A world of hope in Maggie’s


Centre - and its garden by Liz Ware


Congratulations to Maggie’s Cheltenham! The new Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre has now been opened by the charity’s President, the Duchess of Cornwall.


The centre is in a


Victorian Pool Keeper’s Lodge within five minutes walk of Cheltenham General Hospital. A Grade II listed building has been converted and extended by Sir Richard MacCormac, the former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The landscape architect and former consultant haematologist, Dr Christine Facer Hoffman has designed its garden. Together, they have created a warm and welcoming drop-in centre for those touched by cancer.


The garden is a barrier between the outside world and the cancer centre


During the early 1990s landscape designer Maggie Keswick and her husband, the landscape architect Charles Jencks, were negotiating their way through Maggie’s cancer treatment. They thought long and hard about the kind of support that would have made them feel more in control and less overwhelmed. Their vision was for a centre that was both architecturally inspiring and comforting. It


was important that such a centre should be close to a major hospital and staffed by cancer professionals. It would provide support that was both different from but also complementary to the help that already existed and be available as much for those who love and look after someone with cancer as for the patients themselves. The dream became reality in 1996 when the first centre opened in Edinburgh.


The garden at Maggie’s Cheltenham engages with its visitors well before they reach the Centre. Alongside College Baths Road that leads from Cheltenham General to the new building run two entwined grass mounds. Between them are planted multi-stemmed white-bark birches. If you look closely you might notice that these mounds form an ‘S’ shape. This is the Sigmoid Curve - the main inspiration for Dr Christine Facer Hoffman’s design.


Its significance is twofold. Not only was it used by Charles Handy, the


A new centre for cancer patients has a garden designed to give hope and support, to be welcoming and tranquil.


business philosopher, as a metaphor for life and living, but it also plays an important part during cancer treatment as a means of assessing tumour regression. At the end of these paradigm mounds, two arrowheads of clipped yew point in different directions. The smallest of them points away from the centre - the old world of cancer and despair. The largest points in the direction of Maggie’s - a new world of hope, support and encouragement. Closer to the converted Lodge, additional S-shaped grass mounds, planted with spring and autumn bulbs, weave in the direction of the entrance and the entrancing Courtyard Garden.


The Courtyard Garden has created a private and tranquil space that can be enjoyed both from inside and outside the building. The mellow, honey-coloured oak of the pergola under which visitors pass at the garden’s entrance is instantly welcoming and enveloping.


The scents of lavender and the highly perfumed Duchess of Cornwall rose can be enjoyed from secluded seating been incorporated into the design. When the weather improves, the benches will provide tranquil and private places for Centre Staff to talk with visitors. During the months when the cold weather keeps visitors inside, there’s still plenty to enjoy through the windows. Trees, shrubs and bamboo have been carefully chosen to provide interest throughout the year. The warm browns of a beech hedge run along the boundary while the decorative bark of birches add flashes of light. As the planting matures, Cornus alba ‘Siberica’ will be pruned to display its brightly coloured stems, whilst Cornus ‘Norman Haddon’ will produce its beautiful white bracts in summer and unusual bright red strawberry–like fruits in autumn.


The visitor feels as if they have walked into their perfect house. There is a cosy fire, a welcoming kitchen, a long table for being sociable and quiet spaces for private conversations. There are no signs, no clocks, no doctors and no forms to fill in. Instead there are bookshelves, fruit and flowers and, in winter, a simmering pan of warming soup.


Remarkably, everything in a Maggie’s Centre - from the refreshments, advice and support, to the courses and stress-reducing strategies - are free of charge. There is no need to make an appointment or to be referred. It is even more remarkable that all the money needed to build and run these amazing centres is supplied by donations. Everyone involved with Maggie’s Cheltenham can feel justifiably proud.


Liz Ware, Gardens Interpreted. Blog: gardensinterpreted.blogspot.com


www.maggiescentres.org Facerhoffman Landscape Design – www.christinefacer.com Country Gardener 23


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