Around the hospital site you can find green spaces that the hospital charity funds for patients, visitors and staff to use to get away from clinical environments.

Every Wednesday 10am-2pm, Glenn Powell, our green space manager, holds a green gym session where people’s core bit of exercise is actually harvesting the fruit and vegetables and cleaning the areas up, which shows off the green areas surrounding the hospital. 

Glenn said: “Not a lot of people like going to gyms, and there’s a financial aspect too, but on a Wednesday we start with a warm-up just like a normal gym session. Then we’ll go for a five minute walk around the woodland area and the main body of the class is actually maintaining the area.”

People are also welcome to walk around the areas in their free time; they don’t have to wait for Glenn to be there. Some patients use the area as an escape from the four walls of the hospital so they have a break from being in a clinical environment.

Glenn said: “With this project, the most important thing that I notice is the social element. People always say how great it is to meet other people and being able to get out and make new friends and learn horticultural skills. Volunteers harvest their own food, take it home, cook with it and send us their recipes, which is a fantastic thing to see.”

With over 200 volunteers already, there is still room for anyone to become a volunteer. There are posters up around the hospital that advertise to patients, visitors and members of staff and the public can find out more information through the website.

Families with children are also invited to spend time at the green spaces and Glenn can talk to the children about the produce, how it is grown and pollination.

To find out more information about our green spaces, please click here. If you would like to find out more about volunteering, please contact 0121 371 4852, or email sophie.carroll@uhb.nhs.uk.

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