Dramsdon care home in Shalbourne (run by the White Horse Care Trust) officially opened their brand new sensory room facility yesterday, inviting the local community and supporters to celebrate the occasion.
Dramsdon provides residential care and support to five service users with complex learning and other disabilities. Until recently, accessing a therapeutic and sensory environment meant travelling to another facility 12 miles away.
The individuals supported will now benefit from having their own sensory room, which can be accessed whenever they need. The sensory environment provides a quiet, safe relaxing space that reduces anxiety, and can improve balance and movement while promoting physical and mental wellbeing.
Silcoa (Selwood Housing Group’s repairs and maintenance service) donated all materials and labour and built the new sensory room as part of its ‘DIY SOS’ project which supports local communities.
Carl Jackson, head of operations at Silcoa said, “It has been fantastic to play a part in bringing this new sensory room to Dramsdon care home. It’s a great example of how we can support local community projects through volunteering our resources. It’s also been a valuable experience for our operatives who’ve been involved.”
The project has also seen tremendous support from the Shalbourne community and Parish Council, who have donated and participated in fundraising activities, raising over £4,000 to fund specialist equipment for the space.
Bridget Barnett, Dramsdon manager shares, “As the home’s manager I am very proud to have taken an active role in achieving this project. The individuals we support are going to get great pleasure from the ‘Sensory Lodge’ on a daily basis and this will immensely improve their quality of life, providing a more holistic approach. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Silcoa for all their hard work and very kind donations throughout this project, as well as the donations from the community, as this would not have been possible without them.”
Marty Slade, CEO of the White Horse Care Trust, said “The enthusiastic and generous support demonstrated by the local community and Silcoa in realising this fantastic new facility is truly humbling. Our amazing staff team at Dramsdon who have been intimately involved in this project can’t wait to introduce this stimulating new environment to our service users who will benefit enormously from having this bespoke facility on their doorstep.”
