A blooming great success

When I was invited to become the chair of Tavistock Community Sensory Garden early last year, I had no idea what a fantastic year it would be. Foolishly, I thought all the hard work had been done. Not a bit of it – the team is always looking forward, so 2018 was a blur of fantastic activity. We held our first Summer Garden Party in the unbelievable heat of summer, launching our ‘Friends of the Sensory Garden’ scheme and announcing the wonderful news about the £25,000 grant from Churchill Retirement Homes. But not many people realise how close we came to losing much of the garden during that heatwave. If not for the Bowls Club letting us use their water supply, it could have been a disaster – but they did, and it wasn’t! - and for the second year running, we were awarded ‘outstanding’ status by Britain in Bloom, with the judge referring to it as a ‘garden for life’, a title we have proudly adopted as our motto!

Autumn and winter brought no slowdown, as we launched a range of greeting cards and branded shopping bags to raise funds to maintain the garden. Carols in the Garden, led by the Tavistock Edge singers was a huge success - again rescued from the weather by our friends at the Bowls Club. In 2019, with the help of the town council, we’re applying for full charitable status, taking on responsibility for the rose walk, extending the woodland walk, installing a proper water supply and resurfacing the petanque court. For details about the Sensory Garden or to become a Friend, contact info_tcsg@btinternet.comor ring Graham on 07545 075942.

Graham Parker

Chair of the Tavistock Community Sensory Garden Trust