A Letchworth teenager’s dream of building a sensory garden for a young girl with autism is close to becoming reality after a community group and a business saved the day.
The idea behind Immy Blackburn-Horgan’s project, named A Child’s Dream, was to help seven-year-old India Noble cope with her September move from Icknield Infant and Nursery School to Stonehill School in Letchworth, by creating a haven full of different sights, sounds and smells.
Letchworth Howard Rotary Club was asked by property and business services company, Altius Group, to recommend a suitable local project which they could support, and from four proposals the club selected the completion of the sensory garden.
After a presentation at the rotary club on Monday night to Altius Group representatives by Wilbury Community Forum founder, Ingrid Horgan, the Letchworth-based business agreed to dedicate their resources and time to completing the project.
15-year-old Immy, who attends St Francis’ College in Letchworth and is a member of the forum, said: “This is fantastic. It is exactly what young people want. By inspiring people and showing what can be achieved by people in our area, who are willing to invest in us for the future.”
A spokesman for Atrius Group said: “Being a local business we are delighted to be introduced by the rotary club to Wilbury Community Forum and to be able to support the sensory garden project which is particularly close to our CEO Bob Fidock’s heart as he lives in the Wilbury ward where his children attend the Wilbury School.”
Howard Rotary Club president Arthur Jarman said “We are delighted to have helped the completion of the Wilbury Sensory Garden and we are enormously grateful to the Altius Group for its generous support.”
It is hoped that the project, which started in August and has seen the help of an army of volunteers aged from seven to 70, will be completed by the end of October. The project is a pilot scheme for the forum, with future plans to build a community garden for all in the Wilbury area.
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