The number of beneficiary visits is now at more than 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, and with the
Dorscon status back to green, the Gardens aims to reach out to even more beneficiaries

Beneficiaries from Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore enjoyed a specially organised session at Avatar:
The Experience in Gardens by the Bay’s Cloud Forest, where they interacted with a 6m tall
animatronic mountain banshee and its baby.

SINGAPORE, 24 February 2023 – Close to 22,500 beneficiaries visited Gardens by the Bay under its Gift of Gardens community outreach initiative in 2022, which is about 74 per cent of the number of beneficiary visits in 2019, before the pandemic hit in 2020. With the lowering of Dorscon status from yellow to green and daily life returning to normal, Gardens by the Bay hopes to be able to welcome back even more beneficiaries to enjoy its cooled conservatories for free under Gift of Gardens

Gift of Gardens provides complimentary access to Flower Dome and Cloud Forest for beneficiaries of social service agencies, and Singapore residents who may not have the resources to visit or are individuals with disabilities.

To date, more than 180,000 beneficiaries have visited Gardens by the Bay under Gift of Gardens since the initiative was launched in 2012. During the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the average number of visits from beneficiaries per year dropped to 2,600.

Today, 33 beneficiaries from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance of Singapore (CPAS), accompanied by their caregivers, visited Cloud Forest, where they got to enjoy the ongoing Avatar: The Experience immersive exhibition. Avatar: The Experience is a collaboration between Singapore-based NEON, Disney Location-Based Experiences, and James Cameron and Jon Landau’s Lightstorm Entertainment. One of the highlights of the beneficiaries’ visit was the opportunity to interact with an animatronic mountain banshee and its baby at a special session organised just for them. The beneficiaries also visited Flower Dome.

One such beneficiary is Thimajit Singh, 32, who was excited to experience the alien environment of Pandora come to life at Cloud Forest. He said, “I love nature and the life-like creatures from the world of Avatar. I hope I can go on more trips like this to be part of the community and meet new people.”

CPAS Executive Director Latha Kutty said, “With the lowering of the Dorscon status from yellow to green, CPAS is looking forward to organise more outings and visits so our beneficiaries can experience and participate in a diversity of events and activities, with the help of donations from sponsors and corporate donors.”

Executive Chairman and Group CEO of NEON Global, Ron Tan said, “Through our collaboration with Gardens by the Bay’s Gift of Gardens, close to 2,000 beneficiaries have visited Avatar: The Experience since it opened at Cloud Forest in October last year. We hope to continue our outreach efforts and play our small part to give back to society. As a Singapore-based company, we are happy and heartened to be able to contribute to the community we live in.”