Wellbeing centre for Reading hospital staff set to open

A £1m wellbeing centre and garden for hospital staff left reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic is set to open by the end of the month.

The facility at Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital includes a gym and quiet rooms as well as a large green space featuring an edible forest.

Backers said the centre would also improve health outcomes for the wider community.

Chief nurse Eamonn Sullivan said it was a positive outcome from the pandemic.

The centre, which has been funded through contributions from two charitable foundations, will allow the hospital’s 6,500 staff a place to relax during their “busy working day”, Mr Sullivan said.

“This is about building a long-term legacy out of the tragedy of the pandemic”, the chief nurse added. “It’s a safe place psychologically for the staff”.

A lawn and picnic area will be for the use of hospital staff, and the edible forest will be for employees and members of the wider community.

However, the vegetable garden will be mostly tended by community gardeners from the Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC) which has recently been evicted from its land in the town.

Chris Cox, who has previously volunteered with RISC has landscaped the garden and outside space.

RISC will run courses in the vegetable area on how to have a balcony garden and an allotment.

Mr Cox said: “We hear about the NHS fighting obesity and mental health issues, this will help.

“Reading is a very ethnically diverse community, this will promote community cohesion, it ticks a lot of boxes.”

Mr Sullivan said even if the funds were made available immediately “we wouldn’t have a hospital for five to seven years”.

“In the medium term this will have huge value to our staff. I can’t predict the future but we’re unlikely to have a hospital before the end of the decade”, he said.