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Derriford hospital is well known as a large teaching hospital compassionately providing a range of excellent care services accessible by up to 2,000,000 people in the South West peninsula, but it is also a invaluable home of accessible, safe green spaces. Within the 23 hectares of green-blue spaces onsite, you can find the Bircham Valley nature reserve, the Orchard and a wildlife pond , including many courtyard gardens. These spaces provide relief for all be it wildlife, staff or patients through green walking trails, bee friendly planting and provide quiet spaces to relax in.

These spaces are managed by our Site Services Team but also open opportunities for community engagement from local volunteers aiding and leading projects onsite. We currently have a team of volunteer gardeners and litter pickers helping to keep these green gems flourishing.

The lead volunteer gardeners commit to coming in one day a week and in April we are hoping to get more help to support this important resource. We also have volunteer litter pickers who visit the site once per week for a few hours to help keep on top of debris around the wider site, aiding in the preservation of the natural spots.

Our gardening volunteers have focussed their time over winter on the Level 4 Yin-Yang garden, the Maternity Theatres garden and the decked garden by the maternity entrance, rejuvenating these spaces with bulbs, shrubs and general tending in hope for lots of lovely colour sprouting up soon when Spring arrives! The next focus will aid in bringing new life to the herb garden which is accessible to all to make use of to take home and add to meals!

Funding has been applied for to allow the addition of safe decking in the Level 7 My Space garden along with blackboards that will be put up to allow the sharing of what’s currently in bloom and wildlife spotted in the area. We would also love to hear feedback from users or those that overlook the gardens via the Choosing Greener programme or email plh-tr.volunteerenquiry@nhs.net

Further to this, there is scope for the inclusion of hives alongside more wildflowers to be integrated into the Orchard. Plus, plans to start fixed-point photography so that we can see the seasonal changes as well as the impact all of the volunteers hard work is making are also in progress!

All our volunteers are excited about the potential for both staff and patients to enjoy quiet breaks in nature to help with the maintenance of good mental health as well as looking forward to looking after and seeing the increase in biodiversity onsite.

We are opening recruitment to gardeners for applicants to support lead gardener volunteers in April 2023! So if you or someone you know is green fingered and has free time who would like to join our team, keep an eye on our website: Volunteering at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

Eventually, we will also be offering volunteering opportunities to groups to come in and assist for a few hours to support our green spaces and local environment – watch this space!

Whatever your reason for being onsite is, why not look at opportunities to get involved and look out for the signs around the hospital and take some time to find some personal peace within these natural spaces.