Teenage volunteers transform garden at King’s Mill Hospital

The garden, which is located outside Clinic 10 and offers a natural oasis of calm at the Sutton hospital, was badly in need of a makeover.

So up stepped members of the Mansfield branch of the National Citizen Service (NCS) group, who generated £280 for the garden by taking part in a five-hour, fundraising ‘dance-off’.

They then set to work on the garden for a whole week, planting vegetables, fruit trees, herbs and flowers and adding planters and hand-made decorations.

The idea came from Sarah Tilbrook, a member of the NCS group, whose mum, Vicky, works at the hospital. Vicky said: “I am incredibly proud of the NCS team. This is now a great space for my colleagues and also our patients and visitors to enjoy.”

The NCS is open to all 15-to-17-year-olds, providing them with personal and social development skills through exciting challenges and new experiences.

The team at the hospital was led by Patrick Jones and Hannah Alvey. Patrick said: “We really enjoyed working on the garden. We used our own ideas and then our own time.”

Hannah said: “We wanted to create a space that brought joy to all those who visited.”