A garden for the future

The ‘Garden for the Future’ project aimed to redesign an outdated, inaccessible and underused outdoor play area at the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. The project was sparked by a young patient who wrote a letter to the directorate asking for ‘a garden area where staff and patients can play and grow vegetables’. Green spaces contribute to physical and mental health, as well as helping to cool urban environments and reduce the health impacts of air pollution. They are also important spaces for children’s play, learning and development.