ARR Craib Transport Delivers Award-Winning Garden To Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Haulage firm ARR Craib Transport Ltd made an unusual delivery this week with a load that promises to brighten up the lives of in-patients at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI). The firm has come to the aid of ARI by transporting an entire garden from London to the Granite City as part of a major project to create a therapeutic garden at the North-east hospital.
The Royal Bank of Canada recently announced that it was to donate its Blue Water Roof Garden – which won Gold at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show – to ARI’s roof garden project. This left appeal co-ordinators with a major transportation challenge – until ARR Craib stepped in to help out.
The garden was packed up into pallets and loaded on to three lorries before being driven to Aberdeen. It arrived at the Granite City on Thursday, July 25 and will be stored at Ben Reid Garden Centre before it is installed at a later date.
Eddie Anderson, managing director of ARR Craib Transport Ltd, says the company is pleased to be able to offer practical help. He adds, “As a company based in the North-east, we like to support local charities in the area where and when we can. We are fortunate to have the resources to collect the roof garden from London, and we were happy to be able to support this fantastic cause.
“It’s certainly one of the most unusual loads that we have ever had to transport – we’ve delivered loads of fencing, garden supplies and even compost in the past, but never an entire garden. I’m sure that the therapeutic roof garden will be a most welcome addition to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and that patients and family will reap the benefits in years to come.”
Designed by the London 2012 Olympic Park design consultant, Professor Nigel Dunnett, the RBC Blue Water Roof Garden will transform the outdoor space for patients at the hospital. The ARI Therapeutic Roof garden development intends to provide inpatients, friends and family with a safe, attractive space filled with trees, shrubs and flowers.
The generous donation by the Royal Bank of Canada will give inpatients a beautiful, environmentally friendly space. The theme of the RBC garden is fresh water, which is portrayed throughout the garden with the adaptation of meadows, wetlands and trees into the heart of a city.
The campaign for the therapeutic roof garden was instigated by NHS Grampian Healthcare Chaplain Rev James Falconer towards the end of 2012, and he is looking forward to seeing the results.
Rev Falconer comments, “We are extremely grateful for the generous support of ARR Craib Transport in ensuring that this fantastic gift is delivered to its new home. It would have taken a significant amount of time, effort and resources to fund-raise for the transportation, so we were absolutely delighted when ARR Craib offered us help in kind.
“We are very grateful indeed to Ben Reid Garden Centre for their generosity in storing and looking after this precious cargo on their own nursery in Aberdeen.
“We are very proud indeed that the Royal Bank of Canada chose to support our project which will be for the benefit of inpatients and their families. Plans for the garden are at an early stage and we look forward to working with Professor Dunnett as he adapts the garden for its new home at ARI.”
