THE wildlife garden at Woking & Sam Beare Hospice has been renamed the “Wild Wood Garden” after Paul Weller’s 1993 album of the same name.

And Woking’s own music legend was there last week to perform the honours, launching a new fund-raising project for the hospice.

Taking time out from rehearsals for his upcoming tour, the singer-songwriter and his mum Ann met hospice staff and talked with them about the care provided to the local community, while visiting the garden.

To mark the new name, the hospice was presented with a wooden plaque designed and created by Arron Harbutt and made by MJC Precision, which features in the garden, along with a wooden painting that will be displayed in the Garden Café at the hospice.

As part of the Wild Wood Garden project, there is limited-edition merchandise available that will be sold in aid of the hospice – the Wild Wood Garden Mug and the English Rose pin badge have been designed by Steve Wheatley from This Is Now Design.

The Wild Wood Garden artwork, a print of which was presented to Paul, visually references 10 of Paul’s song titles within the design. The limited-edition souvenir mugs and English Rose enamel pin badges are directly derived from this artwork.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to Sam Molnar for arranging this on behalf of the hospice. To Arron Harbutt for the Wild Wood Garden plaque and to Steve Wheatley for creating the limited-edition mugs and pin badges. And, of course, to Paul Weller for taking the time to visit and supporting the hospice and the naming of the garden,” said Phil Wormley, director of fundraising.

Sam Molnar was first inspired to raise money for the hospice in appreciation of the care they provided to his mum before she passed away. Sam came up with idea for Wake up Woking, a live music concert. With the support of Vic Falsetta, the first concert was held at Woking Leisure Centre in June 2010, raising an incredible £62,000 with Paul Weller as the headline act.

In the following years, Vic Falsetta continued the Wake up Woking concerts and to date they have raised more than £100,000 for the hospice. 

The Wild Wood mug and English Rose pin badges will be available to purchase via the This Is Now website at www.thisisnow.design  while stocks last, with £4 from each product purchased being donated to the hospice.