Homeland team members were thrilled to be involved with an Aurivo Helping Day in Coláiste Iascaigh, Easkey, Co. Sligo, on Monday 24th March. Aurivo are proud to have supported and sponsored materials for the creation of a sensory garden for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
See below Coláiste Iascaigh's perspective on the project and Aurivo's impact.
"Over the summer, our school received a grant to reconfigure a classroom for our ASD students and to create an adjoining sensory garden. While the main infrastructure was in place, we sought additional resources to enhance this special space with plants, sensory features, and other elements to make it a calming, inclusive, and engaging environment for our students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
We reached out to our community and were thrilled to receive support from local horticulturists Lorely Forrester and Carmel Gordon. Both Lorely and Carmel have worked tirelessly with our horticulture students, and we were delighted when Aurivo agreed to support the project through their Helping Hands initiative. Aurivo has been a fantastic partner on this project.
On Monday, 24th March, a team of eight workers, along with the expertise of Lorely and Carmel, came together to complete the garden. The garden was a hive of activity with trees being planted, furniture assembled, new flower beds created, bird feeders installed, and beautiful new paintings on the walls.
Our Leaving Cert Applied and Transition Year horticulture students, along with their teachers Mr. Dunlea and Ms. O'Shaughnessy, also helped on the day, making significant contributions to the project.
One of our Leaving Cert students, James Conway, created a fantastic three-person swing for the garden, which now takes pride of place in its new location. This swing is one of the focal points of the garden, and James's creation will leave a lasting legacy for the students it will serve.
One of our students shared their excitement: 'We never thought we would see our wonder garden finished this year. It's wonderful to see so many people here this morning and the great work taking place.'
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed to making this sensory garden a reality. It will undoubtedly be a cherished space for our students for years to come."
Left to right: Martin Healy, Bryan Dolan, Emma O'Donnell, Sheila Maloney, Caroline Millar-Price, Barbara White, John Holmes and Arlene McGoldrick. Photographer: Philip Hamilton.
