In late May we heard that the staff of the neo-natal unit at Queen Charlotte’s, had been clearing out the out the balconies all around the neonatal unit and creating garden spaces for the staff to enjoy. The Senior House Officers and Sorana Galu, one of the consultants, had done an amazing job. They had reclaimed garden furniture from a pub, spent hundreds of pounds on plants, were reworking lighting so it can be used at night, scrubbed floors… Several SHOs including Emilie Seager came in early to water the plants daily. As Kate Dharmarajah wrote: “It is an absolute triumph of team working and going above and beyond.”

Abundance heard about this, and it particularly the description of Sorana spending hours scrubbing pigeon excrement from another disused balcony that struck a bell with the Abundance team (who have had their own pigeon issues with the Timeline mural).

We were delighted to award them £200 to spend on gardening essentials such as compost, pots, equipment and plants. We noted that “If these green spaces can be of benefit to doctors, this in turn will translate into better outcomes for their patients and the local environment too.

The junior doctors’ hard work on their balconies is brilliant, and we are delighted to be able to support and encourage their work.”

For more information read this.

For us it was very exciting to be part of a (tiny) grant-giving body, following on from the success of our annual Abundance Awards. If you would like to join the team, or learn more about their work, please contact Sorana Galu: sorana.gaul@nhs.net.