Stroke recovery garden opens at Leeds hospital

The garden will provide a place for connection and rest for stroke survivors and their families
Patients recovering from a stroke at Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds will benefit from the Stroke Association’s Garden for Recovery, which opened on the site earlier this month.
The Garden for Recovery was the charity’s first ever show garden created for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show which was held in May this year.
It was made possible thanks to funding from grant-giving charity, Project Giving Back, that funds gardens for good causes at the show.
The garden was created by landscape designer, Miria Harris – herself a stroke survivor – to support others to achieve their best-possible recovery.
Since being on display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the garden has been reconfigured and moved to its permanent location next to the stroke unit at Chapel Allerton Hospital, where it will provide a place for connection and rest for stroke survivors and their families.
The garden is visible from the windows of the hospital, offering an inspirational view of windswept, resilient trees and wildlife-friendly plants.

The garden is visible from patient areas within the hospital
After suffering a stroke in 2019, Harris was left with aphasia, affecting her ability to speak and form words properly.
This experience, together with the stories of other stroke survivors, helped her to shape the garden as a place to support and inspire stroke recovery, both physically and mentally.
She said: “I wanted to design an immersive, calm, and optimistic space to support stroke survivors of all ages and needs, somewhere for visitors to gently move around, to take time to stop, rest, and reflect.
“It’s a place to be alone or connect with loved ones.”
The garden is a welcoming, accessible, peaceful, and sensory space for recovery.
Colour and scent provide soft wayfinding for those with visual or mobility needs, while interconnected pathways offer different routes through the garden, with different areas to rest along the way.
Craige Richardson, director of estates and facilities at the trust said: “Not only does the garden provide patients and staff with direct access to nature, which is known to have a positive impact on recovery and wellbeing; it also increases the biodiversity of the landscape and enhances green infrastructure, a building block for climate resilience that supports our longer-term sustainability commitment.”
The garden opening was celebrated by stroke patients who were joined by Harris and Emmerdale star, Mark Charnock, who plays stroke survivor, Marlon Dingle, on the ITV show.