Work starts on new Doncaster memorial garden as sponsors sought for project

The garden will support people with learning disabilities to gain employability skills, confidence, and act as a space for them to heal.

The project is being led by the Eve Merton Dreams Trust, a charity raising money to fulfil the dreams of terminal cancer patients.

The memorial garden will be situated next to The Bridge school and the Copper Pipe Café on Barnby Dun Road, opposite the Clay Lane Estate.

Both facilities care for and work with special needs students and volunteers.

A spokesperson of Cambeth Community Project, organisers behind the Copper Pipe Café, said: “The Memorial Garden will enable a safe, tranquil space to allow our service users the opportunity and time to cope with their daily challenges. An identified space is crucial for these individuals to enable better health and wellbeing.”

The garden will contain sensory plants, private seating areas, solar powered water features, wildlife friendly structures, a children’s play area, outdoor artwork, and musical instruments. It will be inclusive to all ages and abilities and will be wheelchair accessible.

Co-founder of Eve’s Trust Clynton Johnson said: “As we build the garden we’re going to work alongside the school and the Community Project to plant the seeds, grow the plants, and maintain the garden.

“It also offers a calm place – so if someone is having an episode at school or is just having a bad day, they can take them out to the garden and spend some time with them in a calming environment.”

The garden will also provide a place to remember those that have passed and will feature a memorial wall as a focal point.

Mr Johnson said: “It’s something that we wanted to do in the charity for a while, but post-Covid we’ve lost so many that it calls for more of a purpose now.”

The memorial garden has already received some sponsorship from local businesses and is set to be open by spring 2023.

Visit Eve’s Trust website HERE for more information on how to get involved.