Supporting wellbeing with green spaces.
Each week, our garden volunteers meet to maintain and develop the gardens surrounding the hospital.
What began a decade ago as a few volunteers working on the overgrown areas of Pond Street has grown into a thriving gardening group that creates beautiful, resilient spaces that support wellbeing.
“Our planting strategy for the terraces is respectful of the adjacent ancient meadow, Hampstead Green. Both visually and ecologically, the two spaces complement each other.”
The gardens are more than just pretty spaces: they provide calm and comfort to hundreds of hospital visitors each day.
“I have treatment every week at the Royal Free. Whenever I come out of the hospital, the gardens make me feel less frightened.”
Their work includes more than just gardening; volunteers also care for a First World War gravestone buried in the soil on Pond Street. Little is known about who the stone commemorates – the inscription merely says that it’s for Alfred, killed in action in March 1916 – or how it came to be buried in the soil on Pond Street.
Our volunteers garden every Saturday morning, rain or shine, all year round. You’ll spot them by their distinctive purple tops.
We’d love to hear from you if you’re a keen gardener or just eager to lend a hand. Email Adam Jenkins-Donovan
or speak to one of the team. They’re usually near the Pears Building or along Pond Street on Saturday mornings in their distinctive purple tops.
