Caldew School students give back to their community
As the culmination of their National Citizen Award, 23 of the Year 12 Caldew School students are completing their Social Action Project at Tullie House Museum.The students carried out a day of activity on Saturday [28 November] which created resources in the museum and gardens with the needs of visitors with visual impairments in mind.
This will include a garden ‘sensory space’ featuring scented and textured plants around seating areas, the creation of oral object labels for items on display, and also the creation of a display about the work of the NCS project within the museum.
Claire Sleightholm, volunteer co-ordinator, said: “We are excited to host this project and enable young people to get involved with their museum. It gets them to think about the displays in a new way. It will also create some excellent resources that many visitors will enjoy and benefit from for years to come.”
The students have completed research with Carlisle Society for the Blind; this has informed their choices of plants and the creation of resources that meet the needs of blind people within a visitor attraction.
Fundraising to support these activities has also been ongoing. £750 was raised to assist with the purchase of resources and plants for the garden. A special thanks goes to Dobies of Carlisle for their generous support of this project.
John Sander, NCS co-ordinator for Carlisle United, said: “I am thrilled that the group have chosen to work in partnership with one of the city’s leading tourist attractions.
"The confidence and inspiration they will gain as this project develops will not only have a big impacct on their futures but it will be something they will always remember.
"Hopefully their endeavours, both in raising the funding and then working at the museum, will also have a long lasting and beneficial outcome on the city and people of Carlisle.”
The students will be presenting their display at Tullie House Museum to the press on Tuesday 1 December at 4pm for #GivingTuesday.
