New sensory garden built for Mendip primary schoolers

Volunteers from local housing group, Aster Group joined forces with charity Aster Foundation, to build a brand-new sensory garden for children at the Fosse Way Primary School in Somerset.

The eleven-strong group from Aster’s repair and response team worked directly with teachers to design a new and exciting feature for the school playground, completing the entire project in just three days.

The garden has a range of features designed to stimulate all five senses, encourage creativity and add more variety to playtime for the children. This includes musical, sensor and sound walls, water runs made out of pipes and a mud kitchen – an outdoor play station where children can pretend to cook with mud, sand and water.

The project was supported by Bradfords Building Supplies, a local builders’ merchant that provided all the materials for free.

Amanda Audritt, a teacher at Fosse Way School, said: “The children were so thrilled with everything! There were so many ‘wows’ and their faces were a picture. Also, some children who we find particularly tricky to engage did focus on the music equipment on the sound wall, which was a delight to see.

“The work has made such a difference to us all, we’re so thankful to Aster for supplying volunteers and making the difference to our children.”

Cam Kinsella, Aster Foundation director said: “It was quite overwhelming to see the dedication and passion our people put into this project for the children at Fosse Way School. The Aster Foundation is on a mission to improve the lives of 40,000 people in our communities by 2030 and initiatives like this are exactly what we need to keep doing to achieve that.

“Volunteering is a fantastic way to give back to the community, but it is also a great experience for the volunteers – it can help with mental and physical wellbeing and help isolated members of the community connect with people, gain skills and create memories. We’re immensely proud of the commitment and generosity of the colleagues, customers and partners who are donating time and resources to some amazing community projects through the Aster Foundation.”

The project was part of the Aster Foundation’s ‘1,000 Hours’ campaign that ran during National Volunteers’ Week. The campaign saw the Foundation donate 1,000 volunteer hours to community projects.

The charity has pledged to donate at least 3,000 working days to local communities by 2030 and is now calling for local organisations in need of volunteer support to get in touch.

To find out more about Aster’s volunteer programme visit https://astervip.goodsted.com/

Organisations looking for volunteer support can contact Aster Foundation at asterfoundation@aster.co.uk.