Private individual - Harmonie's Garden

When Freya and the family contacted Playforce to tell us about their garden and about their daughter Harmonie-Rose we were already familiar with the name and their story as Harmonie-Rose had featured in various local news programs and local press.

Harmonie-Rose was struck down with Meningococcal B (Men-B) at 10 months old and given a less than 10% chance of survival. When Harmonie was first poorly, her friends and family were told that she would never walk, talk, laugh, have emotions, see, read, communicate - that she would be a brain-damaged quadruple amputee with no quality of life. These predictions couldn’t be further from the truth and now at the age of 4 years Harmonie is a bright, chatty and active quadruple amputee.

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The families garden was a fantastic size but was unusable by the whole family due to an earlier failed attempt from another company to help. They wanted to give Harmonie-Rose a safe and stimulating garden to play in. It was important to have a flexible outdoor space where Harmonie-Rose could play independently and with family and friends.

Marketing Executive Claire said ‘When the enquiry first hit our inbox I knew straight away who this little girl was as I had followed her story of recovery as I live only a few miles away, so I was especially keen to be able to help. It was great to work closely with the family to create their perfect garden. Harmonie-Rose and her family also visited the Playforce office and met all the staff. We also held a bake off and raised money for Meningitis Now’.

Harmonie is able to play with everything in the new garden, she can feel completely free and it’s completely safe for her.

Harmonie-Rose told us how much she loves trampolines, so this was a must have feature for the new garden. The installers had a shock when preparing the ground for the trampoline when an old mine shaft was discovered! Along with the trampoline the Woodland Cabin has also been a favourite. Along with All Weather Surfacing other items included a Tipi, Nest Swin g, a TimberRectangular Shelter with Polycarbonate Roof and a modified Sand and Water Station.

John the Playforce installer said ‘Working on the garden for Harmonie-Rose was a real pleasure, seeing Harmonies face when she returned from nursery each day to see what had been done was heart-warming.’

Harmonies mum Freya shares some thoughts with us below.

Why did you want to develop your garden?
We have a large garden which was uneven, and the ground was not safe for Harmonie-Rose to use at all.

What were the key elements that made Playforce stand out from other providers?
One key element was the ground works and surfacing, they were perfect for Harmonie, as she can use it at any time, wheelchair, bare legged or prosthetics.

How are you using the space?
We can all use it as a family, we have had friends come around too and we all gather there while the kids play. We also had meal times out there when it was hot. We have enjoyed games of football and we also set up a paddling pool, so Harmonie was able to access her own pool this summer.

What are the biggest benefits you have seen?
Harmonie is able to play with everything in the new garden, she can feel completely free and it’s completely safe for her.

Any other comments?
Thank you for all the hard work it has helped us be able to come together and spend quality time as a family. It’s amazing seeing Harmonie be completely free and able to access all areas and equipment on her own especially the trampoline.

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