“I’ve been here for about four or five weeks and during rehab it’s so important to have moments when you can get outside and feel free. I know how much it means to enjoy the sunshine from my bed, meet other patients, see my family and have a chat when I’m not feeling well. When the garden is finished, it’s going to look amazing, inspire everyone through nature and be a wonderful place for patients, families and friends for years to come.”
These words were shared by Paul as he helped Horatio’s Garden begin building their ninth garden at the Golden Jubilee Regional Spinal Cord Injuries Centre at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
The transformative garden has been expertly designed by award-winning landscape designer Polly Wilkinson and the team at Studio Pollyanna, in collaboration with EBBA Architects. It will support thousands of people spending time at the centre, including patients, their families and friends and NHS staff.
Polly has shared key moments from the design process with her hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, documenting how the garden has been developed throughout the past year. Having met with people with spinal injuries and members of the NHS team to understand their experiences and hopes for the new garden, Studio Pollyanna and EBBA Architects thoughtfully incorporated their insights to create a restorative, accessible, uplifting place designed to support everyone who will use it.
The space features a large central courtyard garden, which includes welcoming garden rooms and an Alitex greenhouse for people to grow their own plants and vegetables. It will be a critical part of rehabilitation care for people with spinal injuries from a vast geographical area – from the Scottish border, south to Barrow in the west and Whitby in the east.
The project has been funded entirely by public donations, with generous support from Gibson O’Neill and Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation, the National Garden Scheme, The Julia Rausing Trust, the Our Hospitals Charity at The James Cook University Hospital, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Bernard Sunley Foundation.
The garden is being built by Walter Thompson and is anticipated to open in spring 2027.
Stacey Hunter, CEO for University Hospitals Tees said: “Horatio’s Garden will transform the lives of patients, families and staff at The James Cook University Hospital. I’ve seen how vital these gardens are to people’s rehabilitation at other spinal centres in the UK and I know that this new garden will have a profoundly positive impact on everyone’s health and wellbeing right here in the heart of Middlesbrough.”
Glynis Peat, Clinical Director of Spinal Cord Injuries and Neurorehabilitation at The James Cook University Hospital, said: “We have waited so long for our very own Horatio’s Garden and I am beyond excited to witness the first ‘spade in the ground’. Sustaining a spinal cord injury is life-changing and patients spend months in hospital undergoing a long and difficult rehabilitation process, both physically and psychologically. Being able to incorporate somewhere natural, private and restorative during their difficult journey will be transformative.”
She adds: “The design looks amazing and the way Polly, EBBA and their teams listened to our patients and took everything they shared on board is remarkable. We are so grateful to the amazing team at Horatio’s Garden and all the sponsors that have made today possible.”
Katie Tait, CEO of Horatio’s Garden said: “We are beyond excited to have started our ninth Horatio’s Garden here. It’s going to be an extraordinary garden and we know from all our impact work how profoundly it will improve the lives of people with spinal injuries and their families and friends. Being here today with a digger, it’s hard to imagine that in a year’s time it will be jam packed with flowers and trees, and patients will be sitting in the garden room with family and friends immersed in nature.