The idea
We are building a central hub for disability sport and leisure, including a football / sport pitch, accessible changing pavilion with education space, horticulture centre, and forest school. It will be used by Foreland Fields SEN School, along with a wide range of disability sports and training partners, who meet the needs of the local disability community. The hub will be used all year, including, evenings, weekends and holidays.
Currently, within Thanet and East Kent, there are no disability friendly hubs offering the fully inclusive facilities and opportunities our project will create. This means, that there are young people who are excluded from being active or belonging to a team/club because the right options and opportunities are not available.
We are raising funds to help install the accessible changing places rooms, including hoists, within the pavilion. The pavilion will form the center of this unique hub
What we'll deliver
- Install accessible changing places rooms within pavilion
- Install ceiling hoists within pavilion
- Furnish training rooms within pavilion
Why it's a great idea
Something we strongly believe is that all children and young people should have access to outdoor sport and leisure facilities, but in reality there are no areas locally that allow special children fair access to play or be included in sporting activities. Once completed, the hub will provide a safe, accessible space to promote physical and mental wellbeing, lifelong learning, social development and inclusion, and will aid in reducing the economic impact inactivity has for the local health care providers. It will help reduce rates of social isolation, and depression, and will also provide an opportunity for the development of life skills and work experience, through the use of the pavilion kitchen/café and horticulture area. The hub will create a place for families to meet for mutual support and access community training sessions such as Makaton.
This project will help ensure that everyone feels a part of the community and that they have fair access to all opportunities.
Steps to get it done
- Funding Pavilion build
- Building Pavilion
- Installing Changing Places rooms within pavilion
- Grand opening ceremony for community
