Green-fingered staff at West Suffolk Hospital have been given a generous gift of £500 so that they can buy the equipment they need to spruce up gardens around the site for the benefit of patients and visitors.

The money has been donated to the newly-formed hospital gardening club by Thetford Garden Centre as part of its 30^th anniversary celebrations. It will be spent on tools such as spades and forks, as well as plants and shrubs. Initially, the gardening club will concentrate on the front of the hospital, while also carrying out some work in the Macmillan garden.

The club was set up last year as part of the hospital’s staff wellbeing programme. It now has around 40 members, who volunteer during their free time to help maintain the hospital grounds.

Consultant’s PA Susan Richardson, who set up the gardening club, said: “We are very grateful to Thetford Garden Centre for this generous donation, which will really help get the club off the ground.

“Everyone who has signed up to help is a keen gardener, and is happy to spend their lunchtimes and weekends doing the work. We hope that we can help to keep the green space around the hospital site looking fantastic for the enjoyment of patients, staff and visitors.”

Lucy Nixon, director at Thetford Garden Centre, said: “We wanted to complete 30 projects for 30 years to celebrate the centre’s anniversary while also supporting our local community.

“The hospital gardening club really caught our imagination and is one of the projects we are championing. Their plans for the front of the hospital and the Macmillan garden are really exciting and we are delighted that we have been able to help.”