A HOSPICE is among five community groups that will take part in BBC North West Tonight’s Northern Star Garden.

Wigan and Leigh Hospice will be featured ahead of the RHS Flower Show in Tatton Park, as the RHS and North West Tonight come together to design and produce horticultural community hubs.

Each group will work to build its own garden, conveying its own message representing that community.

The community gardens will include blue-themed sculptures and a custom hand-built blue chevron bench at the centre, to help represent the North Western coast and skies.

The aim of the finished products is to show how horticulture can empower local communities and bring people together.

Hospice gardener

Wigan and Leigh Hospice’s gardener, Jim Nicholson, recently visited RHS Bridgewater Garden with volunteers to take part in the North West Community Garden Mentoring Day.

Jim said: “My volunteers and I are really excited about being involved in the Northern Star Garden at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show.

“We love working in the gardens here at the hospice, making them a place where patients and their friends and relatives can find some peace and quiet, at a time which can be very stressful.

“It is a privilege to be able to create that space.

Leigh Journal: Wigan & Leigh HospiceWigan & Leigh Hospice (Image: Wigan and Leigh Hospice)

“The Hospice's garden will be one of peace and tranquillity and will be full of colour. We are very excited about planting it up and then showing it to the public.”

Pride in its gardens

Wigan and Leigh Hospice takes pride in its gardens, with dedicated team of volunteers maintaining the gardens throughout the year.

The RHS Tatton Park Flower Show will take place from Wednesday, July 19 to Sunday July 23.

Find out more about the Northern Star garden visit https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-flower-show-tatton-park/news/2023/northern-star-garden