The Genesis Garden Project
Green-fingered volunteers have helped breathe new life into Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention’s gardens at Wythenshawe Hospital.
Wythenshawe Community Housing Group (WCHG) lent a helping hand to the charity after spotting that the outside areas at the Nightingale and Genesis Prevention Centre needed sprucing up. Following her visit for a routine check-up, WCHG youth advice and support worker, Wendy Hall, wanted to make the centre’s two enclosed gardens more attractive and inviting for both patients and staff.
Funded through a Government-backed Community First Grant, the makeover consisted of improvements to the centre’s back garden and inner garden areas, installing new tables and chairs, hanging baskets, flowers and planting new shrubs. Among those helping were youth volunteer Faye Greaves, warden Carl Buchanan, and senior youth worker Laura Bradshaw, from Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.
Wendy said: “During my visit to the centre, I noticed that the gardens were looking a little tired and were in need of some care and attention. Thankfully, I received good news from the doctors, but for some people, the centre is a place where they’re given life-changing information and they need to speak to their loved ones there and then.
“Apart from the car park at the front of the building, the inner gardens are the only places that they can get some privacy to make such phone calls and process bad news, so I thought it was essential that these areas were as attractive and inviting as possible. In addition, they’re also places for staff members to grab 10 minutes for themselves during their breaks.”
Based at the University Hospital of South Manchester complex in Wythenshawe, Genesis is the UK’s only charity entirely dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer. The charity’s researchers work tirelessly to find ways to create a breast cancer free future, through gene research, early detection and screening, preventative drugs and lifestyle changes.
As part of the centre’s garden revamp, WCHG’s project also included funding new sofas for the café area on the ground floor.
Nikki Barraclough, executive director at Genesis, said: “We take great pride in creating a comfortable environment for patients at the centre and try to avoid making it feel too clinical. Therefore, our outdoor areas need to be attractive and pleasant, so we were thrilled when Wythenshawe Community Housing Group stepped in.
“The gardens have been completed just in time for summer and we’re looking forward to unveiling the improvements to patients, staff and visitors.”
For more information about the charity, visit www.genesisuk.org
