Bank donates more than £1,400 to develop tranquil garden at hospital ward
The garden, based at Gibberd Ward - a medical ward that specialises in dementia care and palliative care - is a peaceful space for all to enjoy.
Colleagues from NatWest recently visited the hospital to present the cheque to the Gibberd Ward team.
This follows fundraising from NatWest teams across the north east London area, raising £1,465.38 through the year via cake sales, competitions and collections.
A member of staff from NatWest approached the Gibberd Ward team after seeing their fundraising appeal advertised at The Princess Alexandra Hospital.
The funds will be used to buy plants and flowers for the garden, once landscaping work has been carried out. They will also purchase the Reminiscence Interactive Therapy Activities (RITA) software, which aims to offer support to older people in reducing agitation, isolation, depression and delirium via music, radio and relaxation.
Lisa Tillett, branch manager for the NatWest in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, said: "We held a meeting of managers from the north east London area in the early part of last year, and the Gibberd Ward garden won the vote for our appeal to fundraise for.
"We chose this appeal because a few of us have parents with dementia, and we felt it was close to home."
Caroline Ashton-Gough, dementia clinical nurse specialist at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, said: "We are delighted to be able to enhance the environment at the Gibberd Ward garden for the enjoyment of our patients, visitors, and people. It will also be a great benefit for our patients to have access to the RITA software.
"We are extremely grateful to NatWest for this generous donation."
Notes to editors:
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was established in April 1995 and provides services at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the Herts and Essex Hospital in Bishop's Stortford, and St Margaret's Hospital in Epping. We have an annual income of around £236,700 million. We have 414 general and acute beds at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and provide a full range of general acute services, including a 24/7 emergency department, an intensive care unit, a maternity unit and a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We also provide outpatient and diagnostic services from the Herts and Essex Hospital, Bishop's Stortford, and St Margaret's Hospital in Epping.
We employ around 3,500 staff and serve a local population of about 350,000 people living in West Essex and East Hertfordshire, centred on the M11 corridor and the towns of Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Epping. Our extended catchment area incorporates a population of up to 500,000 and includes the areas of Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.
In October 2019, the Government announced that we are to receive funding to rebuild a new hospital in Harlow for our patients, community and people. The details around the funding and the timeframe are currently being finalised and we are completing our full business case for the new hospita