A dream has come true for the green-fingered kids of a Llandudno school.
Pupils of Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn can now enjoy the pleasures of a magical sensory garden thanks to housing association Cartrefi Conwy.
They have come up with £5,000 to create a garden of earthly delights, full of flowers and herbs and their fragrances and the tinkling and rustling of wind chimes and leaves in the playground of the school.
The cash has come from a £50,000 annual fund for environmental improvements which Cartrefi Conwy set up through their Participatory Budgeting scheme – putting budgeting in the hands of the community.
The association, which took over Conwy County Borough Council’s 3,800 homes in 2008, invited their tenants to come up with ideas and they were deluged with 21 suggestions – including one from the children of Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn.
The next step was to invite representatives of the proposed projects to the conference venue, the Interchange in Old Colwyn, to pitch their ideas and more than 120 attended and cast their votes
It was the youngsters of the school who topped the poll after they explained just how much they wanted a sensory garden.
They received the maximum £2,500 grant from Cartrefi Conwy to put toward the cost of building the special garden and that sum was match-funded by building firm G Purchase who are carrying out a £30 million renovation of the Association’s properties.
The school celebrated the opening of the new garden with a party complete a specially baked cake and head teacher Lolo Williams said: “I have been the head teacher here for 17 years and this new sensory garden is exactly what we need.
“We are indebted to Cartrefi Conwy’s Participatory Budgeting scheme and G Purchase Construction for their generosity and hard work. What we now have is a wonderful area for our children to come outside, contemplate, do their work or just simply relax.
“The school has a gardening club so the garden will be well maintained and tended in the future. However, I have to thank our link teacher, Jane Montgomery, who has been the co-ordinator between Cartrefi Conwy and the school as the sensory garden took shape.”
Andrew Bowden, the Chief Executive Officer of Cartrefi Conwy said: “I am proud of the work Cartrefi Conwy is doing helping communities to help themselves. We can’t do it alone and it has to be a partnership.
“This sensory garden, here at Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn, shows what can be done when communities work with us through our Community Chest fund. I hope the children really enjoy the sensory garden as it develops and grows.”
Terry Phipps, Client Services Manager of G Purchase Construction who built the garden, said: “We have worked closely with Cartrefi Conwy and the school, particularly Jane Montgomery, to ensure we got the design and construction of the garden exactly right.
“I am thrilled with the outcome and hope the school, and all its pupils, enjoy the garden for many years to come.”
Jane Montgomery added: “It was the children themselves that came up with the idea for the garden through the school council.
“We have a behavioural unit located at the school which is used by a number of pupils from across the region who suffer from behavioural or emotional problems. The sensory garden will be of huge benefit to the Unit’s children.
“I am so thrilled with how everything has turned out. The staff of Cartrefi Conwy, particularly Owen Veldhuizen, have been amazing. They have helped, encouraged and supported us from beginning to end and I can never thank them enough.”
Cartrefi Conwy Senior Tenant Engagement Officer Owen Veldhuizen added: “This has been a wonderful project to be involved with and to see the garden develop has been a joy.
“Everyone has worked really hard to put it all together and I’m absolutely thrilled how it has turned out. This has been a community led project providing a new facility that can be enjoyed and used for many years to come.”
