Cheshire Ireland & Biotrin have teamed up for a revamp of the gardens at Cara Cheshire House, in the Phoenix Park.

Deer from the herd in the Phoenix Park had become regular visitors to the gardens of the Cara Cheshire House, home to 20 people with disabilities. While the deer are certainly nice to observe close up, they had eaten all of the flowers, plants and vegetation from the flower beds and garden.

A generous offer came from Biotrin, a manufacturer of diagnostic kits, who offered over 50 volunteers for an afternoon, to help revamp the gardens and the poly tunnel.Biotrin funded the significant cost of ‘deer resistant' plants and provided the manpower to do the wheel barrowing and planting.
 
The sun shone on the afternoon as the volunteers and residents planned where to plant out over 400 various shrubs and plants and made up over 25 colourful containers and hanging baskets.
 
The ‘makeover' of the garden's poly tunnel was a great success. The volunteers raised the soil level of the vegetable bed inside so that it can be accessed easily by wheel chair users. Stephen Conlon, the main poly tunnel enthusiast at Cara Cheshire House said "It's a grand job ".

Prior to the makeover, the OPW Park Ranger's staff agreed to repair the holes in the fence through which the deer were accessing Cara Cheshire's grounds. So, hopefully the new plants will continue to thrive and the gardens will fill out to look lush and lovely once again. 

When all the work was completed, Des O'Leary, Biotrin's General Manager presented Terry Donoghue, Service Manager at Cara Cheshire with a cheque for €2,000.

Cheshire Ireland is a provider of person-centred support services to people with disabilities.
 
Biotrin is a world leader in diagnostic tests for Human Parvovirus B19, a virus that can cause miscarriage in pregnancy. Biotrin is a DiaSorin Group Company, based in Sandyford, which employs over 60 people. 

Article Published: 14/06/2012