Dawn Ward Created A Communal Garden For COVID-19 Frontline Health Workers At Stepping Hill Hospital!

Dawn Ward has used her interior designer skills to create a communal garden for NHS staff. According to Manchester Evening News, the Real Housewives of Cheshire star transformed a previously sparse outdoor area at Stepping Hill Hospital into an area in which staff working on the coronavirus frontline can use to sit and have a break.

Ward teamed up with Manchester-based furniture company Desser & Co and the Salford-founded Swinton Insurance and they donated outdoor furniture and funded the project.

Dawn, whose firm Arista Design was recently behind a £65m refurbishment in the heart of Mayfair featured in a Channel Four documentary Britain's Most Expensive Home, then set up the garden while observing social distancing measures.

The mother-of-four was initially approached by Stepping Hill who said they had a budget for creating an outdoor haven for their hard-working staff, but she wanted to ensure it wouldn't cost them anything so they could use the money for something else.

The garden before its renovation (Photo: ABNM Photography)

"From the outset I wanted to do something for the NHS because they have been incredible," she told Manchester Evening News. "They are doing their jobs but they're also risking their lives.

"I got an email about their an outdoor area which was quite miserable," she explained. "They wanted to get some fresh air and I thought to myself 'I want to save their money.'"

The outdoor area, which Dawn decorated with lanterns, seats 55 staff.

Dawn with Mark Stewart from Desser and Co in 

the new garden (Photo: ABNM Photography)

"To see them eating their lunch in this area is so nice," she said. "It's important that they get a proper rest on their break."

"They signed up to get people better but they are now risking their lives."

The ITVBe reality star is now hoping to carry out a similar project for a care home and wants to hear from any homes needing a boost in this time of crisis.

Photo Credit: ITVBe