News / fundraising
£2.2m campaign to tackle isolation faced by disabled children
A multi-million-pound campaign has been launched to open the UK’s first permanent play and leisure centre specifically designed to meet the needs of disabled children and young people.
Project Home, which is run by the Bristol-based charity, Gympanzees, hopes to provide an inclusive outlet for the 66,000 disabled young people living within an hour catchment of Bristol.
Designed with a disability-first approach, but creating a space where all are welcome, Project Home will offer “fitness, fun and friendship in a safe, welcoming, and non-judgmental environment”
is needed now More than ever
If all goes ahead as planned the facility will be opened for children and their families by 2023.
https://twitter.com/GympanzeesUK/status/1438416575892234240?s=20
Emma Louise, mother of a full-time wheelchair using daughter, said how her local park is not fully accessible to all her needs and how she hopes Project Home will offer a space for her daughter to play in and feel included.
She said: “I can’t imagine what it feels like for her to go outside and not be able to join in.”
“To have a place where all children are celebrated because of their abilities and for her to be able to play with other children with different needs and disabilities, where everyone feels welcome and safe – it would be huge for us. There is nothing like it in the UK.”
Open seven days a week, the money raised will allow the centre to specifically cater to tackling isolation and inactivity in children with sensory, physical, learning difficulties, SEN and any mild to profound disability.
Facilities will enable several forms of exercise, from trampolining to soft play and will also host therapy rooms and a community cafe.
Project Home will provide a permanent facility for the award winning charity, Gympanzees – photo: Helen Sampson
According to Gympanzees, 77 percent of disabled children cannot access regular leisure facilities – photo: Helen Sampson
Gympanzees CEO and founder Stephanie Wheen said: “We are delighted to enter this exciting stage in our plans to build a permanent facility in Bristol.
“Families crucially deserve more than temporary; they need a place they can trust and rely upon all year round that supports all their health and well-being needs, helps reduce their isolation and provides unrivalled opportunities for them to make family memories.
“We’ve received huge amounts of support and proven our concept with our equipment lending library, online resources and temporary pop-up events, which have seen 8,000 visitors over 58 days, with some families travelling over five hours for a 1.5-hour session.
“The response to our plans has been fantastic and we are incredibly excited to enter this new stage and take our families and supporters with us on this new journey”.
Main photo: Helen Sampson
Read more: New soft play centre and cafe opens in South Bristol
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