Willowbrook View, a new luxury care home in the Connaught Care Collection set to open in February 2025, recently partnered with Kingfisher Primary School to create ‘Willowbrook Gardens’ – a vibrant community garden which residents and the students can tend together. The garden will feature a mix of wild flowers, vegetable crops, and colourful seasonal plants.
The idea for the project came after Chris Guest, Customer Relationship Manager at Willowbrook View, took a walk around the school grounds and discovered an underused patch of land close to the home. Seeing the potential, he took the idea to Kingfisher’s headteacher Mrs. Bishop, who loved the idea of an intergenerational shared garden.
At the opening of Willowbrook Gardens, staff from the home joined some teachers and kids to plant tulips, pansies, violas, lettuces, and radishes; which should be in full bloom by the time the care home opens its doors.
Commenting at the opening, Mrs. Bishop said:
“What a wonderful gesture from Willowbrook View Care Home – our children are thrilled to have Willowbrook Gardens as a place to understand nature and interact with residents who will become our new neighbours. We look forward to visiting the care home when it opens next year and can’t wait to join up with them on lots of exciting projects for our pupils and staff!”
According to Mrs Bishop, previous efforts by the school to revive the area had failed due to difficulties in finding funding. Seeing an opportunity for positive community engagement, Willowbrook has agreed to invest in the land by designing the new garden and supplying child-friendly gardening tools and gloves to the school.
Natasha Stone, Deputy Manager at Willowbrook, says:
“The hope is that when Willowbrook View opens, both residents and students will work together to grow and maintain the garden. This will be not only a valuable educational opportunity for the youngsters, but also a fun form of therapeutic exercise for the residents. Gardening can be an effective way to stay sharper in later life; and is often associated with better cognitive function and improved mental wellbeing overall.”
Chris Guest also shares his thoughts:
“We are so thrilled to be partnering with Kingfisher Primary School on Willowbrook Gardens ahead of our grand opening next year. This project will give our residents the opportunity to interact with the younger generation whenever they like, whilst enjoying some fresh air and nature to boot! This is only the start of our ongoing collaboration with Kingfisher; and we have many more exciting intergenerational projects in the pipeline. We can’t wait to start!”
Willowbrook View is part of Connaught Care, an award-winning provider of luxury care homes designed to set new standards in adult care. Located in the heart of the Wichelstowe development, the home will offer state-of-the-art facilities, compassionate care, and a commitment to active community involvement.
Willowbrook View officially opens in February 2025. To learn more, contact christopher.guest@willowbrookview.co.uk or call 01793 387950.
