Each Spring, pops of purple start to emerge with the warmer weather across Brisbane as the jacaranda trees flower. These blooms are a welcome sight, and their pleasant scent is often a sweet reminder of warmer days and happy times.
Over the past several decades on The Prince Charles Hospital’s campus, these trees have offered shade and shelter from the elements, as well as a beautiful spot for people to gather outside the clinical environments.
In 2026, The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation marks its 40-year milestone. And when this foundation was established on November 20 in 1986, the campus’s jacaranda trees would have likely just finished their annual bloom.
“There were a lot of Jacaranda trees around the site, but they were particularly predominant down around our aged care facility which was aptly named Jacaranda Village,” recalls Margie Morton, Unit Manager of the Internal Medicine and Dementia Research Unit at The Prince Charles Hospital.
“Jacaranda Village was located where the Cognitive Assessment and Management (CAM) Unit, Palliative care unit and Mental Health unit are now situated. There are a couple of the original Jacarandas at the back of mental health unit as you walk past the Helipad but they were once dotted all around the village and each November when in full bloom they were truly a magnificent sight. The road, alongside the village was called Jacaranda Drive, and is still there today.
” The adolescent mental health facility which opened in 2021 on the grounds of The Prince Charles Hospital, is also called “Jacaranda Place” inspired by the strength and resilience of the jacaranda trees on the site. The primary significance is as the namesake. The facility provides specialist and intensive treatment for young people with severe and complex mental health needs increasing a young person’s capacity and confidence to successfully reconnect with their family and community.
Margie’s family has a deep connection to both the hospital, and the foundation. Her father was the Chair of the initial hospital board, and her mother one of the first members of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation’s board. Alongside her family, Margie used to participate in bake sales and other fundraising activities in those early years to raise money for the Foundation to support research at TPCH.
“It was always very special, and we would celebrate with a “Jacaranda Afternoon Tea” down in Jacaranda Village in the middle of November when the Jacarandas were in full bloom. It was a time to celebrate the service The Prince Charles Hospital provided and the Research Foundation supported. It was always great fun, celebrated by all staff and always very purple,” she said.
Margie remembers that some of the Jacaranda trees had to be removed to allow for the redevelopment of the hospital site. However, a cherished keepsake for those original Foundation board members was created as a result.
“At the time, the board was changing over to a regional authority. The carpenters and the groundsmen worked together, saved the wood from the trees that were taken down, and decided to make a memento for all the board members. On their last day, each member was presented with a piece of polished jacaranda wood with an engraved plaque,’ Margie explained.
“Each piece of polished wood had the crest of the hospital placed on it with the TPCH motto, ‘We Serve,’ with a little note attached, explaining it was Jacaranda Wood from a tree on the village site. It was indeed a very special gift which the gardeners prepared, and the carpenters assembled and polished.”
Celebrating 40 years of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation
In the past four decades, thousands of purple flowers have fallen from the site’s Jacaranda trees, littering the ground like a lilac carpet. And although not all of the original trees remain, The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation still stands proudly beside those who work here to improve and save lives every day.
Since 1986, the Foundation has helped fund around $78 million in life-changing research, innovative equipment, purposeful projects, and compassionate care programs, all to enhance the exceptional care delivered right here in this hospital, and in more recent years, Caboolture Hospital.
2026 will be a year to reflect on the incredible impact we’ve achieved together, and to reconnect with everyone who has contributed to this shared legacy, including hospital staff, Foundation staff, donors, past patients, research and clinical alumni, and our wider community.
It will also be a time to look ahead at the health challenges of the future, and how, together, we can continue to be part of the solution.
Secure your tickets to the Jacaranda Gala
One of the highlights of our 40-year celebrations will be the Jacaranda Gala, the theme a nod to the past and present jacaranda trees at The Prince Charles Hospital. This event, held on 16 May 2026 at The Star, Brisbane, will be our first major gala event in more than 15 years, and everyone from the community is warmly invited to attend.
It’s set to be a special evening to come together, reflect on our history, celebrate our impact, and raise funds to power the next generation of research.
To purchase your tickets to the gala, click here.
