The Children and Young People (CYP) who live in Hillingdon are facing a serious wellbeing challenge.  The Bumblebee Children's Ward in our local hospital has a beautiful, large expanse of land adjacent to the ward but this is not a safe or usable garden space for children receiving treatment, those with poor mobility or experiencing sensory difficulties.  It has been in this state for a good part of 10years and we need your help to make a change now.  Thanks to charitable donations from parents and other friends of this ward, the garden has boasted of amazing outdoor play equipment BUT today, these outdoor toys have broken down, the grass is overgrown with weeds and the space cannot be used by our children admitted on the ward. 

Phase 1 clearance is complete.  Phase 2 will make the area safe, plant, landscape and define this space to support the cognitive and rehabilitative wellbeing of our children receiving treatment, their siblings and families visiting or admitted on Bumblebee ward.  Phase 3 will include replacing garden play equipment to create a multi-purpose play area to support children of all abilities to enjoy this space irrespective of their age, socio-economic background, language or treatment stages.

We are calling on local corporate organisations, garden and landscape businesses and similar, to help us to make safe this piece of land and grass over the ground so that our CYP, their families and the staff who care for them on this ward have a safe space this Summer 2024.  Can you sponsor some of this work, offer volunteers with gardening or landscaping skills? Can you help us make this a sustainable and environmentally friendly space? Can you help us protect the wildlife in this natural space for the benefit of the children and families that use this ward?  Can you help us reduce garden poverty and improve the outdoor wellbeing of CYP receiving treatment, their families and the ward staff at Hillingdon hospital.  We welcome corporate sponsorship, investment and donations towards our Bumblebee Garden rebuild campaign because improved outdoor wellbeing in cancer patients is directly linked to better outcomes. 

According to the 2022 census, over 310,000 people live in Hillingdon.  If each person donated just under 10p, we would raise £21,000 towards our goal!! If each person donated just 10p, we would raise £31,000 towards our budget.  If each person took 2mins out to read this page and donated 20p, we would raise £62,000 the totality of our final fundraising goal and provide a thematic garden for our children, their families and ward staff. 

Please support our garden rebuild campaign and help us raise awareness of this difficult issue.  Click on our Bumblebee Children's Ward Garden Rebuild JustGiving link to donate.  Thank you.

"Can you help us transform this into a lovely outdoor space?'

"All I see is children, siblings and parents confined to artificially lit cubicles, staff working flat out and no access to the fresh air.  And yet there is a plot of land just outside that they cannot use it. This will have a negative impact on their mental health and wellbeing" - From Angela Logun DLF Cofounder & CEO

"We have a live case study of a child diagnosed with cancer going through a mental health crisis. This child is not allowed access out of the unit for safety reasons as it is too risky. If we had our garden, she could go outside and play in a secure and safe environment, which would be hugely beneficial to her mental and physical wellbeing. She is experiencing repeated crisis because she is contained in a paediatric ward for her safety and unable to access the outside space safely” - From Chris Mann Bumblebee Ward Matron.