Pictured above: (l-r) Helen Philips, David Scott, Louise
Scott, Julie Gibbons, Danielle Philips, Irwin Mitchell
Volunteers
A team of green-fingered lawyers from Irwin Mitchell solicitors,
joined forces with a national hearing charity to begin creating a
special sensory garden for deaf and deafblind residents at a
Walsall care home.
The first stage of the ambitious project saw the team of lawyers
joining charity workers from Action on Hearing Loss (formerly the
Royal National Institute for Deafness) and a number of residents
from the care home, who all got stuck in to help clear the garden
at Lysways House in Walsall .
Louise Scott, a solicitor and workplace hearing loss specialist
from Irwin Mitchell's Birmingham Office, who organised the
volunteering event, commented: "Hearing loss and deaf blindness are
far more common than people realise so it is great for us to be
able to commit to building the sensory garden and at the same time
help raise public awareness about this life changing
disability.
"We all had a great day clearing the garden and we're really
looking forward to the next stage later this year, when we can
start getting really creative with the re-planting.
"The sensory garden will give the residents at the Walsall care
home an outdoor space which has been specially designed for them
and will help to improve their quality of life. It has also given
some of the residents the opportunity to get directly involved with
this exciting project which they really enjoyed."
Louise, who spends much of her spare time carrying out volunteer
work for the charity, was nominated to receive a regional award for
'Delivering Results for the RNID' in recognition of her
efforts.
Action on Hearing Loss is the largest charity in the UK for
hearing loss and is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. As
part of its centenary celebrations local supporters and members of
the Irwin Mitchell team were recently honoured with an invitation
to attend a birthday party at Buckingham Palace, which was hosted
by HRH Prince Philip - an event which coincided with his own 90th
birthday.