A Garden For Katie

Katie is a five-year old with a rare, incurable condition called tuberous sclerosis. At just four months old she was diagnosed with tumors on her brain, heart and kidneys. Her mother Anna appealed for help to transform their garden into a child-friendly area for her daughter to play in as Katie loved playing outside with her dolls, but the garden wasn’t suitable for her.

Rather than simply making a donation towards the cost of a refurbishment the members of Shirley Lions Club decided it was time they did some manual labour and get their hands dirty!

Lion Mike Cooke (now a retired architect) drew up some plans for an obstruction free garden and under the leadership of Lion Andy Luckett the club set to work.

The work involved ripping out an old garage, providing a ramped access, replacing all the fencing and lawn, providing “absorbafall” safety surfacing and creating an ocean-style mural. The make-over took more than 300 man-hours and Katie’s mother Anna was delighted with the result: “Katie loves playing in her new garden, see really enjoys the seaside mural and it’s marvellous to see the smile on her face when she’s out there.

The “before” and “after” shows the transformation achieved by the members of Shirley Lions.