Children, parents and staff at Langside School, an independent, non-maintained, special day school run by Dorset charity Diverse Abilities Plus, celebrated the official opening of a brand new sensory garden this week thanks to the hard work of volunteers.
The sensory garden has been a six month project to rejuvenate the outside area at the school, which provides education to 28 children from the ages of two to 19 who have special educational needs and physical difficulties, often with complex medical conditions.
Volunteers from local businesses started from scratch to revamp the area for the children to enjoy ready for this summer by clearing plants, weeds and mounds of undergrowth before moving onto digging up the garden, setting concrete borders and planting sensory plants and installing sensory items that the children can easily reach when they visit the garden.
The garden was completed with a sensory arch at the entrance to the area.
Jon Seaward, School Principal, said: “The transformation of the sensory garden is just astonishing and we can’t wait to see the children benefiting from all the efforts made from all our fantastic volunteers this summer.”
Sarah Harrison, Volunteer Recruitment Manager, said: “We can’t thank everyone enough for the fantastic work that has been undertaken at Langside School. The area looks fabulous and we want to say a massive thank you to every single volunteer for their efforts and enthusiasm.”
Diverse Abilities Plus is always on the lookout for volunteers to help out on projects that will further fulfil the lives of adults and children with disabilities in Dorset. Please contact Sarah Harrison on 01202 718266 or email sarah.harrison@diverseabilitiesplus.org.uk if you would like to get involved and donate some of your spare time.
