Flowers for Bethlem

We had to say goodbye to Bethlem royal hospital after a long association of three and a half years. It's been very sad but we've also done some lovely things along this  journey of bidding farewell to both the place and the people.

How do you capture all that it has meant to us? 

Together we made a collage with golden grasses from the meadows, bright parakeet found feathers, acorns to remind us of that amazing collective thud they made last year in the woods which we named the 'acorn drop', pictures of the woods bluebells, momentos of all the crafty things we'd made and places we'd been. J and W helped us as part of a final session with them and we circulated it around all the staff to sign next to their pictures. It's a very meaningful picture to take away as we all move on.

To say thank you and goodbye we also brought flowers from home. They have come every week for E but this time they came in bucket loads from our garden and our neighbour s's garden and allotment, and were even picked amongst the hedgerows around Coombe cottages. We made 18 wonderful bunches, set them up in a magnificent display in the conference room,  with not too much water on the carpet, and left them for everyone to find and take a tiny but of Coombe cottages home with them...