drink to stay hydrated. This room is equipped with a kitchen, seating, TV and a shower room so they can step away from the ward environment and take back some ‘me time’. We felt a makeover would create a space that felt much more relaxing and restful.”
With funding support from Love Your Hospital, the dedicated charity of St Richard’s, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals, the room has been upgraded with a new sofa and two chairs, a two-person dining table, TV, cutlery, crockery and a vibrant wall mural of greenery and cool waters.
The artist, Chloe Dowsett of C.D. Sign and Design, had already painted a wall mural on another unit in the hospital and was approached to work her artistic magic on the children’s ward.
Chloe said, “I welcome any work that will make someone smile and brighten up a space that people may need to rest or relax in. On a personal level, this project on Howard Ward was a special one. I was actually born at St Richard’s in 1989 and my whole family live in the surrounding villages and always have as long as I can remember. The staff are always so thoughtful and I’ve always celebrated the care I have received there.”
Ward staff wanted the mural to be connected to the local area and chose images of West Dean Gardens as inspiration. Chloe was able to incorporate the garden’s flint bridge, Victorian glasshouse and pond surrounded by an array of trees, flowers and plants.
Kerry said, “As play specialists, we’re here to support parents when they’re going through a challenging time and this project has really been at the heart of that. The response from parents, staff and patients has been overwhelmingly positive and our parent’s room has now been transformed from a plain, magnolia room into a beautiful and tranquil space we’re all really proud of.”
by Denise Stanborough | Oct 20, 2021 | news
Staff at St Richard’s Hospital have been gifted a beautiful ‘Wellbeing Garden’ as a thank you for their hard work and dedication during the pandemic from a local landscape and garden designer.
Andy Stedman Design, based in Chichester, initially came on board with the project when Love Your Hospital, the dedicated charity for St Richard’s, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals, reached out for his services in 2020 to work on a new design for the existing space.
Sadly, the funding earmarked for the project fell through putting the garden makeover at risk. Andy stepped in with his colleague Marc Morris, both of whom have a very close connection to St Richard’s, with the incredible offer of resurrecting the project almost to the tune of more than £200,000.
Andy and his team made phone calls and posted on social media to call in the biggest of favours from local, national, and even European suppliers and contractors to donate their time, expertise and materials for free to help make this wonderful garden design transition from paper to reality.
Wellbeing Garden designed by Andy Stedman Design
The new garden boasts an open seated area paved with porcelain slabs, secure bike storage with ‘living roofs’ and is surrounded by feature planters featuring architectural trees and beds full of colourful perennials. The garden also has one large and two smaller shaded canopies, which were funded by donations to Love Your Hospital’s Hospital Heroes Covid-19 Appeal.
Andy Stedman said: “Being outside in a garden, in nature is without doubt hugely regenerative – lowering feelings of stress and increasing feelings of wellbeing. We are proud and very grateful to have worked together with our local suppliers and contractors to bring this garden to life for staff at St Richard’s hospital and we are excited to see their reaction to the new space! Everyone can benefit from being in an outdoor space, and we hope this garden will inspire people to make the most of their space at home to reap the benefits, whether gardening, relaxing or dining.”
Steve Crump, Director of Charites for Love Your Hospital said: “This garden transformation fits into a programme of work supported by the charity dedicated to improving outdoor facilities for patients and staff across all our hospitals. It has created a calm and tranquil space for staff at St Richard’s to spend time in away from their working environments. The biggest thank you to Andy Stedman and his team for getting this project back on track and to the many suppliers and contractors who supported it to completion. This truly will be a legacy to staff who went above and beyond for us all during the pandemic and to those who worked from the heart to create it.”
The garden is now open to staff and there will be an official opening of the new space on 5 November.
A huge thank you to the following who made this garden possible:
Talasey (porcelain paving)
All Green Group (clay pavers, aggregates and cement)
In-Lite (lighting)
Jewsons in Chichester (cement/plant hire)
Fordingbridge (Pegolas)
Mobilane Europe
A Place In the Garden (planters)
Viridis Plants (all plants)
City Irrigation (irrigation system)
South Coast Skips (Skip Hire)
Covers Chichester (Timber Featheredge/fixings)
Arbour Landscape Solutions (grout, primer and tile spacers)
Feel Good Films (videography)
Berni Visual (photography)
Paul Cameron Landscapes
Groundwave Ltd
Utopia Landscapes Ltd
Gibbard and Sons Ltd
Ko Plumbing and Heating Ltd
J&H Contruction Ltd
Wes Landscaping and Property Solutions Ltd
Outside Inside Garden and Property Maintenance Ltd
by Denise Stanborough | Jun 30, 2021 | news
A new garden has opened at Worthing Hospital for patients, visitors and staff to enjoy as a place of solace and calm.
The Serenity Garden, located by the Penguin Foyer in the hospital, has been completely transformed into a tranquil space that was previously inaccessible to the public.
