The Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough undertook the renovation of a Victorian walled garden located within the grounds of the Hall. The walled garden was originally a Kitchen garden that had unfortunately become unusable and overgrown over a period of time. With the help of teams of volunteers, the walled garden was to be reclaimed and transformed into a garden that could be used by the residents of the hospice. The new garden layout incorporated lots of raised beds to allow residents to easily grow vegetables and long gravel pathways for access.

The gravel paths had at first been installed quickly in the traditional way ie. using gravel laid directly on top of the sub-base and membrane. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the gravel surface could not be used by residents in wheelchairs or mobility scooters and that it was generally difficult to walk on and shifted around making the garden look messy and unkempt.

The team at Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall contacted Nidagravel to discuss the problem and to see if we could help. We decided that a site visit to Thorpe Hall in Peterborough would be a good idea so that the Sue Ryder team could see the Nidagravel grids would work and to discuss how the volunteer teams could lay the gravel grids.

Seeing the benefits of Nidagravel 130 for the project and how quick and easy it would be for the volunteers to install, Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall decided to use Nidagravel for the full project. Shortly after this, the Nidagravel team were back on site in Peterborough to help start the installation with the volunteers and show how the gravel grids should be laid. Over the following weeks and under supervision from the head of the Sue Ryder volunteer team the enthusiastic and hard working volunteers did a fantastic job completing the installation and getting the kitchen garden ready for its grand opening.

They really did a great job and we are delighted to report that the Nidagravel pathways provided access for all residents to the garden including those in wheelchairs.

Sue Ryder Hospice
Find out more about the work Sue Ryder Hospices do and how you can volunteer to help a hospice local to you.
www.sueryder.org