Press release: Deafblind Lincolnshire students build bridges to local community
31 October 2011
Deafblind students from two specialist educational resource centres in Lincolnshire have found a novel way to reach out to the local community.
Residents crossing the Money Bridge -the historical bridge across the River Glen in West Pinchbeck -may have noticed the recent installation of a new tactile handrail with personalised ceramic coin shaped decorations.
The installation was the idea of students from the Bourne Resource Centre on South Fen Road, Bourne and the Glenside Resource Centre in West Pinchbeck, both run by Sense.
The idea came about when staff and students at the centres worked together to research the history of the bridge. Over 20 students with a range of hearing and sight impairments took part in the project. The students traced their own profiles onto templates using raised ink that they could feel and then moulded around these outlines with clay that was fired and glazed to create the final coins. As well as the student’s heads, the coins reflect the communications preferences of individual students – featuring symbols from the braille and Moon alphabets.
Venetia Troop, Education Coordinator at the Bourne Resource Centre, said: “The Money Bridge literally bridges the gap between the two centres, so it’s important that this route is completely accessible for deafblind people. We researched the bridge back to the 1700s and were inspired to create our own personalised coins out of tactile materials to stick along the handrail and allow people to feel their way across the bridge.”
Damian Graves is an 18 year-old student at the Glenside Centre with partial sight and additional sensory loss: “Making the coins was great fun. It was good to work with members of the public and the other students over at Bourne to find out more about the bridge and its history. We’re all very proud of the final result and hope that members of the community find the handrail informative and useful.”
Local District Councillor, Elizabeth Sneath, lives close to the bridge and helped the students research its history: “My husband’s family has farmed in the area for five generations so I was able to share quite an archive of information about the bridge and its surroundings. We found out from books and old photos that it has been rebuilt and re-positioned at least three times and we came across a number of theories about how it got its name. Many people think it must have been a toll bridge but a copy of an old notebook from 1902 provided an intriguing alternative- apparently it was named after a Mr. Money!”
“The bridge has been an important part of the local community for such a long time and it’s lovely that it’s still helping to bring people together. As well as the coins, the students attached tiles with the name of the bridge on them, marking the importance of this well-loved local landmark for people who visit it in years to come.” District Councillor Sneath added.
The students were awarded a cheque of £500 from Sense’s CEO in recognition of their dedication to working together on an original, creative, sensory project that aids communication and mobility. The money kick-starts an appeal to purchase a wheelchair bike to be shared between the two centres. If you would like to make a donation towards the bike, please contact the Bourne resource centre on:
01778 422 132 or bourneadmin@sense.org.uk