Sheffield Children’s refreshes garden of remembrance

Sheffield Children’s Hospital is refreshing its garden of remembrance to make it a welcoming space for people to reflect.

To make the garden the best it can be, Sheffield Children’s Hospital is inviting views from patients, colleagues and families past and present.

The garden of remembrance is placed on the corner of the hospital on Clarkson Street and Whitham Road. The space currently contains foliage with benches to sit and reflect, but it needs updating and renewal.

We aim to redesign the garden to incorporate a water feature, install more seating, artwork and a new memorial stone.

Where possible we will recycle and intend to re-purpose and re-use items already in the garden to be in keeping with the space. We will keep the plants that are already in the garden, and these will be joined by some new colourful, fragrant and appropriate shrubs and flowers.

The existing memorial stones, which are cast into the walls, will be carefully removed and used to create a permanent memorial in our conservatory garden, near our mortuary Rose Cottage. Sheffield Children’s offers anyone who has a stone in the current garden of remembrance to collect it and take home if they wish.

John Williams, Deputy Chief Executive of Sheffield Children’s, said: “We are looking to refresh this space to make it a more welcoming place of reflection for everyone. We know for many people that it is often a safe space to visit that is linked to our hospital and we want to make sure it is to the highest standard.”

“Throughout our work we will make sure to incorporate thoughts from everyone who may use the space, as well as acknowledging organ donors and remembering staff and patients. We are looking forward to working with everyone to create a welcoming and peaceful space for all.”

If you would like to share your experience of the garden, and thoughts and feedback, or collect a stone, please contact our Estates team by emailing jayne.bargh@nhs.net. Feedback is welcome until 30 June. Sheffield Children’s will then take everything into consideration before working on plans to make changes.