THE creator of the charity garden at Gobowen’s Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital has been awarded the OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Dr Olivia Chapple, founder and chairman of trustees at Horatio’s Garden, was recognised in the list with an OBE for her ‘exceptional services to charity’.

In 2012, Olivia with her husband David set up the charity Horatio’s Garden, creating fully accessible garden projects across the UK to give people with spinal injuries, as well as their families and NHS staff, places for reflection and adjustment.

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The charity is a legacy to her eldest son Horatio, an aspiring doctor, whose research identified the need for a garden for patients in the NHS spinal injury centre where he was a volunteer.

Gobowen’s garden was the fourth to be opened across the UK in 2019 and is treated as a sanctuary for those who need it.

She said: “There are so many people who share in this honour but I devote it to Horatio, whose immense courage and kindness infuses me every day.

“He was ahead of his time when he realised how gardens could be essential places for people with spinal injuries going through the most difficult of times.

“Today, because of Horatio’s research and vision, we are supporting thousands of people.

“In the next five years, we hope to ensure that no-one with a spinal injury in the UK should have to spend months in hospital without being connected to nature.”

Victoria Holton, Trustee of Horatio’s Garden who spent 19 months in hospital after a spinal injury before there was a Horatio’s Garden, said: “Olivia’s trailblazing vision and passion to achieve a future where everyone with a spinal injury has access to the benefits of Horatio’s Garden has been boundless.

“These extraordinary, beautiful and vibrant spaces have revolutionised people’s experience during their long hospital stays and are critical to the incredibly challenging process of coming to terms with a spinal injury.

“I’m so pleased to see Olivia’s tremendous service recognised.”

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James Alexander-Sinclair, another Horatio’s Garden Trustee, added: “Olivia is an indefatigable champion for the power of gardens and this honour is richly deserved. 

““Her extraordinary leadership and inspiration in creating gardens for those affected by spinal injury has brought light and joy into the lives of thousands of people – patients, families, staff and visitors.

“Many, many congratulations.”