A COLLABORATION between the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will help create a new courtyard garden and meadow at Airedale Hospital, Eastburn.

As part of the Clapham based trust’s Bee Together project, a programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players, bee-friendly garden plants and native wildflowers have been planted to create spaces that people and wildlife can enjoy.

Studies show that hospital patients recover more quickly when given access to green space - and staff at the hospital will benefit from it too, says the charity.

Bee Together Project Officer Catherine Mercer said: “The garden is used by staff and visitors, so it has been great to help create a space that both they and wildlife can enjoy.

“I am hopeful that the garden and meadow will bring joy to staff and patients at Airedale Hospital for many years to come. It has been great to do our own bit to support the NHS, particularly during this very difficult time.”

Work on the meadow has continued over the last month with head gardener Steve Marshall organising the turf to be stripped and the planting of plug plants such as red clover, oxeye daisy and knapweed.

The excess turf will also be used to build a bee bank for nesting solitary bees and there are plans to grow plug plants on in the hospital greenhouse.

Penny Collinson, Patient Flow Assistant from Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, based in the Patient Reception Centre at Airedale Hospital, added: “When I began work at Airedale, I seized the opportunity to support the Bee Together project. I thought that if I developed one of the inner courtyard gardens this could highlight the plight of pollinators and also showcase how the grounds of the hospital are changing.

“These natural spaces are for the local community; and I hope that the habitats being created can be used for physical and mental health projects in the future.”

It is hoped work will be completed by Spring next year.

The Bee Together project seeks to create a corridor of these important habitats between Leeds and Lancaster, contributing to a national network of ‘B-Lines’ mapped by the nature conservation charity, Buglife.

B-Lines are a series of ‘insect pathways’ running through the countryside and towns. Buglife is working with a number of partners to restore and create wildflower-rich habitat stepping stones – ideal for pollinators like bees and butterflies and a host of other wildlife.

This B-line crosses the Yorkshire Dales, the Aire Valley and Lancashire and it is hoped will help pollinators expand into new locations and move from area to area across a network of new habitats.

This project has been generously supported by John Chambers Wildflower Seed, which has donated a custom mix of native wildflower seed to create this meadow and many others.

The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, based in Clapham, works to support the people, landscape of the wildlife of the Dales.

To date the charity has helped to deliver inspiring projects worth more than £30 million in the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas.

These projects cover areas as diverse as countryside apprenticeships, supporting local communities, education and outreach, restoring woodlands and wildlife habitats, and improving access and understanding of this special place.

The Trust has more than 50,000 supporters.

Buglife describes the north of England as having a “Very diverse landscape.”

“This landscape supports a wide range of high quality wildflower-rich habitats including coastal sand dunes, limestone pavements and grasslands, upland hay meadows and areas associated with existing or post industrial sites.

“Special areas for pollinators include limestone habitats and a wide range of high quality wildflower-rich habitats such as coastal sand dunes, rare magnesian limestone grasslands, Whin grasslands, upland hay meadows and lowland heaths”

It adds: “The B-Lines were mapped with help from local and national conservation partners and identify a network which aims to link together wildflower-rich habitats. They will be used by Buglife and our partners to prioritise conservation efforts for pollinators across this rich and varied landscape.

“We want partners to work with us to expand and reconnect wildflower-rich sites, boosting the numbers of pollinating insects and helping other wildlife such as bats.”