Serving a population of more than 2.5 million people, Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in England, providing care to some of the most deprived London boroughs including Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Newham.

Barts Health NHS Trust includes five permanent London hospitals plus the NHS Nightingale London Hospital:

• The Royal London Hospital
• Mile End Hospital
• St Bartholomew’s Hospital 
• Whipps Cross Hospital
• Newham Hospital

Europlanters were approached by Ground Control back in April this year. We were asked if we would donate planters to support the construction of a tranquillity area for nursing staff in the newly built Nightingale hospital. Shortly afterwards the future of the hospital was revised and it was decided that the generous donations from Europlanters and other suppliers would be used in the regeneration of several of Newham Hospital’s courtyard spaces to create a series of Tranquillity Gardens showing support for our amazing NHS.

In the words of Geraldine Cunningham, Associate Director of Culture Change at Barts Health NHS Trust:

“We would really love to repurpose the gardens from the Nightingale to Barts Health. We have five hospital sites and they would all benefit from a uplift. So in our recovery period all my colleagues will be able to enjoy some comfortable outside space. Thank you”

As you can imagine with London being one of the worst hit regions of the UK, Covid-19 has had a huge impact on each and every one of the Barts Trust hospitals which is why Europlanters along with others such as the plant supplier Crowders Nursery, based in Horncastle, were more than happy to support Ground Control.

Europlanters supplied numerous planters to create a large planting bed with social distanced seating arrangements and the paint for these planters was supplied free of charge by HMG paints, Manchester.

The support that Ground Control received was overwhelming, with many in our industry wanting to show their support for the NHS. They had so many generous donations they were able to provide some to other hospitals in the Barts NHS Hospital Trust.

‘By donating planters and benches to this great cause, this is our small way of saying thank you to the amazing NHS for their tireless work during this pandemic’ said John Wilkes Managing Director of Europlanters.

Together we have created gardens which provide a space where people can enjoy a moment of calm within this Coronavirus storm. This oasis for staff, patients and visitors will be a lasting legacy for the Barts Health NHS Trust at this time and will be enjoyed for many years to come.

Photographs courtesy of Ground Control.