Families | News

Darcy enjoys brand new accessible garden for the first time thanks to WellChild and St James’s Place

Our Helping Hands team and volunteers from St James's Place transformed the family garden into an accessible space, to suit Darcy's needs.

By Charlotte Edwards · February 9, 2022

Nine-year-old Darcy loves spending time outside but she struggled to access the family garden due to the uneven, lumpy lawn and lack of safe space. She was unable to spend quality time playing with her family and friends.

Darcy has Tuberous sclerosis, Epilepsy and is visually impaired. She also has Osteoporosis which causes her bones to become fragile and break. Due to this she spends a lot of time at home and is unable to access parks and outdoor areas. Darcy requires constant supervision to ensure her needs are being met.

Volunteers from St James’s Place once again joined our Helping Hands team and took on the challenge of creating a suitable, fun and accessible garden space for Darcy to enjoy.

The family garden before our team got to work

Over two days the team set about clearing and preparing an area of the garden. They then constructed a large deck frame and boarded it. Post and rope fencing was then erected to border the decking and a handrail was installed.

An area of artificial grass was laid to give a clean, comfortable surface for Darcy and her sister to play and relax during the warmer months. As Darcy enjoys playing with water, the team built a bespoke water feature at the back of the grassed area.

Huge thanks also to West Way Nissan for enabling us to get ourselves and the tools to Darcy’s garden makeover safely.

Darcy now has a safe garden that she can spend time in with her friends and family. They can enjoy building
memories all year round.

The finished garden

“Darcy absolutely loves it.”

Jessica — Darcy’s mum