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Cydweli Community Sensory Garden

by Anne Gilley
(Kidwelly)

How did the Garden happen?

An application was made by our Coop Member Pioneer Anne Gilley when Boom Cymru advertised for community project to spend £5K on.

She made a quick telephone call and the application was done.

After a successful meeting with programme producers we found out in February that we had been successful from over 100 applications.

It was now time to get the team together to make the dream a reality.

My first thought was to contact Carol & Chris Cray at Burns in the community to see if they were interested in getting involved with the project and the answer was a definite YES.

I also contacted Ryan King a local parent who's youngest daughter had been diagnosed with Autism.

The team had been chosen and the hard work started.
The transformation took place over 3 days over 21st, 22nd, 23rd June 2021.

We worked in partnership with Boom Cymru, we spoke to lots of parents and experts for advice on what should be included in the plan and fed the information back to the designer.

We spoke to local business who either kindly donated or gave materials for next to nothing.

The work over the weekend was the next step which was a much easier task than expected. People were more than happy to give up their time free of charge over the 3 days.

We had numerous builders, carpenters, odd jobs men. We were never short of bodies over the weekend.
We were given food & drink also free of charge to keep the troops fed & watered over the weekend.

We were over all lucky with the weather over the weekend with the sun shining. The big reveal happened on Sunday 23rd June where members of the community turned out to see the new exciting project.

IT TRULY WAS AN AMAZING WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

The Sensory Garden is a part of a bigger play area that's suitable from tots to teens.

We've also tried to make the whole are as inclusive as possible with the limited budget we had available to us.

It's an ideal area for families with a family member with either a disability or additional need, it has something for everyone.

We're quite proud of what we've achieved. It's also part of a bigger play area which we've also tried to make an inclusive as possible with the limited budget we had available to us.

It's an ideal area for families with a family member with either a disability or additional need. It has something for everyone.

We're currently looking at possibly adding an outdoor gym to the area.

ANSWER

WOW it's an amazing achievement Anne and so needed for children with additional needs.

Your story is an inspiration for anyone thinking of creating a sensory garden and an inclusive playground.

Thank you so much for sharing. Every town needs facilities like this x