Events industry charity Meetings Industry Meeting Needs funded a unique sensory garden for people with dementia at the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) conference in London’s ExCeL Centre.

The £5,000 project is the result of joint working with environmental charity Groundwork, Alzheimer’s Disease International and Alzheimer’s Society, who hosted the conference. The sensory garden was designed by Groundwork’s landscape architects to stimulate all five senses with different textures, scents, bold colours and plants that can be grown for cooking and has been donated to form the centrepiece of a new tranquil community space being created on a ‘brown field site’ in Newham, London.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We are very grateful to MIMN and Groundwork London for putting together this wonderful garden, a real talking point as well as well as a calming space for all the delegates."

MIMN paid for the decking, planters, pots, turf, shingle and compost, and staff time designing, building, breakdown and re-location was provided free by Groundwork London.

Peter Rand MBE, executive committee member of Meeting Needs, said: “MIMN is delighted to have sponsored this garden for the Alzheimer’s Disease International conference, providing an area of tranquillity for delegates with dementia. We appreciate the opportunity and we are particularly glad that the garden will be relocated after the conference to provide a lasting benefit to those residents in a sheltered housing project in Newham."

The garden was built by trainees on the Newham Green Team, a joint venture between Groundwork London and Serco to provide supportive, practical and real experience training opportunities for people who have been long term unemployed.

Pictured:  L-R back to front: Roy Churchman, Ed Weir, Andrew Ketteringham, Alzheimer’s Society strategic advisor; Sue O’Gorman, MIMN honorary secretary; Carl Suratan, Jacob Ray, David Beaman, Ben Stanley, MCI project manager; Stephen Dunn, Grace Carney.