The Green Flag Award is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces, recognising well-managed and accessible areas that support wellbeing, biodiversity and community engagement. This year, DBTH’s gardens are among 2,250 award-winning spaces across the UK.
This year, the Fred and Ann Green Memorial Garden at Montagu Hospital has received the Green Flag status, alongside the previously recognised Rainbow Gardens at Doncaster and Bassetlaw, and the Butterfly Garden at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. These spaces offer patients, visitors, and colleagues places of reflection, respite, and healing throughout the year.
The award is a testament to the care and dedication of DBTH’s Estates and Facilities team, whose work ensures these green spaces continue to flourish.
Ed Wells, gardener based at Bassetlaw Hospitals
Martin Smith, Head Gardener at DBTH
Suzy Brain England OBE, Chair of the Board at DBTH, said: “We are incredibly proud that all three of our hospital sites have now been recognised with this international award. It is an honour that reflects the care and commitment of our Estates and Facilities colleagues, who look after these spaces so beautifully throughout the year.
These spaces are more than just gardens – they are places of remembrance, healing and peace. From the Rainbow Gardens created during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the Butterfly Garden supporting baby loss awareness, and now the Fred and Ann Green Memorial Garden in Mexborough, each space provides a moment of calm in the heart of our hospitals.”
Established during the pandemic in 2020, the Rainbow Gardens at both Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Bassetlaw Hospitals were funded by generous public donations, raising £50,000 in just eight weeks.
The Butterfly Garden at Doncaster Royal Infirmary opened in 2018 during Baby Loss Awareness Week and continues to provide a peaceful, reflective area for those who have experienced loss.
This year, the Fred and Ann Green Memorial Garden at Montagu Hospital, based at Mexborough, has also been recognised. The garden was funded by the Fred and Ann Green Legacy, a generous bequest from Fred Green, a retired pork butcher from Mexborough, who left £11.5 million to the Trust upon his passing in 1998. It stands as a testament to the Greens’ enduring legacy and their commitment to the well-being of the local community, offering a welcome green oasis close to the entrance of the hospital grounds.
Paul Todd MBE, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, said: “Congratulations to everyone involved at DBTH who have worked tirelessly to ensure that it achieves the high standards required for the Green Flag Award.
“The gardens within DBTH are vital green spaces for our communities to enjoy nature and provide important opportunities for local people and visitors to reap the physical and mental health benefits of green space.”
Mathew Gleadall, Operational Director of Estates and Facilities and Sustainability Lead at DBTH, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have our gardens secure the Green Flag Award for the third year running, and now across all our main hospital sites.
“These spaces reflect our commitment to creating welcoming environments for our patients and communities and are also key to our wider sustainability ambitions at DBTH. This year alone, we’ve planted 130 additional trees and continued to develop our memorial spaces that honour those we’ve lost, while providing comfort for those who remain.”
Each of the gardens at DBTH was made possible through generous donations and support from the local community. Anyone wishing to contribute to the hospital gardens can do so through a fundraising appeal launched through the Trust’s dedicated charity. To find out more, please go to: www.dbthcharity.co.uk/charity-gardens