A Group of Young People Revamp Ashdowne Care Home Garden
Taking inspiration from the tenth anniversary of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Inspire 2022 is youth-led events-based social action programme which will use national events as a springboard for young people to design positive activities for their own communities, bridging community divides and giving young people a voice in a year of national celebration. It will be delivered by UK Youth in partnership with British Red Cross, Youth Action Northern Ireland, Youth Cymru, Youth Scotland and regional youth organisations who support young people in their local communities. It is funded by £1.2m from Spirit of 2012 and £500,000 from the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and designed in partnership with Local Trust.
One of the organisations delivering the project is Space youth services. Space Youth services is Devon-wide and aims to unlock potential with young people in their communities. One of the ways Space does this is through social action. Social action projects such as the Inspire project, aims to engage young people positively in their communities by helping to tackle a problem they are passionate about.
The group of young people aged 11-17 from Tiverton Youth Centre, wanted to do something to support elderly members of their community, as they recognised the struggle and isolation they had endured through lockdown. From this came the idea to revamp the garden at Ashdowne Care Home. The young people had to present and bid for the money, they then planned diligently to ensure that their ideas met the residents needs, so that they could all enjoy the space equally. They young people made planters so that they could plant herbs, flowers and plants that were colourful as well as textured and smelt strong in order to create a sensory garden. As well as this, they also painted the benches, chairs and tables to bring some colour back to the garden and to make it an appealing space for the residents to socialise with one another, as well as their loved ones. The young people even made cushions, so that the residents would be comfortable while sitting outside. The group showed some real passion throughout the project and did an amazing job. A special thank you also goes out to Ashdowne care home, its staff and residents for all being so receptive to the group and for supporting them throughout. As well as this, Travis Perkins Tiverton for donating the wood for the planters, and Morrisons Tiverton for giving us some Compost.
