PICTURES: Revamped garden perfect for Walsall's Charlie

But thanks to the efforts of a charity, the garden has been totally transformed with sensory plants, artificial grass and a swing so that four-year-old Charlie Gibney can now have fun outdoors.

The youngster requires 24-hour care from his parents Jess, aged 26, and Andrew Gibney, aged 30, and has spent much of his life in hospital. He cannot walk, breathe or eat without assistance and has epilepsy, global developmental delay and visual impairment.

The garden makeover at the family's Wesley Road, Willenhall, home was made possible by the charity WellChild. The charity, through one of its Helping Hands projects and armed with a team of volunteers, transformed the garden in two days.

After the garden was unveiled to the family, mother Jess said: "It's amazing and it means we can go outside with Charlie and be in a nice environment with him.

"He cannot see that well but he really enjoys being outside and looks up to the light. When the wind blows on his face you can see him smile and he just loves the fresh air.

"We didn't know what to expect when the garden was finished but it's just brilliant and we'd like to thank everyone who was involved."

The family moved to a more suitable house for Charlie's needs but the garden was run down and inaccessible. WellChild realised he was missing out on much-needed outdoor playing time and decided to take action.

The WellChild Helping Hands team was brought in to make the garden easy to maintain and easier for Charlie to use.

The team created an accessible decked area bordered by raised beds for sensory plants, painted some of the fence panels and provided an artificially grassed area to give Charlie access to a swing.

Charlie suffers from brain damage and severe epilepsy seizures, and his mum said it was nice for the family to just sit in the garden at times rather than going for a walk.

"We don't always want to take him for walks just in case and it can be stressful for us, especially when Charlie is in hospital," he said.

"But we have great support from family and friends who help us out. He also goes to a specialist school in Walsall Wood and gets some respite with Acorns Children's Hospice.

"My husband has gone back to work full-time now as a parts delivery driver for Ford because Charlie had been really ill over the last few years.

"It can be a struggle at times but we'd just like to thank everyone who helped with the garden."

The garden can also now be enjoyed by Charlie's 19-month-old brother McCartney.

Lee Trunks, head of Helping Hands for WellChild, said: "It is a real privilege to be involved in a project this like. WellChild is only able to complete these kind of projects thanks to the organisations and people who volunteer. Without them we wouldn't be able to help children like Charlie. It's great the team from Mazars accountancy firm helped us make a life-changing difference."