The Doctor Hickey Surgery created a Go Fund Me page in December 2018 to raise money towards creating a memorial garden for patients and staff to remember our homeless patients that we have sadly lost.
We reached our target of £3,000.00 in December 2019 and our plan was to start the work in Spring 2020, however the Covid Pandemic had other plans and work had to be delayed.
News of the project sparked interest amongst our patient group who met with the Outreach Project Manager, Chris Young from The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), whose offices are based around the corner, a mere stones through away. On his first visit he measured, drew plans and offered us a list of all the plants and foliage established in the beds. His drawings have giving us a clear vision of what we would like to achieve.
Phase one of the work commenced on 26th November 2021, which began with carefully uprooting the established shrubs from the flower beds, new homes have since been found which means a part of the surgery lives on elsewhere. On Saturday 27th November, the coldest and windiest day experienced, we took delivery of 2 tons of sand and sub base and a further 10 bags of cement. Spades came out and digging began to make room for the sand and base, the ground was quite firm, everyone broke out in a sweat. Once a deep enough cavity had been achieved the sub base was scattered and pounded by the Whacker Plate, that had been kindly donated for the day. The messy part then commenced, the bath was filled with the sand, cement and water which saw the first slab laid. We estimated that this first phase would take two weekends, this was not the case and we were delighted when the job was completed on the second day.
Huge and special thanks to the patients involved during and on the day Danny, Daryl, Harry and Stuart for giving their time and working hard to accomplish this first phase. We would also like to thank Eddie , Jason and Lee for the donation of equipment and their time. The garden has been given a new lease of life, it looks fresh , tidy and offers lots more seating space. Patients and visitors have expressed how impressed they are with the transformation, this has seen further donations and more patients offering their time when we begin Phase Two, which will commence in May 2022.
Paste and copy the link below for more information and pictures of the project so far:
https://wwwgarden.gofundme.com/f/ap2fb7-memorial
