Bringing the beach to the back yard after holiday cancelled

People supported at Beighton Road, a service that supports people who have learning disabilities, flexed their creative talents during the hot weather to bring the beach to their back garden. Beighton Road is part of Community Integrated Care, one of Britain’s biggest and most successful social care charities.

The people supported at Beighton Road love days out together at the beach, but with social distancing in place, this has been challenging.

With the risks of Coronavirus meaning that their annual beach holiday had to be postponed, colleagues at the service were determined to make up for any disappointment.

They came up with the ingenious idea of recreating a classic British beach in the back garden of the Supported Living service.

With a promenade, beach hut, sun loungers – and even their own deep blue sea – the team’s creativity has ensured that the people they support can now ‘be beside the seaside’ every day.

People supported at Beighton Road played an active role in planning and creating this stunning garden makeover, which has provided a tranquil space for them to sit and have a cup of tea or enjoy fun activities in the summer sun together.

Service Leader at Beighton Road, Helen Robinson, said: "At Community Integrated Care, we’re determined to enable the people we support to lead the best lives possible.

"We knew how disappointing it would be for everyone to not visit the beach this year. The entire team has been determined to overcome these challenges, so it has been brilliant to make such a special and unique idea become a reality.

Helen continued: "The people we support have led this project all the way.

"They have loved helping to develop these plans and getting involved in creating such a special space. It's great that they can now relax in the sun and have fun in space that always puts a smile on your face. Of course, we can’t wait to get back out to the real thing and are very excited for when we can plan our next beach holiday.”

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