Wellbeing gardens take shape at MND centre ahead of its opening

Work is beginning to create wellbeing gardens for patients, families and staff at the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease (MND), in the countdown to the opening of the new building this autumn.

- by Harriet Sutton

The landscaped gardens will extend the centre's therapeutic focus, creating calm, welcoming spaces that offer moments of connection and reflection. They will incorporate mature trees already on site, alongside new planting zones designed for interaction, activity, and quiet contemplation.

The Hands of Hope, handprints of the Burrow family, including Rob's three children, patients and clinical staff, will be featured in the gardens. There will also be areas for sessions using walking aids and wheelchairs and other monitoring, a first for the MND service in Leeds.

Also featured will be a 'Tree of Hope' sapling, grown from the seed of the Sycamore Gap tree, which is being donated by the National Trust.

Leeds based landscape architects, reform, have designed the gardens surrounding the new centre, intended as an essential part of the building's identity and a key feature in shaping how visitors feel as they arrive and spend time at the centre.