Belong Village dementia garden wins silver at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

A garden based on the ideas of residents of Belong Villages has won a silver medal at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.

‘The Belong Garden – A Sense of Place’ was designed by Carolyn Hardern, who consulted older people about what they would want in their own gardens, and is largely based on research into the benefits of outdoor spaces for people with dementia.

The garden features two sections – a sensory area and a working area – which are divided by a memory wall that is decorated with local archive pictures in an attempt to evoke memories of days gone by. It also has a figure-of-eight pathway way, which has been designed to eliminate dead ends and reduce any stress or confusion they might cause.

Residents from Belong Atherton visited the show at the weekend to see the garden, which will be displayed at the new development in Warrington when it opens next year. Yvonne Parkes enjoyed their trip to the event and was pleased to see their ideas brought to life. She said: “Spending the day at the RHS Flower Show with one of the garden designers, and knowing that she had won a silver medal for something we had helped plan was a fantastic feeling.”

Tracy Paine, operations director at Belong, said: “The whole show has been a wonderful experience for Belong, and the recent good weather just shows how important outdoor spaces are for all of us.

“Belong has always focused on creating environments to support people living with dementia. Our buildings already reflect this, and now Carolyn Hardern is helping us to achieve our goal outdoors as well with a beautiful tranquil garden that doesn’t feel like a typical care home garden.”