We teamed up with one of our Yorkshire neighbours to help transform the grounds of a special needs school in Harrogate.
Springwater School in Harrogate is a day school providing education to profoundly disabled children aged between two and 19 with a broad range of life-limiting and learning-limiting conditions.
An outreach service offers provision for children with learning difficulties who attend mainstream schools throughout North Yorkshire.
In 2017, a Variety Big Build project was launched at the school, with the aim of transforming the building and grounds into a state-of-the-art facility. The old site had limited outdoor space and a lack of resources, with no shelter in the playground, no sensory room and no trampoline area.
One of the supporters of the project was Harrogate-based Bettys and Taylors Group, which has worked with the school on various initiatives for the past two decades. Through the business’s Trees for Life scheme, the Group pledged to provide the plants needed to create a first class sensory garden for pupils to enjoy.
We joined forces with Bettys and Taylors Group and donated more than 1,430 plants worth £5,500 to transform the new interactive, sensory-stimulating playground.
These included specially chosen fragrant herbs such as lavender, mint and rosemary for inclusion in the planting plan, which forms the second phase of the Big Build project. The third phase will see the creation of a new state-of-the-art sensory room and a sunken trampoline for rebound therapy.
Even pupils with the most complex needs can now enjoy fresh air in safe and stimulating surroundings provided by the sensory garden.
The generous joint donation was recognised with a Big Build Award at the Yorkshire Property Awards at Rudding Park.
Managing director Graham Richardson commented: “I can think of few projects that are as deserving as Springwater and we are pleased to help in any way we can. Our team-up with Bettys has worked particularly well, given that we are both local employers with around 100 years of operating in the locality.
