Oswestry Town Council looks at contributing towards garden at children's ward
A new £180,000 garden for the children’s ward at Shropshire’s orthopaedic hospital could soon become a reality after Oswestry Town Council said it would consider putting up some of the funds.
Around £90,000 has already been raised for the planned redesign of the Alice Ward garden at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, but work cannot get started until the full amount has been secured.
At a town council meeting, Mayor Jay Moore said the council should step in to help get the project off the ground.
Councillor Moore, who recently visited the hospital and garden, said the scheme would hugely benefit the children attending and staying on Alice Ward – many of whom are from the Oswestry area.
Members backed the idea of making a donation to the scheme, but held back from committing a specific amount until more information could be obtained.
Victoria Sugden, the hospital’s fundraising director, and Sophie Taylor, sponsorship and grants officer, attended the meeting to tell councillors about the plans.
The designs for the garden include a covered canopy, woodland walk, bridge and vegetable patch.
Ms Sugden said the ward had between 500 and 700 inpatients each year as well as outpatients, with conditions ranging from hip dysplasia and club foot to cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and scoliosis. The ward also cares for children who have obtained spinal injuries as a result of accidents.
“We have some outside space for our children at the moment but it’s not as good a quality as it should be," she said.
“We know this because we have a very fine garden that we offer for our adult patients with spinal injuries and that has made a significant difference to the treatment and welfare and care of those patients.
Councillor Moore proposed giving the project up to the full £90,000 that still needed to be raised, subject to obtaining more information.
Councillor Frank Davis supported the idea but that it was too much money, especially as the hospital lies outside the town’s boundary and said it could risk setting a precedent.
Councillor Mike Isherwood said: “The speakers did make a very good case for it and a lot of the children treated at Alice Ward are local, but I am not comfortable committing ourselves to an amount of money at this stage.”
He proposed supporting the scheme in principle and asking officers to produce a report with more detail on the plans and who would be using the garden, before councillors are asked to award a grant.
Neighbouring parish councils could also be approached about making a contribution, Councillor Les McGuire said.
Councillor Moore said: “The motion isn’t calling for us to say ‘yes let’s just give them £90,000’, it’s just giving the clerk permission to go and find out more information."
The next fundraising event for the garden project is a woodland walk at Chirk Castle on June 10. Donations can also be made through the JustGiving page – search ‘Garden for Alice’.
