With just over £100k in the pot, fundraising is going extremely well for our Sensory Garden, which will be based in the grounds of the Canaan Lane Campus of the Royal Blind School.

A very big thank you to all our supporters who have helped raise this fantastic amount of money for the garden and a special thank you must go to: The R S Macdonald Charitable Trust for their donation of £30,000; The Friends of Royal Blind, for their donation of £35,000; and HSBC for their donation of £30,000.

At Canaan the emphasis is on the education and care of pupils who are combating multiple disabilities in addition to their visual impairment. The sensory garden will complement the existing work of the school, create a safe and secure space for families and pupils and act as a focus for community involvement.

Themes such as movement, water, play, contemplation and activity are really important and some key features that this exciting development will incorporate include:-

• A secure and nurturing space for pupils;
• A place to allow natural integration between Royal Blind School pupils and their friends at the adjacent primary school and a local secondary school with whom they already have established links;
• A place for parents of residential pupils to spend time in a relaxed and personal space with their child;
• A fun place for brothers and sisters of pupils;
• A place for families of pupils to get together and socialise; for instance the early years families after using the hydrotherapy pool at weekends.

Designed to encourage the children's abilities to explore and learn, the sensory garden will include many features that touch the senses such as:

• Raised flowerbeds with distinctive differences to stimulate the senses of smell and touch.
• Various walkway surfaces for children to explore.
• Wind chimes and musical instruments to stimulate the sense of hearing.
• Areas such as steps and gradients to moderately challenge the children.