The hospital’s chaplain, Reverend David Hill and his wife Sandra, commissioned the redesign and creation of the new garden in loving memory of their sons, Jason and Stuart, who sadly lost their lives in a helicopter accident during an excursion to the Grand Canyon in 2018.
David said: “After the tragedy of losing both of our grown-up children, we became aware there were very few places for people in our hospital who have received bad news to sit and ‘be’ without attracting the attention of those nearby. We also wanted to have a place that commemorated Jason and Stuart’s rich lives.”
“For years, I have walked past the Penguin Garden and we started to think about how we could combine our memories to make it a special place for peace and stillness while surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of nature. The idea of a Serenity Garden was born and we were thrilled when the hospital fully endorsed the idea.”
The outside area now provides plenty of benches and ambient lighting nestled amongst newly added plants and trees. Garden designer, Luc Harvengt at Luc Gardens, worked on the brief with David and Sandra to create a ‘woodland experience’ with accessibility and privacy at the heart of the design concept.
Luc said: “We started with the circular seating area right in the middle of the garden which is surrounded by raised beds so that visitors can sit in peace. We planted beautiful tree ferns which are perfect for shady areas and I kept the floor all one level and colour to make it accessible to people with visual impairment and less disorienting for those with cognitive challenges.”
Plenty of room has been created for easy navigation around the garden, incorporating space for visitors with a pushchair or those requiring a wheelchair, use of crutches or a walking frame.
David and Sandra Hill joined by Chief Executive Dame Marianne Griffiths and guests at the garden opening.
The garden also has clever lighting which creates an atmospheric scene at night illuminating the trees and plants. Luc added: “We placed a globe light right in the middle of the garden which is on 24/7. It means even on the darkest days, there will always be a light shining.”
The beloved metal penguins, a familiar feature to hospital visitors who have called the outside space their home for many years, continue to inhabit the garden around the periphery.
David Clayton-Evans, head of charity for Love Your Hospital, the dedicated charity for St Richard’s, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals, said: “This is such an incredible donation and this wonderful gift from David and Sandra has helped to create a lasting space where patients, families and our staff will have a meaningful and beautiful place to visit in the heart of our hospital.”
David Hill said: “Life is not always going to be easy and whether you’re a member of staff, a visitor or a patient feeling bruised by what life has thrown at you, we hope that this garden will make a small contribution to a person’s need for peace, serenity and respite. The Serenity Garden is now open for anyone and everyone and we are humbled to have been a part of providing this place. We hope it will become special to many people in the future.”
by Denise Stanborough | Mar 27, 2020 | news
Hospital staff at Western Sussex NHS Foundation Trust thank the public for their support.
Donate to our COVID-19 appeal here
An appeal has been launched to support staff at St Richard’s, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals during the coronavirus crisis.
Love Your Hospital, the dedicated charity of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has launched the ‘Hospital Heroes COVID-19’ Appeal to help staff caring for patients with the virus.
The charity, which raises funds to provide state-of-the-art medical equipment, upgrade hospital facilities and support staff development, is now focusing its efforts on supporting the health and wellbeing of clinical and non-clinical staff being hailed by the local community as ‘Hospital Heroes’.
Alan McCarthy, trust chairman said: “We are all so proud of our dedicated staff who are showing real resilience in helping us to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
“Not only are they caring for the most vulnerable in our communities, but many staff are isolated from their own families and working longer hours than expected so they can be there for us all. I do hope everyone will get behind our charity’s Hospital Heroes COVID-19 appeal to help give back to staff during this challenging time.”
Coronavirus in the UK is still rising with the Government predicting more cases will emerge in the coming weeks. NHS staff – including nurses, doctors, midwives, paramedics, domestic cleaners, porters, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals – are among the most vital key workers in the ongoing fight against this virus.
Funds raised from the appeal could help the charity provide ‘Comfort Packs’ for staff working long shifts, especially those who are staying in emergency accommodation, away from their own homes and families.
Unfortunately, due to hospital restrictions at present, St Richard’s, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals cannot accept physical donations or gifts. Instead, staff are encouraging people to donate money so that the Trust can best decide where the need is greatest.
David Clayton-Evans, head of charity at Love Your Hospital, said: “We have been amazed at the level of support coming in from people across West Sussex and we know there is a real desire to make sure NHS staff are being cared for too.
“We have launched this COVID-19 appeal to do just that and I’d like to say a heartfelt thanks in advance to everyone for their support of our wonderful hospital teams who are doing a tremendous job.”
Donate to our COVID-19 appeal here
Alternatively, financial donations may also be sent to: Love Your Hospital COVID-19 Appeal, St Richard’s Hospital, Stillman House, Spitalfield Lane, Chichester PO19 6SE or to make a donation by credit card over the phone, please call 0800 028 4890.
