Voluntary project creating sensory trails & creative wellbeing activities in and around the village of Toddington in Central Bedfordshire.
Developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of local families.
21/06/2025
We run a small, friendly and passionate Pokemon Go group that meet in Toddington, and we're neurodivergent run and particularly welcome neurodivergent, sensory-impaired, and disabled players plus parents and carers.
All ages and absolute beginners welcome.
Find us on Toddington Village Green this Wednesday evening from 6 til 7pm for Raid Hour - if you're brand new to playing then arrive at 5.45pm so we can help you get set up to play.
Great for a relaxed stroll to support wellbeing.
Find us on the Campfire app: NeuroPoGo Bedfordshire.
06/04/2023
I had a beautiful time running this activity at Kew Gardens yesterday as part of a sensory play session - Toddington's own free version can be downloaded from our page. Can be completed in any outdoor environment, just print and go!
03/04/2023
Happy Easter Holidays! Free Chocolate in Nature colour matching activity!
As there are SO many trails running in Toddington at the moment, I thought I would provide a little spring activity instead that you can do as/when you feel like it as part of a walk in the great outdoors - Rushmere or Ampthill Park are great options if you want to get out of the village, but this can definitely be done on the Glebe or round the village green and pond too.
Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year! Here's what happened at Toddington Village Sensory Trails over the past 12 months...
We started on New Year's Day by sending out 20 handmade clay diya candle lanterns into the community for people to pass on to each other over the months with wishes of hope, warmth, and connection
We ran several Bubble Picnics and by the time we got to the end of the summer around 100 people were coming along for lunch, bubbles, and play each time
We ran three twilight story yoga and bat-spotting sessions in the summer
We ran a Sense & Create walk on the Glebe, making clay faces on trees and decorating them with found objects from nature
We created three sensory trails as part of the village's Jubilee celebrations honouring the life and service of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth
We ran a Toddington Pumpkin Trail for Halloween with over 50 households participating
In the company of over 25 adult volunteers, we co-created over 100 hand-painted wooden angels for a Christmas Eve Find & Keep event, including 35 forget-me-not angels for families who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or child death; we had to paint more forget-me-not angels due to demand
And, in November, we became national award winners in recognition of our free, inclusive, sensory, microprojects through the Fantastic For Families Awards. We won the Audience Impact and Innovation Award alongside the internationally renowned Whitworth Gallery in Manchester.
In 2023, we will continue to develop new ideas and projects, as well as maintain the Bubble Picnics so there will always be accessible, inclusive, and affordable fun for people of all ages without the need to leave the village.
This has been an incredibly hard year for my family, and I am grateful for your patience when I've needed to change plans at the last minute or haven't been as quick to respond as needed. Thank you all for your continuing support, participation, and positivity - you all make our village a lovely place to live.
Sending all my love to you and yours for a kind, gentle, and wonderful new journey around the sun.
28/12/2022
I'm having a little break as we had a family bereavement just before Christmas. I can see I have lots of messages about baby/child loss angels - the last few I had have all been allocated now, apart from a set of twins/double loss.
Due to demand, I will paint a few more over the next week or so and will be in touch as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience x
24/12/2022
There are a few baby/child loss angels left - 5 singles, one set of twins - if anyone would like one for themselves or to gift to family/friends in remembrance then just message me and I'll endeavour to deliver tonight or tomorrow. Much love x x x
24/12/2022
Go, go, go! Village Green and Baby/Child loss ones in the Community Garden.
24/12/2022
Go for a walk today, find an angel, keep it or gift it to someone special!
From 11am today, go for a toddle/stroll/roll down to the village green to see the amazing collection of hand-painted wooden peg angels created by volunteer artists from across the village. If you find one you love, then you can keep it or perhaps you'll find one that might mean something to someone you love and would prefer to gift it to them.
Angels can be taken by adults as well as families with children. Please only take ONE angel PER FAMILY so as many people as possible can benefit. First come, first served.
For those who would like a Forget-Me-Not angel in remembrance of babies lost in miscarriage, through stillbirth or children who have died in childhood, whether recent or long ago, you can find these in the quiet of the Community Garden (behind the Methodist Church).
Amongst the angels, you will spot superheroes, Disney princesses, animals, twins and triplets, snow people, and even Drag Queens! You'll also find angels of different ages and skin colours reflecting the diversity of our wonderful community.
A huge thank you to all our artists for their time and creativity at an exceptionally busy time of year: you are just brilliant
24/12/2022
23/12/2022
It's not too late to return your angels, or I can collect. Get in touch ASAP.
For those who've already returned theirs, I got quite emotional seeing how brilliant your artworks are.
Remember, you can find and keep a hand-painted angel if you go out for a walk tomorrow. Available from 11am. Open to all, including adults. Strictly ONE angel PER FAMILY so as many as possible can benefit.
20/12/2022
A little sneak-peek at some of the GORGEOUS hand-painted angels created by artists in our village community. They are so characterful!
Tomorrow is the angel deadline, so do let me know if you need to me to collect from you.
12/12/2022
Snow day! Here's an easy, fun, sensory activity - use herbs, spices, fruit, and food colouring to make snowy abstract art. Send us your pictures if you have a go! Be safe and warm, everyone x
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Toddington Village Sensory Trails:
Hi, I’m Julia and I’m a multi-award-winning sensory theatremaker and I live in Toddington, Bedfordshire. I specialise in work for 0-7s that’s also fully inclusive for people with complex needs and/or learning disabilities, and I’m particularly interested in supporting children and young people’s mental health, emotional development and wellbeing. I also create sensory tours of cultural venues including, most recently, a sensory trail in Shakespeare’s own garden in Stratford-Upon-Avon for Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust.
I tour extensively with my theatre company around the UK but having lost all my work due to the Covid-19 pandemic I’ve been left without an income and without a creative outlet. I’m mum to twins aged 7 who attend St George’s and, knowing many families and children in the village, as well as drawing on my own experiences of caring for two very active boys, I know how difficult social distancing and isolation can be - we live for that one walk a day sometimes, and we try to make every outing count.
On the 19th of March I saw a call out from Farnham Maltings for creative responses to Covid-19 and with the deadline just hours away, I quickly bashed together a proposal that I felt would match with the local community’s pleasure and high levels of engagement in activities that combine walking and crafting - inspired hugely by the contributions of everyone involved in Toddington Rocks (painted pebbles around the village) - and that also make the best use of my skills.
I was extremely lucky to be one of a handful of projects chosen from a field of over 90 amazing ideas that would benefit communities across the south east, and now it’s time to make the trails happen so families in our lovely village have more opportunities to use their daily walk for adventures, togetherness, wellbeing, magic and fun.
I look forward to creating these for and with you, and working alongside many of the organisations, institutions and community leaders of our village. I hope these trails make things a little easier and a little lighter through these challenging times.
