The backdrop of the Royal Hospital Chelsea is the perfect setting for this garden’s military connection. The SSAFA Garden, sponsored by CCLA offers a quiet, secluded area within a larger garden, providing a place for calm and respite for those staying at Norton House. Run by the SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, it offers free, safe and supportive accommodation to families whose loved ones are receiving treatment for injuries at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre near Loughborough.
The enclosure of the timber walls and hedging, creates an area of security as well as a quiet reflection and also a place to sit and enjoy the garden. The wing-shaped roof structure echoes the lines of SSAFA’s Norton House, while the gentle sound of the infinity water feature and movement of the layered planting are intended to restore and lift the spirit.
After the event, this sanctuary garden will be moved to Norton House, providing an area of therapeutic reflection for those friends and family visiting their loved ones at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC).
