A NEW courtyard garden and meadow are being created at Airedale Hospital.

Bee-friendly garden plants and native wildflowers are being planted at the Steeton site.

The scheme is a joint initiative between Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.

It forms part of the Dales trust’s Bee Together project, a programme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund which aims to create a corridor of habitats between Leeds and Lancaster.

Project officer Catherine Mercer said: “The hospital 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 people at Airedale Hospital for many years to come. It has been great to do our bit to support the NHS, particularly during this very difficult time.

“Studies show that hospital patients recover more quickly when given access to green space – and staff at the hospital will benefit from it too.”

Work on the meadow has been continuing for the past month, with head gardener Steve Marshall organising the stripping of turf and the introduction of 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.

Among those backing the venture is Penny Collinson, a patient flow assistant from Yorkshire Ambulance Service. She is based in the hospital’s patient reception centre.

She said: “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 next spring.

The corridor of habitats planned by the Bee Together project will contribute to a national network of ‘B-Lines’ – or ‘insect pathways’ – mapped by Buglife.

A B-Line crossing the Yorkshire Dales, Aire Valley and Lancashire will help pollinators expand into new locations.

Buglife is working with a number of partners to restore and create the wildflower-rich habitat ‘stepping stones’ – ideal for pollinators like bees and butterflies.

The project is being supported by John Chambers Wildflower Seed, which has donated a mix of seeds to create the meadows.

For more about Bee Together, visit ydmt.org/what-we-do/bee-together.