Sensory garden at Erskine Park

New state of the art sensory gardens, recently opened at Erskine Park, in Bishopton have been specially designed to directly benefit dementia residents. The gardens bear the name of the Trust who made the creation of the Gleniffer Gardens possible.

The gardens, split into four individual sections, feature many different aspects from water features to potting sheds to provide a dementia friendly environment which can be enjoyed and used all year round by the ex-Service men and women of Erskine.

Upon the closure of the Gleniffer Care Home in Paisley in 2005, the Trustees of the Home invited local charities to apply for a grant from the proceeds of the sale. Erskine were awarded a grant of £170,000 which was used to design and develop the Gleniffer Gardens, and in doing so created a permanent and lasting memory of the Gleniffer Care Home.

With the assistance of The Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling Landscape gardener Barrie Scholefield of Chris Palmer Associates designed and created this wonderful legacy.

Officially opening the gardens Miss Moira Goudie, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Gleniffer Home Trust said: “It was a difficult time when the decision was taken to cease operating the Gleniffer Care Home but we are delighted that we were able to give Erskine the opportunity to develop and created such a lasting legacy in the form of the Gleniffer Gardens. The gardens will afford much pleasure to the dementia veterans of Erskine Park”