‘In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication’ Oliver Sacks
Join us in The Apple House for this one-off event where all donations and profits from ticket sales fund an innovative project to redevelop the hospital garden around the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre in Hertfordshire, spearheaded by Matthew Biggs, author and panellist on Radio 4’s BBC Gardeners’ Question Time.
Hospitals are some of the most important buildings in our community, but they are often poorly designed and devoid of nature. Yet scientific evidence shows that recovery rates are significantly improved and pain perception decreased when patients look at nature rather than walls and concrete.
In a unique panel discussion, some of the leading minds in garden design and restorative healthcare – Rachel de Thame, Dr Sue Stuart-Smith and Jinny Blom - will explore how we can make our hospitals and their environs greener, with more beautiful and healing spaces to the benefit of patients, their families and staff. The event will be chaired by gardens consultant Chris Young.
The event will be hosted in the Apple House eco-barn by The Serge Hill Project for Gardening, Creativity and Health, a not-for-profit founded by Sue and Tom Stuart-Smith, to raise money for improvements to the gardens at the Mount Vernon Cancer Treatment Centre in Hertfordshire.
Tickets to the event include access to Tom Stuart-Smith’s Plant Library, a living catalogue of over 2000 perennials and bulbs and a welcome drink.
More information about the event
Format
5pm-6pm - Explore the Plant Library - with a pop-up Plant Sale from Sunnyside Rural Trust's Orchard Nursery
5.30pm Drinks in the Plant Library
6pm-7.30pm Talk: The View From The Hospital: How Can Plants And Gardens Transform Healthcare? with Rachel De Thame, Dr Sue Stuart-Smith, Jinny Blom and Chris Young
7.30pm Close
Key questions that will be asked include:
- Why are our hospitals green deserts?
- How do we change the planning system to bring plants into the world of hospitals?
- Healthcare: why does it ignore the beneficial role of plants and gardens?
- What can you do to make your hospital a greener, more beautiful place?
The panellists are:
- Dr Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author of The Well Gardened Mind: Rediscovering Nature in the Modern World; along with her husband, renowned landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, she co-founded the Serge Hill Project in Hertfordshire.
- Jinny Blom is a landscape architect, former mental health psychologist, and artist-in-residence for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
- Rachel de Thame is a BBC Gardeners’ World television presenter, author and columnist.
The event is chaired by Chris Young, a gardens consultant, author and media communications specialist. And coordinated by Victoria Clarke, Editorial Director at Phaidon Press (publisher of Matt Bigg’s book for children A Home for Every Plant) in collaboration with The Serge Hill Project.
Matthew Biggs, author and panellist on Radio 4’s BBC Gardeners’ Question Time – who is currently having his own long-term battle with cancer – is a patient at the Mount Vernon Centre and championing the need for garden improvements.
He says: “I’ve been coming here for the past five years and while the staff and treatment are excellent, the surroundings to the buildings are depressing. When you are in pain with cancer, or recovering from chemo, what you look out onto and what you walk through makes a huge difference. We desperately need to improve the environment in our healthcare system, so we’re making a small step in that direction by raising funds for the garden restoration at cancer centre.”
Spearheaded by Matthew Biggs, the garden renovation project is a collaboration between organisations and individuals from across the horticultural industry and harnesses the combined knowledge and professional skills of all involved – including Landform Consultants, Tom Stuart-Smith Studio, The Serge Hill Project, Sunnyside Rural Trust, East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals’ Charity and more.
This event will both fundraise money for the hospital’s garden and also examine why the healthcare system overall is slow to recognise the value and medical benefit of plants and gardens.
Visitor information
Parking
Parking is limited so please car-share or use public transport wherever possible. Details of how to find us are here.
If you arrive by car, as you turn into Featherbed Lane, the gravel lane off Sergehill Lane, please drive all the way to the end of the lane, and park in the field as signposted. Please do not park in residents only bays which are along Featherbed Lane.
Please note this event will be recorded.
Please note this is a no smoking and no vaping site.
Assistance dogs only allowed on site.
Accessibility
Accessible parking for those who require it is available directly outside The Apple House. There is step-free access to the building and all areas. However, there are many potential trip hazards and uneven surfaces that may be encountered whilst visiting the gardens, along with gravel paths that aren’t suitable for walking frames with wheels.