28/07/11….Innovative activity centre now provides for teenagers with special needs

A local family activity centre that has been providing recreational and educational activities for children with special needs and their families for nine years, can now help teenagers too!

Thanks to some generous donations from local authorities, charitable foundations and businesses, as well as The Big Lottery Fund, Thomley Activity Centre at Worminghall near Thame, has refurbished an old Manor Hall to create a fresh new facility for disabled teenagers and their families. At a special launch event yesterday (July 27), 70 young users of Thomley, both long-standing and new, along with their families and representatives of the donors, celebrated the opening of this great new facility.

The new space includes a chill-out room with pool table, sofas and a magnificent TV with X Box and Wii games and activities. There’s lots of quiet spaces too including massage facilities, and a fully fitted kitchen for learning life skills like cooking.

In her speech yesterday, the Chair of Thomley Trustees, Lorraine Fox, explained how this teenage project came about following feedback from young people and their families which identified a need for the centre to provide facilities for youngsters over the age of 13 yrs.

“These families also told us how few other safe and accessible places there are to take their children. Again and again we hear about limited provision for young disabled people who are no longer considered as children, but who are struggling with the transition into adulthood.

“Thomley therefore designed this project to widen the variety of activities for disabled teenagers. It specifically aims to promote social, early vocational, healthy living and life skills of disabled young people up to 19 years-old, their families and friends.”

Director of Thomley Activity Centre, Claire Acworth, told ThameNews.Net: “Today has been absolutely amazing. To see the young people actually in, what was an old dilapidated building, using the facilities everyone has worked so hard to provide, is so satisfying. But this is not end. Going forward over the coming few years, the project will evolve to provide a range of social, healthy living, early vocational and life skills activities.”

PHOTO; Jamie (green T shirt)and Hamish (dark green T shirt)try their hand at woodworking with Paul (carpentry workshop facilitator)