A special garden for reflection and remembrance has been created outside Walsall Manor Hospital for staff who have lost colleagues and loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has been installed thanks to the Well Wishers COVID-19 Fund that was set up by Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s charity and support from Walsall Hospitals Company Plc. As well as two arches and benches it features an area that houses hand painted stones that represent remembrance, reflection or positivity and were part of a local event held last May for staff and the community.

Today, colleagues from IT came to look at the garden, remembering their colleague Richard Corbett, Infrastructure Support Manager, who sadly lost his battle with COVID-19 last May after being cared for in our Critical Care Unit.

The area has been created near to the hospital’s main entrance, following feedback from staff and an initial discussion between then Chief Executive Richard Beeken, Mike Fry, Chair of Walsall Hospitals Company PLC, and Fundraising Manager Georgie Westley.

Georgie said: “Staff have told us that they want somewhere they can go to sit and remember colleagues, friends and family they have lost, or to reflect on the experiences they have had during the pandemic and that they wanted an area that the public could also see, to acknowledge that this is important to our organisation.

“We have been able to use the donations made by the public to our Covid-19 fund along with a huge donation from the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sahib and funding from Walsall Hospitals Company PLC to create this garden and are proud that work was more or less finished on it today. We will be holding an official opening ceremony in the near future and installing a plaque, supplied by Skanska, explaining what it symbolises, but for now, staff are invited to use it and we ask everyone to please treat it with respect.”