Wirral Life September 2018 | Page 14

W L ENSCAPE CREATE BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY GARDEN FOR WIRRAL EVOLUTIONS IN PENSBY Wirral Evolutions are delighted to unveil their fully renovated day centre in Pensby, and in collaboration with Wirral Landscape Design firm, Enscape, have added a wildlife and sensory garden for service users. As part of the £2million refurbishment and redevelopment of Pensby Day Centre on Somerset Road by Wirral Evolutions, the outdoor space has been completely overhauled with help from Enscape and funding from Tesco’s local community support programme. Enscape were commissioned to design and develop an easy to maintain garden which encourages wildlife and excites the senses. Incorporating two distinct zones the garden was designed and completed to a tight timescale and forms a crucial part of the day centre redevelopment. The commission for the garden had originally been awarded to another company but having drastically miscalculated their budget, they pulled out at the last minute, leaving the team at Enscape to step in, sourcing the hard landscaping and plants, and completing the project in record time. The site had a number of challenges including existing hard landscaping and the stringent accessibility requirements for wheelchairs and service users with mobility issues. Working within restrictions and coming up with practical solutions, the team designed a space that was functional as well as beautiful, ensuring the garden could be enjoyed by all. The design incorporated Enscape’s trademark large scale planters, filled with a wide range of wildlife friendly plants including buddleia and verbena to attract butterflies and herbs and scented flowers for the sensory garden. 14 wirrallife.com Wirral Evolut ions Managing Director Christine Rothwell said “I can’t thank Nick at Enscape enough. We had received funding from Tesco for a sensory garden for people with multiple profound learning disabilities at Wirral Evolutions’ Pensby Wood location. At the last minute the people commissioned for this project pulled out. We were really stuck with a very tight timeframe for this project. We called Enscape who said they would come along to see if they could help. Wow and did they help. “Enscape listened to what was needed to meet the needs of the people we support and designed the sensory area that surpassed our vision and expectations. The garden is accessible to all, people are enjoying interacting with the water feature and watching the butterflies, bees and wildlife drawn to the bespoke plants. Enscape care about the gardens they bring to life and their after care is just as important to them as the work they produce.” Enscape’s team are proud of their work on site, with Managing Director Nick Akers commenting: “We pride ourselves on our flexible approach and ability to adapt to tight budgets and timescales. When we met with Christine it was clear how important the project was to the staff and service users and we knew that we had to do everything we could to help”. The centre reopened with a launch party in July 2018 and the garden is now in full bloom ready to be enjoyed by visitors and their families.