News

A unique wellbeing garden and building, which aims to support individuals with complex mental health needs, was officially opened at Chase Farm Hospital on Wednesday 11 December. 

To mark the opening of the garden, we held an opening ceremony which was attended by service users and staff including senior leaders like Mandi Osoba (Director of Organisational Development), Mark Pritchard (Managing Director for the Enfield Division) and Vincent Kirchner (Chief Medical Officer) who cut the ribbon to officially mark the opening of the garden. 

The Wellbeing Garden Project, which was financed by an innovation fund of £50,000, was created to support innovative interventions for service users who are accessing a range of Enfield mental health inpatient and community services and our staff. 

The clinical and therapeutic benefits of being outdoors for people’s mental wellbeing are now widely accepted, and the multiple ways in which the garden can be used will ensure it is of benefit to the widest range of users.

The benefits include social inclusiveness and connectivity; growing food using ecological methods and providing educational courses around climate control and the environment.

Erasmo Tacconelli, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Trust, said:

“We wanted to provide an outside meeting space which links up our service users and their carers, with the wider community.

“Community gardening addresses a whole range of mental health needs by providing opportunities for physical activity, reducing stress and improving people’s nutrition through the food that is grown there.”

The building, which retains a level of naturalness to promote the benefits of eco therapy, was designed BAT Studio led by architect Dave DiDuca. It is split into different zones including areas for planting vegetables and fruit.  

The newly-built, architecturally unique, outside building is able to host meetings and activities for diverse groups and needs including structured groups related to gardening, relaxation and mindfulness, or to just be in the garden.

Read more about the garden, how to use it and how to make bookings:  Wellbeing garden information and bookings.pdf