A brand new sensory garden and patio area, newly opened by the town's mayor, Ann Russell, is already making a huge difference to the quality of life for residents.

Warden at the Peregrine Way Centre, Denise Marshall, said that before the garden had been developed, they had nowhere to sit and relax out of doors.

"Despite the fact that they were regularly taking part in several indoor activities, such as indoor bowls, card making, craft classes, internet shopping and digital photography, they had nowhere else to go," she said.

Discussions at the centre revealed that although a dedicated fund team had been working hard to secure support and improve the indoors with better decor, modern tables and chairs and a new kitchen, there was still a lot more to do on the outside.

"We were looking for a new challenge and the idea of developing a sensory garden evolved," said Denise.

Initially, what we had was nothing more than a piece of boggy ground.

But when a landscaping and planting scheme by the Creswell branch of the Groundwork Trust, based in Clowne got underway, things started to happen.

And instead of a neglected, tired-looking piece of land, the centre now has a place where residents can get together while enjoying the fresh air.

Groundwork Trust's youth training facilitator, Paul Coulson, said developing the garden had been a beneficial project for everyone involved.

"Not only has it helped to put something back into the community, it has also given trainees on the scheme better opportunities for the future," he said.

Right from the start the garden was seen as being the responsibility of the residents.

And to help them, staff from 2010 Rotherham fitted an outside tap so they could care for the plants, while a high security door from Rotherham Ltd's Decent Home's team provided a high security door.

The garden is seen as an ideal place for residents to get together and is regarded as being another way to prevent them from being isolated or ostracised.

It was designed with those with sight and mobility difficulties in mind and even took into consideration the type of plants used, favouring those that stimulated the senses of sight, smell, touch and sound.

Peregrine Way Centre Trust Fund secretary, Ida Atkin, said she couldn't believe that 12 months ago residents and staff were joking about starting a new project.

We really didn't believe it was going to happen," she said.

"And if you had seen the state of the garden then you wouldn't have believed we could get this far."

She added: "We are delighted with our new garden."

"It will mean that residents can now sit outside and on really nice days and even hold barbecues on the patio."