King's woodworkers create a new talking point for Chelsea Pensioners

Telegraph

26-04-2025

The King's woodworkers have designed the Chelsea Pensioners a garden table to combat loneliness.
The table is made of English oak and inset with a decorative map, which will act as a prompt to discuss their memories of travelling in different countries.
It will form the centrepiece of a garden designed by Dave Green at the Chelsea Flower Show, known as the London Square Chelsea Pensioners Garden.
The Pensioners are former soldiers or non-commissioned officers of the British Army who are on the state pension and live at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
It marks the first time a garden has been designed for the veterans. The table will later be moved into the grounds of the Royal Hospital as a permanent feature for the pensioners to enjoy.
Hannah Evans, 23, and Lily Hitchcock, 21, two woodworkers at The King's Foundation's Snowdon School of Furniture, have together designed and made the table over the course of several months. Ms Evans explained that she hoped the table would provide a topic of conversation for the Pensioners who visit the garden.
'I think they see it as a talking point between them, it's something they've got in connection with each other, they can see where they've been and talk about their travels during their time in the Navy or the Army', she said.
The two travelled to English Woodlands Timber in West Sussex to ensure they picked the right wood.
'It's a long process, actually', said Ms Hitchcock. 'But it's a really important process, going through knowing where the tree came from, and being able to pick, because there's things you need to look at, like the grain and the condition of the wood.'
Alongside the table, the garden features a seat upholstered in red recycled pensioners' uniforms with gold buttons sewn onto them, and a bug hotel for solitary bees, reflecting the fact that the 'garden is a garden for solitary pensioners', designer Dave Green explained.
Mr Green, who met with pensioners ahead of the garden project, said: 'One of the things the Pensioners said is that the hospital is full of very grand spaces, some of them are quite intimidating and a bit overwhelming.
'They don't have a lot of spaces where they can meet in smaller groups with people from outside the hospital. And so it's something they wanted, and something that a garden space can deliver.'
He explained that vibrant planting on the outside of the garden reflected the ceremonial life of the pensioners, while the calmer and more textural planting at the centre captured their private moments.
Other features in the garden include a water feature modelled on the lead tanks used by the Royal Chelsea Hospital when it was first built.
The Snowdon School of Furniture was founded by the son of Princess Margaret, the Earl of Snowdon, a master cabinet maker. The school aims to educate and train furniture students of all ages in the value of wood as a sustainable and beautiful material.
Nick Wright, the furniture school manager, told an anecdote about Princess Margaret that Lord Snowdon recounted to him.
'She was visiting this large, stately, beautiful table, and with an entourage of guests, as would have been normal, and she got them to get down on their knees and look underneath the table, which is often where a lot of the work is.
'We look at the lovely finished top, but a lot of the work is in the structure underneath to make sure that it holds that beautiful top as it should be.'