“I hate gardening but I love volunteering in the St Christopher’s garden.” Turn the clock back a couple of years, and volunteering in the garden at St Christopher’s in Sydenham is probably the last thing Lesley Morris would imagine she’d have been doing, mostly because she’s always hated gardening.
That was before the deputy head teacher’s husband Trevor died of leukaemia.
“When I lost my husband, it changed everything about me and about our life, everything that holds life together,” Lesley says.
The most tangible change for Lesley was that the very next day after Trevor died in 2022 they were due to complete on a house move. She and her children agreed it was what Trevor would have wanted and was the right thing to do. So, they went ahead, moved in, and had the funeral two weeks later, a fortnight before Christmas.
“The house is perfect because it has the tiniest garden in the world, and I hate gardening. I even have someone to come and take care of it because I really am not a keen gardener.”
So, how then did Lesley come to be a volunteer in the garden at St Christopher’s? And, even more extraordinarily, given her strong feelings about the pastime, how did she come to enjoy her half day a week so much?


Over the months that Trevor spent under the care of St Christopher’s after being referred there by Kings College Hospital, Lesley says they both developed an enormous connection with the hospice.
“They just came into our lives like a wonderful group of guardian angels. They helped us apply for a Blue Badge for the car, for the benefits we were entitled to and while all around us felt like turmoil they were always so kind and calm.
“Trevor was never an in-patient, but he loved going to St Christopher’s. He always felt he was treated like a real person, and he felt safe and comfortable there. Trevor had never had a massage before, but he loved going to the hospice every couple of weeks for that. That helped him to feel human.”
After Trevor’s death, Lesley attended a couple of bereavement group sessions at St Christopher’s but really craved one-to-one support. When the bereavement coordinator phoned Lesley she suggested she might like to volunteer while waiting for the course to start.
“She said they were looking for people to help in the garden. It was still such an important place for me, and I wanted to hang onto, to keep that thread of connection with St Christopher’s. While I do find gardening a chore, I also love being outside, so I said yes.

“Fourteen months later I love it. I love being part of the group of five or six of us regulars and love being in the gardens. Everyone has a story to tell and a reason for being there and understands that everyone else is the same, but no one ever actually says, ‘why are you here?’.
“It’s so nice to do something physical outside. You can’t ignore the cycle of life when you’re in nature. By giving me the opportunity to volunteer in its garden St Christopher’s is continuing to support me on my bereavement journey while also enabling me to feel that close connection with Trevor.”
On her first day volunteering, Lesley was introduced to another newbie, who happened to be her daughter’s former neighbour whose husband had also died. The pair have become firm friends and Lesley always looks forward to her Tuesday gardening.


“I certainly don’t have any plans to give up. It’s just so lovely to think of people like Trevor walking around and getting pleasure from the gardens. That’s just a really comforting thought to know that it’s something I’m a part of.”
Lesley did access the bereavement counselling and says it complemented the gardening perfectly.
“I’d have a session exploring my feelings and emotions and then come to the garden to touch base with nature, do some digging and hard work. The two things really meshed together to help me to come to terms with my bereavement. I really couldn’t commend it to people enough.”
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https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/meet-lesley-our-volunteer-gardener/
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