Our Garden 

We are extremely fortunate to have not only a beautiful patio and lawned area in our garden, but also a vegetable patch. The patio was built in 2018 with money awarded to us by Santander Bank. This has now made this area wheelchair accessible, especially as this is linked to the vegetable plot by a new pathway. The grass is regularly cut by our volunteer Brian. The vegetables are tended by our volunteer Rosemary.

These are grown from seedlings or plugs and when the produce is harvested it is incorporated within our recipe choices for cookery sessions. This highlights the growing process to the students and of course everyone enjoys eating organic, fresh and healthy fruit and veg!

The garden is as functional as it is beautiful. In good weather it’s a classroom, a stage for drama, with a notable Midsummer Night’s Dream performed fairly recently, and as a venue for hosting meetings including our AGM. Most importantly it’s an essential component in creating a safe, welcoming, comfortable environment in which adults with disabilities can work, rest and play.

Now there are plans to add more sensory aspects to the garden, introducing sound, with wind chimes and perhaps a water feature, and smell with other more fragrant plants. Raising some beds and introducing a bug hotel will all allow our students to experience more of our outside space. This will take time of course as each change will require funds to be raised but it all contributes positively to our holistic approach to providing for adults with disabilities.