Volunteers help open up peaceful outdoor space at Swansea support centre

We have helped improve access to a sensory nature space at Swansea Vale Resource Centre, supporting people with physical and learning disabilities to enjoy time outdoors in a safe and welcoming environment.

The volunteering day took place at the centre in Swansea Vale, which supports around 30 clients across the week through structured activities, wellbeing sessions and social opportunities. The site is also home to a physiotherapy team that uses the outdoor space to support mobility, rehabilitation and wellbeing.

Jessica Richards, environmental management advisor from National Grid Electricity Distribution said: “We live and work in the communities we serve, so it is really important to us that we help create places that people can benefit from every day.

“Spending the day volunteering was a real reminder of how much difference small, practical changes can make. Improving access to this space means more people can enjoy being outdoors, feel calmer and get more out of the activities the centre offers.”

Volunteers helped complete a new riverside platform, which will allow the centre to host activities such as storytelling, mindfulness and sensory sessions, as well as pop‑up learning activities linked to the river.

The volunteers raised and levelled the ground in the centre’s sensory nature area to make it safer and more accessible for wheelchair users, helping more people enjoy a calm, peaceful space in nature. Around 20 new plants and shrubs were also planted to improve the look and feel of the area and support biodiversity.

The work builds on the centre’s wider environmental programme, which includes sustainable drainage systems and rain gardens to reduce flood risk, alongside improvements to wildlife habitats and biodiversity. An on-site orchard has been created on the site, with 50 new trees, including 14 fruit trees, being planted.

We support communities across South and West Wales through volunteering, partnerships and local initiatives, helping create positive and lasting legacies in the areas where its colleagues live and work.