New Sanctuary Garden at Thrive London for people living with dementia

A new restful ‘sanctuary’ for vulnerable older Londoners is underway at Thrive London with the support of a £27,000 grant from the National Garden Scheme. The Sanctuary Garden will provide a peaceful, safe and accessible space for older and disabled people especially those living with dementia and their carers.

The garden, located in Thrive London’s Main Garden in Battersea Park, London, is designed to be a secure environment suitable for people with a range of sensory and mobility needs. Fragrant and vibrantly coloured plants and shrubs will provide excellent stimulation alongside sheltered seating to offer a place for conversation, quiet reflection and enjoyment of the changing seasons.

As well as making the benefits of nature and gardening publicly available to the older generation, the new garden will importantly support Thrive London’s Garden Thyme programme. Here, trained practitioners help people living with dementia or memory loss to engage in gentle gardening activities and nature-based crafts to enhance their wellbeing and quality of life. Each session is designed to stimulate the senses, evoke memories and maintain or improve physical abilities, and provides an opportunity to interact with others and connect with nature and plants.

The garden will also be used as a resource within Thrive’s Social and Therapeutic Horticulture (STH) courses to help develop more professionally trained STH practitioners.

“We’re so excited to start the build of the Sanctuary Garden and look forward to welcoming people to this reassuring safe space where older visitors and people on our programmes and their carers can benefit from time in nature, therapeutic gardening and feeling part of a community,” says Thrive STH Practitioner Alex McDonald.

“We hope that health and social care providers will welcome the garden and the support that it will bring to the local community. STH is invaluable for people with early onset dementia and can have a positive impact on their quality of life. Whilst people with dementia may not be able to remember their tasks, the feelings last longer than the memories,” adds Alex.

Engagement with nature and gardening drives behaviours that reduce the risks of dementia, delaying the onset, slowing the decline and reducing social isolation. Gardening activity in older age has also been associated with cognitive benefits over the course of life, with those who spend time gardening shown to have better cognitive function in later life than those who do not.

The creation of the Sanctuary Garden was generously funded by grants from the Wolfson Foundation and The National Garden Scheme, with funding for the Garden Thyme programme provided by the Julia Rausing Trust, helping Thrive to deliver its incredible services to even more people. The works started mid-October with a view to open in spring 2025.

The donation from the National Garden Scheme forms part of the charity’s support of Gardens and Health funding garden projects in healthcare settings and communities.