PRESS RELEASE: We’re excited to share this update from our Sensory Parcels project, celebrating our collaboration with Popty Day centre.
Making Sense CIO has introduced personalised stickers for its Sensory Parcel Service, placing illustrated portraits and names of the adults with learning disabilities who inform the design, test, and pack each parcel, making the people behind the parcels visible to galleries and community venues.
The stickers were created from collage portraits made during a December 2025 creative workshop at Popty Day Centre in Denbigh. Nineteen adults took part; each portrait has been transformed into a personalised sticker that is now applied to Sensory Parcel packaging.
Making Sense develops Sensory Parcels with artists, cultural venues, and adults with learning disabilities at Popty Day Centre in Denbigh. Participants help shape ideas, test accessibility, and pack parcels; sessions are voluntary and take place during regular Popty activities.
Participants enjoy the creative sessions and take pride in seeing their faces and names on parcels distributed to venues including Ty Pawb, the Cunliffe Centre, and Dynamic in Wrexham. Eleven Opus parcels inspired by Jonathan Le Vay’s exhibition are currently in circulation, including five group boxes and six individual boxes.
Rosie McConnell, Project Facilitator, Making Sense CIO: “These stickers make people visible. The adults at Popty put real care into every parcel, and seeing their faces on the boxes shows that their creativity and effort are recognised and valued.”
Participants at Popty Day Centre shared how the project made them feel:
“Made me feel happy.” “Made me feel like I am an individual.” “I think they are a great idea.” “They make our boxes feel personal.” “I’m proud to have my sticker on the boxes.”
The sticker initiative will be used on future Sensory Parcels inspired by exhibitions and community projects, keeping participants’ identities central to the service and exploring ways to create more visible and meaningful roles for participants in future projects.
Making Sense CIO is an artist-led charity bringing creativity and culture into everyone’s lives through multi-sensory workshops, events, training, and Sensory Parcels. The charity works with babies, older adults living with dementia, and people with learning disabilities to create joyful, accessible cultural experiences that spark curiosity, imagination, and connection.
