Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

First steps taken to transform hospital green space into innovative therapy garden

Pictured from left, Caroline Kritchlow from Friends of Neuro ARI, James Alexander Sinclair
Pictured from left, Caroline Kritchlow from Friends of Neuro ARI, James Alexander Sinclair

A leading landscape designer is helping a charity transform a garden for patients at a city hospital.

James Alexander-Sinclair will be working with Friends of the Neuro Ward to renovate a therapy garden on the grounds of Woodend Hospital.

Caroline, her husband Kevin and dog Crumble, in their own garden in Orkney.

The TV presenter met up with the founder of the charity yesterday to view the site he will be adapting for patients.

Caroline Critchlow set up Friends of the Neuro Ward to help support patients undergoing treatment for brain tumours at Ward 205 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

She previously created her own therapy garden in Orkney, in a bid to raise funds for the unit, after her own husband, Kevin, was treated in the ward.

Now she has turned her sights on helping patients at the Neuro Rehabilitation Unit at Woodend Hospital.

The unit treats patients from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.

Mrs Critchlow said: “When I found a derelict garden at Woodend adjoining the neuro rehabilitation ward, I decided it was in desperate need of a total makeover.

“Gardening is known to be extraordinarily therapeutic and our plan is to get the patients involved in its upkeep with a trained member of staff supervising the horticultural activities.”

Many patients treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after suffering a brain tumour are transferred to Woodend Hospital for rehabilitation.

Mrs Critchlow added: “We try and make a difference to the lives of people on Ward 205, a ward which doesn’t receive charity funding from anywhere else.

“We’ve done some cracking refurbishment work there, but also wanted to make sure the patients moved to Woodend were not forgotten about.

Pictured from left, Caroline Kritchlow from Friends of Neuro ARI, Arlene Ingram, Senior Charge Nurse, James Alexander Sinclair and Gillian McDonald, Deputy Service Manager at Woodend Hospital.

“We are so lucky to get James involved with the designing process and I’m so excited about where this will lead.”

Mr Alexander-Sinclair explored the garden yesterday and decided the site had great “potential” for Ms Critchlow’s vision.

He said: “To be able to take two steps from the medicine stifled environment of the hospital, and into an open, beautiful garden, is extremely important, and something I aim to achieve.

“It can and should be done.

A meeting was held at Woodend Hospital to discuss the hospital’s future

“I want this to benefit not only the patients, who deserve it so much, but also their families, nurses, visitors and even cleaners at the hospital.

“Today marks the beginning of a great journey.”

Friends of the Neuro Ward will work alongside Mr Sinclair, and a steer group from the hospital to make the renovated therapy garden a reality.

However the charity will need extensive funding to help make sure it can be maintained.

To help support the project, visit www.friendsoftheneuro.org