The Limes recently welcomed VIP visitors for a special event to mark the opening of its brand new allotment and sensory garden.
The garden helps people supported at the service get involved in gardening and the hospital become more environmentally friendly. The service opted to create the allotment and garden on site as it makes it more accessible for everyone supported there, no matter their leave status.
Created by the service’s Maintenance Technician Jamie Andrews, who 
designed and built it from scratch, the allotment is bursting into life and growing fruits and vegetables including broccoli, sweetcorn, lettuce, cucumber, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and courgettes.
Visitors to the opening event were able to tour the garden’s flower beds, greenhouse area, pergola, bird table and paved area. Elysium CEO Joy Chamberlain officially opened the garden during the event, which doubled as a celebration to also mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
Hospital Director Louise Hamilton said: “The opening event was a wonderful way to welcome guests from both inside and outside of Elysium to come along and see for themselves the impact the garden has had on the service.
The garden not only helps the people we support learn more about gardening, it’s also helping people spend more time outdoors and is also helping us become more sustainable as a hospital.
The sensory garden is also very relaxing to spend time in. The project has been a huge success so far and we were thrilled to share it with our visitors.”
