Conservatory given fresh lease of life
Belleisle to be Ayr’s answer to Botanical Gardens
An exciting new project will bring nature to life at Ayr’s answer to botanical gardens.
The stunning Belleisle Conservatory will hope to work with schools and give children the chance to dive into the immersive world of plants and insects.
Fresh investment into the attraction from South Ayrshire Council and the Mushroom Fund will see the installation of iPads that kids will be able to use to educate themselves.
And on the back of COP26 just up the road in Glasgow, the team at Belleisle hope to bring the hot topic of climate change to the device’s screens.
The introduction of the tech will be phase one of an exciting journey for Belleisle Conservatory which once lay in a crumbling state.
The vision for the future will see the community brought to the Conservatory and given the chance to participate in groups including yoga and mental health.
But for now the focus is on the future generations who are set to be at the centre of planning.
Braehead Primary School will have a huge part to play, with their pupils helping to shape the project.
Rachael Carlisle, deputy head teacher, is part of the design team which got to work last week.
Vice chairman of Belleisle Conservatory, David Moulds, told the Post : “We are going to develop an educational IT hub within the Conservatory – we’ll have three iPads that the kids can use.
“It is primarily going to be about climate change but it will incorporate all of the interesting plants and insects we have here.
“Kids will be able to sign into the iPads and they will be able to pull up various interactive programmes.
“There will be a section of all the plants we have in the Conservatory, which will be really interesting as they are not the typical plants you would have in your home.
“This is a hot house. It’s really Ayr’s answer to botanical gardens.”
The project will take on an international approach with specialist educational programmes being developed in Mexico, by an Ayr IT consultant Nick Pettigrew who lives in Central America.
David added: “Nick has been developing all our IT hub from Mexico, it’s been quite an experience holding meetings at 4am to get our ideas across.”
It is hoped the iPads will be up and running in March.