IT is a fitting tribute in memory of a popular photography teacher.

Pauline Matthews, who taught at Brockenhurst College and Bournemouth University, before she lost her battle with cancer, believed the best therapy was spending time in her garden.

Now hundreds of people will be able to enjoy gardens at Royal Bournemouth Hospital in her memory thanks to a donation from her husband Trevor and his friends Simon Rickman and Chris Hobby.

They hosted a charity race night to raise £3,265 for Bournemouth Hospital Charity’s Orchard Garden Project.

The project aims to create a therapeutic garden next to the hospital’s state of the art Jigsaw Building, outside the chemotherapy suite.

More than 120 of the couple’s closest friends and family enjoyed buying and racing hobby horses as well as a charity raffle and auction.

Trevor, a self-employed carpenter and joiner, said: “Everyone was so generous and the whole thing touched a lot of people.”

Pauline was treated at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital for myeloma, a form of blood cancer but she lost her battle with the disease earlier this year, aged 51.

Trevor, 48, added: “We’d often chat with her consultant Helen McCarthy about the Orchard Garden Project and the plans to make the disused outdoor areas into therapeutic gardens for patients.

“To be able to walk out and sit among the beautiful plants will make such a difference when undergoing treatment – it takes your mind off things.

“Pauline was particularly interested in the plans as she loved gardening. After she died, I wanted to do something to help and this seemed fitting.

“I am so pleased we have been able to help make this happen.”

Work on the Orchard Garden has started and the charity is close to hitting its fundraising target.