A Maggie’s cancer support centre will be built inside the grounds of Maidstone Hospital which will provide free, tailored practical and emotional support for people at all stages of cancer.

Designed by landscape architects J&L Gibbons, a garden will celebrate natural and local materials to create a space that is beautiful and atmospheric.

J&L Gibbons, who also designed the landscape for the Natural History Museum, will integrate the garden into the centre.

Maggie’s says it understands the “importance of contact with nature for mental and physical health in creating an inspiring experience.”

The centre will support the 11,000 people diagnosed with cancer in Kent as well as those living with cancer, family and friends.

Sarah Kemsley, chair of Maggie’s Kent fundraising board, comments on the new centre:

“I am confident that people who have made their lives in Kent and had experience of Kent Oncology Centre will want to make sure that there is something more, a beautiful sanctuary of support, for generations to come.”

The new centre will be built in the grounds of the hospital, part of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, and will open by 2028.