We were absolutely delighted to be awarded a Silver-Gilt in the Future Spaces category at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park for our ‘Remember Me’ garden. We created the design and built the garden for Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity to generate awareness about dementia and its effects amongst the people of Cheshire and their families.
Our design concept focused on evoking memories in order to enhance the person with dementia’s experience of their environment and reduce agitation and distress. We created a ‘home from home’ outdoor space where people with dementia or a cognitive impairment could enjoy the freedom to be themselves. The aim of the garden was to educate and inform visitors of the journey that someone with dementia takes, from first diagnosis through to potentially, 24 hour care.
We used flowers and herbs to express the degeneration of the mind, from bright, vivid snapdragons to white flowers, representing gaps in memory, and a wild flower meadow to show confusion. Our design incorporated hospital beds with calming herbs and head boards with cut out flower features to replicate Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity’s approach to dementia care. A hexagonal structure called the ‘Room of Inklings’, designed and built by international artist Wendy Connelly of RAW-I Studios, also created intrigue for our visitors with all sorts of artefacts used to conjure nostalgia for the past and childhood memories.
We were very proud that the garden generated so much interest for Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity’s ‘Everybody knows Somebody’ Dementia Appeal. We are so grateful to our main sponsors 4 Your Home part of Qualtex Ltd and County Homesearch as well as all the other organisations and individuals who contributed to make it all possible.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity and the team behind the ‘Remember Me’ Garden would be grateful for your support of the ‘Everybody Knows Somebody’ Dementia Appeal, whether a local business, group or individual you can donate by visiting Mid Cheshire Hospitals Charity online by visiting www.mchcharity.org or contact at Emma Robertson 01270 273 248 or charity@mcht.nhs.uk.
