Chichester Care Home Wins ‘Most Improved Space’ Award For Transformation Of Community Garden

Waterhaven Place care home in Chichester, recently transformed a once-barren patch of land into a full ‘sensory garden’ complete with fragrant herbs, colourful flowers, painted decorations, and even magical glow-in-the-dark features.

The project was supported by Aldingbourne County Centre, who were generous enough to donate plants and to send a talented team of green-fingered volunteers to help revitalise the space.

Residents from the home contributed to the design phase of the project, and produced a set of beautiful painted rocks to help decorate the space. As the garden’s centrepiece, the team also produced a striking water feature from four wooden barrels; which were stacked on top of each other to produce a cascading waterfall effect. Each tier is planted with greenery, allowing water to flow down gracefully through the levels, making it both a visual and sensory highlight of the garden.

In recognition of this remarkable work, Waterhaven Place received a ‘Most Improved Space’ award in the ‘Connaught in Bloom’ competition – a company-wide contest in which every home in the Connaught Care Collection competes to see who can create the most beautiful and vibrant outdoor space. Leah Moore, Marketing Manager at Aldingbourne County Centre, said:

“We’re absolutely delighted that Waterhaven has been recognised with the ‘Most Improved Space’ award. The home has been a huge support to the Aldingbourne Trust recently, so it was a pleasure being able to support them with their projects. Seeing the space transformed through everyone’s hard work and dedication is truly inspiring, and we’re proud to have been part of this wonderful achievement.”

The aim of the Connaught in Bloom contest is to encourage each home to create more vibrant, community-oriented outdoor spaces which both residents and locals can enjoy. By partnering with local charities, businesses, garden centres, and other bodies, the aim is to encourage the whole community to come together and beautify their neighbourhood through gardening.

The competition also encourages participants to make use of barren or undeveloped land which may have fallen into disuse over time. To encourage genuine transformation in these spaces, each team is required to post before-and-after photos to showcase how much progress has been made.

To mark its well-deserved victory, the home hosted a celebratory garden party with residents, staff and volunteers where everyone enjoyed a toast to their success.

Lynne Hudson, General Manager at Waterhaven Place, comments:
“The team has done such an exceptional job with the garden; I’m absolutely blown away! The project was a real team effort – from passionate residents who helped design and decorate, to our wonderful staff and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring the vision to life. I’m delighted they’ve received the recognition they so richly deserve.”