Durban North Garden Club digs deep for special needs centre

THE Durban North Garden Club recently helped transform the garden space at the Khanyisa Developmental Centre to create an oasis of sensory, tactile plants and a fairy garden.

The centre, based on Chelsea Drive, which offers education and therapeutic intervention for children with special needs, now refers to the garden as Teletubby Land due to the shapes of the garden and flower beds.

Wendy Clack, chairperson of the Durban North Garden Club, said she was blown away by the support shown by local nurseries, as well as fellow members of the club, to bring the project to fruition.

“Once a year, the club does a charitable deed. This year, we decided on Khanyisa as it is a school for children with special needs. We spoke with the centre director about our idea, and she was delighted with our proposal. Through the donations of local nurseries as well as our fellow members, we were able to transform the space into something we are quite proud of.

“The play area was already landscaped, so we added a finishing touch to it. We added a few more plants that were tactile and sensory, as well, for the children. We are delighted with how everything turned out, and I must give credit to all our fellow club members who got stuck in from day one. It really gives us such a sense of joy to give back in this way,” she said.

Tammy Jordaan, an occupational therapist at Khanyisa Developmental Centre, thanked the garden club for their help in transforming the space.

“We really do call it Teletubby Land. When we moved into the space in July, we wanted it to be as natural as possible. So, not your typical playground with jungle gyms but something that could be accessible for the children, and we are blown away by what we see here today,” she said.

The Durban North Garden Club is open to anyone interested in gardening and meets on the last Monday of every month. Contact Wendy on durbannorthgardenclub@hotmail.com or 084 814 6854.