The Stow Family Garden was originally established at Northern Hospital by the Stow Family in 1998, and has recently been rejuvenated by Stows Waste Management, together with the Northern Health Foundation.

Managing Director of Stows Waste Management, Paul Stow, said, “The Stow Family Garden was donated by my parents, Neil and Wynette Stow. Following in their footsteps, I wanted to rejuvenate the garden to bring joy to the patients, families, visitors and staff at the Northern Hospital.”

“Stows Waste Management are a family owned and operated business, and take great pride in giving back to the community and environment in which we operate within,” Paul added.

Yvonne Amos, Director of Northern Health Foundation, said, “The Stow Family Garden required revitalisation to ensure it could be enjoyed by future generations. The Aboriginal artwork has also been revitalised to better reflect the Indigenous communities in the north and across Victoria.”

Local Yorta Yorta Aboriginal artist, Kahli Luttrell, painted the artwork featured in the garden, which represents the land, plants, animals, growth and the sky with Bunjil, the creator, flying through overlooking the land and keeping it safe.

The Wurundjeri totem, the Waa (meaning Crow), is also watching over. The line work represents the pathways of our people who use Northern Hospital to access services that link and provide support to the Aboriginal community.

The dots represent the many people who have travelled through, both past and present, and also different meeting groups that discuss growth for their future, how best to respect the land and keep it safe for future growth and generations.

Karen Bryant, Northern Health Senior Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer, said, “By having an Aboriginal influence on this garden, Northern Health is creating an environment that promotes cultural safety, which is welcoming to the Aboriginal community that visit Northern Hospital.”

“Creating culturally safe spaces and visuals means the garden can be enjoyed by all visitors to our hospital,” Karen added.

Stows Waste Management, on behalf of the Stow Family, wish for this garden to be enjoyed by Northern Hospital patients and visitors for many years to come. The garden is located in the courtyard near Pharmacy.