Accessible Sensory Picnic Area sponsored by DECOTEK

Collinstown Action Group, with the help of Westmeath County Council and sponsored by DECOTEK, have created an Accessible Sensory Picnic Area beside Collinstown Playground.

We are delighted with this project and it's great to see it getting so much use already.

We have installed a wheelchair accessible picnic table made by Murray's Recycled Plastic. The table is made from recycled plastic milk cartons and drinks bottles, what was once used to drink from is now a strong sturdy bench to sit on and enjoy a drink from your reusable bottle!

The frame on this table is set in from the edge allowing a wheelchair user to pull in under the end of the table on both ends. This provides a wonderfully inclusive space to sit for everyone in our community.

Wheelchair accessible picnic table

Around the seating area we have put in a sensory border.  This was designed to awaken all the senses. Touch, sight, sound, smell and taste. Sensory gardens are wonderful spaces for adults and children alike to connect to nature and enjoy a mindful moment.

The plants we have chosen have distinct beautiful smells, we encourage young and old to get up close to these plants and really enjoy the scents.

There are plants that are nice to touch, rubbery ones like the sedum leaves, grasses and soft flowers.

As with all our projects, we keep biodiversity in mind and these plants are attracting bees and butterflies creating a lovely sound. This along with the sound of the wind blowing through the grasses and plants and the water from the fairy water feature provide the sound in the garden.

Fairy water feature

There is a chive plant in the mix that is edible giving the full senses experience.

The plants we have chosen bring colour and form to the border. Definitely ticking the sight box on the list of senses.

Sensory border

This project was the result of great team work.

Thank you to Westmeath County Council who laid the cement slab for the bench, this gave us a great start to the project.

Thank you to Larry Boland in Abbeylara Garden Centre for his advice on what plants to include.

Thank you, as always, to the Collinstown Action Group volunteers who prepared the flowerbed and planted the plants. We have a great group of people on our committee and it's brilliant to be able to come together and get a job done.

Planting the sensory border

Thank you to our very generous sponsors DECOTEK who kindly sponsored the bench, planting and water feature for this project and have been very supportive of this idea from the start. It was a pleasure to work with you on this project.