Willowbrook View, a new luxury care home set to open in February, has partnered with Kingfisher Primary School to create a vibrant community garden.
Willowbrook Gardens will feature a mix of wild flowers, vegetable crops, and colourful seasonal plants which residents and students will be able to tend together. The idea for the project came after Chris Guest, customer relationship manager at Willowbrook View, took a walk around the school grounds and discovered an underused patch of land close to the home. Seeing the potential, he took the idea to Kingfisher’s headteacher Mrs. Bishop, who loved the idea of an intergenerational shared garden.
At the opening of Willowbrook Gardens, staff from the home joined teachers and schoolchildren to plant tulips, pansies, violas, lettuces, and radishes, which should be in full bloom by the time the care home opens its doors.
Kingfisher headteacher Mrs. Bishop said: “What a wonderful gesture from Willowbrook View Care Home – our children are thrilled to have Willowbrook Gardens as a place to understand nature and interact with residents who will become our new neighbours. We look forward to visiting the care home when it opens next year and can't wait to join up with them on lots of exciting projects for our pupils and staff!”
Natasha Stone, deputy manager at Willowbrook, part of Connaught Care, says: “The hope is that when Willowbrook View opens, both residents and students will work together to grow and maintain the garden. This will be not only a valuable educational opportunity for the youngsters, but also a fun form of therapeutic exercise for the residents. Gardening can be an effective way to stay sharper in later life; and is often associated with better cognitive function and improved mental wellbeing overall.”
Chris Guest added: “We are so thrilled to be partnering with Kingfisher Primary School on Willowbrook Gardens ahead of our grand opening next year. This project will give our residents the opportunity to interact with the younger generation whenever they like, whilst enjoying some fresh air and nature to boot! This is only the start of our ongoing collaboration with Kingfisher; and we have many more exciting intergenerational projects in the pipeline. We can’t wait to start!”
