A COMMUNITY project to build a sensory garden in Tavistock has been given a huge cash boost thanks to shoppers at Tesco, meaning work can be started in the New Year.

The Tavistock Sensory Garden project bagged £12,000 from the Tesco Bags of Life fund after shoppers were asked to vote for one of three community projects each time they visited the Tavistock store.

The sensory garden is a project being run in a major partnership between Tavistock Rotary Club, Tavistock Lions Club, Roots to Transition, Tavistock Dementia Action Alliance and Tavistock Town Council to build a garden alongside the Rose Walk area in the Meadows, which will engage all five senses with a water fountain, gazebo, beds full of different smelling flowers, herbs and vegetables.

It is hoped the garden will provide a peaceful place for all members of the community to enjoy but with a special appeal for people living with dementia and their carers.

Alongside the sensory garden, a petanque court will also be built for visitors to enjoy gentle exercise as well as relaxation.

The project is set to cost around £25,000, which is being raised through grant funding and fundraising, but the project has now secured more than half the funding from the Tesco grant.

Community Sensory Garden chairman Geri Parlby said: ‘This is absolutely brilliant news and we are extremely grateful to all the people who voted for our project.

‘Over the past year the dedicated Community Sensory Garden team has been busy raising money towards the cost of the garden project and thanks to the Tesco Bags of Help grant of £12,000 we are now over half way towards meeting our target of £25,000.’

Bags of Help voting took place in store from October 31 to November 13, with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award, using a token given to them at the check-out.

Lindsey Crompton, head of community at Tesco, said: ‘Bags of Help has been a fantastic success. We have been overwhelmed by the response of our customers and it’s been great to give people a say on how the money will be spent in their community. We can’t wait to see the projects come to life.’

Ground work to clear the area for the garden has already taken place and the first phase of the building work is now set to start in the New Year. Geri said that work was always planned to start in the New Year but now the Tesco grant had come through, work could be undertaken comfortably.

Members of the Community Sensory Garden project have also recently been informed that TV personality Angela Rippon has agreed to become a patron for the garden.

Geri added: ‘We are delighted that Angela Rippon has agreed to become the garden’s patron. She described the garden as a “very imaginative and practical use of that part of the Meadows — something to be enjoyed by the whole community”.’

The project is continuing its fundraising by offering members of the community to have their names memorialised in the garden. For £35 people can have bricks engraved with a personalised message, which will be laid in the paths around the garden offering a permanent memorial to a loved one.

To sponsor a brick, pick up a brick form from Tavistock Library or download one from the Tavistock Sensory Garden Facebook page.

For more information, contact 01822 612016.