St George's Hospital Charity has unveiled the exciting new look for the refurbished Children's Garden at St George's Hospital, Tooting which was made possible thanks to the generous donation from long-term supporter and philanthropist Dmitry Leus of The Leus Family Foundation.

The garden is situated on the perimeter road of the St George's Hospital site, is close to the Children's Outpatient Centre (Dragon Centre).

It was first opened in 2012 with a focus on creating an interactive outside space for young patients and their families to take a break or take time for reflection.

The garden allows children to relax and reduce stress, acting as a tool for exploring fears around illness, and serves as a distraction from the hospital environment.

Updates to the regenerated site include the extension of existing play areas:

Flooring

The original sand base was replaced with bright, child-friendly rubber-crumb, meaning a more sturdy yet springy and durable material for children to explore and play.

Turf zones

A variety of artificial turf play surfaces replace sand and grass zones meaning it's more suitable to use play equipment year-round adding fun and adventure to the play area.

Improved accessibility

The durable turf provides a flatter terrain improving accessibility for recovering children, those with limited mobility, wheelchair users and buggy users. A new fully DDA compliant gated entrance enables greater access for all to enjoy the garden. The garden will be used by the Play Team, Paediatric Psychology team, hospital school run by Wandsworth Council and outpatients.

An additional seating area will be installed in the spring with a table and bench, kindly donated by The Playground Company. Parent volunteer Robin Newman and his team from local company, Gardens and Leaves generously gave their time to re-paint the perimeter fence and tidy up the garden beds, ready for springtime planting.

Reviewing the garden at the official opening, Mr Leus said: "I am truly honoured to be a supporter of the garden regeneration. My long relationship with St George's has given me a great admiration for the children who are patients here, their families and the amazing staff who care for them. This garden will lift spirits and hopefully provide moments of joy and relaxation in between treatment. It is probably needed more than ever, as the coronavirus places added restrictions and pressures on all."

Amerjit Chohan, Chief Executive at St George's Hospital Charity added "The long-standing support that Dmitry has given to St George's Hospital Charity has made a significant difference to the wellbeing of the children within the care of the hospital and the garden regeneration project is no exception. We very much value our partnership with The Leus Family Foundation and we look forward to continuing our positive collaboration in the coming months and years."

Sue Affleck, Head Nurse of Children's Services met with Mr Leus and praised the new updates: "Gardens and outdoor spaces within the healthcare environment have long been shown to reduce stress and anxiety in children through physical and psychological stimulation. The Children's Services teams are absolutely delighted with the regeneration work and look forward to giving many more families the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of this bright and welcoming garden."

The Children's Garden will be open in line with lockdown and government social distancing measures.

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