Argyle Community Trust DURING the October NCS Wave with Argyle Community Trust, one group of participants re-developed the sensory garden in partnership with Plymouth City Council.
A team of PAFC NCS participants, working in partnership with Plymouth City Council planned, fundraised and created a sensory garden at Pathfields, Plympton. The significance of this is that Pathfields, a local green space borders a residential home for the blind.
The team created a garden full of different smells, textures and noises, so that local residents who struggle with full or partial blindness could use the garden as an outdoor space to relax, keep fit or socialise. Working in partnership with B&Q who donated trees, plants and resources, the garden was created to offer scents and noises to stimulate local residents. Starting completely from scratch on a disused, overgrown patch of land, the garden was transformed in to a beautiful chill-out spot.
The group are passionate for this garden to be a symbol of NCS legacy, which can be further developed by Summer 2017 NCS participants.
Councillor Dave Downie, Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities said: “The National Citizen Service programme is a fantastic opportunity for our young people to have fun and give something back to their local communities and the projects that the young people worked on with our Street Services team have really made a difference.”
Caroline Fiske, Street Services Area Liaison Officer added: “The young people we worked with on this project were fantastic. They were really passionate and rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in with the project. I’m really proud of what we have all achieved together.”
After the October programme, NCS 2016 has come to a close and the planning for NCS Summer 2017 begins to make it the best yet. Argyle Community Trust work hard each year to build their NCS programme to give participants the very best NCS experience they can.
The National Citizen Service is a government run-initiative which is delivered to schools and young people across Plymouth by Argyle Community Trust. The programme is aimed at 15-17 year-old individuals to build their employability skills whilst having fun and forging new friendships. Phase One includes the adventure trip to Weymouth, which entails a range of outdoor activities and Phase Two contains the Social Action Project (SAP) which aims to give back to the community.
To get involved with NCS Summer 2017 and join the 275,000 young people who have already said yes, sign up online at www.ncsyes.co.uk or contact Dwain Morgan on dwain.morgan@pafc.co.uk
By Annie Lewis
