A community-run park in Perthshire has become the first in the area to install new boards to help children with communication difficulties.
The Methven park boards feature illustrations which allow youngsters and adults to express themselves.
Children can point to symbols which relate to the play park, such as ‘swing’, ’roundabout’ or ‘bench’.
Others represent words such as ‘next’, ‘again’ or ‘fast’.
One of the boards will be hung on the wall of the Methven park pavilion. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.
Park visitors will be encouraged to point to the pictures as they chat with children who struggle with communication.
And organisers say the boards are as much about building friendships and inclusion as the words themselves.
Methven park is popular with visitors of all ages. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.
Charlotte Dawson chairs the community-run park committee in Methven.
She says she borrowed the idea from Craigtoun Park at St Andrews, which installed similar boards last year.
And now she’s hopeful that other parks across Perth and Kinross will take up the idea.
Charlotte Dawson chairs the committee that runs the Methven park. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.
“It felt like something we could do quite easily that could make a big difference to people’s lives,” she said.
“The template is there now, so everywhere else is welcome to use it too.”
Methven park idea could be copied elsewhere
Charlotte and her group worked with NHS Tayside speech and language therapists and the charity Enable Communities.
Perth printer TGo Creative made the two finished boards, which will be hung on the pavilion and at the other side of the park.
And youngsters from Methven Primary School and Fairview School turned out to celebrate the launch.
A large crowd turned out to welcome the boards to Methven. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.
David Illingworth was among the local councillors, who attended the ceremony in the park.
He said he and colleagues would work with council officers to try to extend the boards to parks across Perth and Kinross.