Explore the facility
Our world class facility will bring everything under one roof for children and young people with disabilities and their families, including a host of activity rooms.
Support our appeal and help us build our permanent home.
Explore the different rooms!
Swing Room
Description
The swing room is the perfect room for adrenaline seekers to release some energy. It is made up of six specialised Therapeutic swings (interchangeable depending on needs), two hammocks, a ramp and scooter board (designed especially for us to be able to support every child), a climbing/ bouldering wall and other movement equipment such as rockers, bouncers and spinning chairs.
Impacts
Swinging and climbing can help build core muscles, encourage stretching and active movement, and develop balance and strength for those with physical difficulties.
- The adrenaline and ability to move in various directions and speeds is often difficult to achieve for those who are wheelchair users, so the opportunity to experience a variety of movement can be thrilling and joyful for children.
- Swinging, spinning, climbing, and rocking have been shown to improve behaviours, social skills, concentration and help with calming and reduce stereotypical behaviours with children who have sensory processing difficulties and Autism.
Softplay
Description
A two-story soft play built to adult height so parents and carers can join in too and with a floor area for less mobile children. The bottom level is wheelchair accessible, steps and climbing elements are smaller to enable those who are less mobile to access more. A hoist over the floor area enables access for all and access to the top of the slide from the first floor allows even those who aren’t mobile to use the slide.
Impacts
Soft play gives children and young people the opportunity to practice and engage with their movement and motor skills.
It is also great for balance and using their imagination.
- Climbing, crashing down on mats, and carrying and throwing soft play pieces provides the ‘hard work’ which helps release endorphins, calm those with sensory processing disorders and helps concentration and cognition.
Gym
Description
One of the larger rooms in the centre – this isn’t just like any other gym! The gym will feature both regular and child size gym equipment. There will be disability specific items, so the gym caters for all disabilities – from those who have full mobility through to those who can’t hold their own head up.
Impacts
All the expected benefits of exercise; Improves general health; reduces constipation; reduces obesity; improves sleep; improves lung and heart health.
Controls or slows the progression of chronic disease.
- For those with a physical disability, strengthening and improving mobility can improve gross motor skills and increase independence as well as protecting joints, so reducing pain and deformities. For those with sensory processing disorders (many autistic people or those with ADHD), the heavy work in the gym helps with calming, reducing stereotypical behaviours, improves concentration and cognition and improves mood.
Trampolines
Description
Three full-size trampolines side by side, but each within its own net for safety. Hoist access to all 3 so those who aren’t mobile can also use the trampolines in lying or using our support equipment in different positions. A standing sling is available to get those who can’t stand on their own on their feet on the trampoline to bounce.
Impacts
For those with physical difficulties, bouncing and balancing on the trampolines helps improve and increase balance, coordination, and core strength, and general strength and stamina.
For those with sensory difficulties, bouncing can be very calming and have a long-lasting effect on mood, behaviour, cognition, and concentration, helping with family and school life and relationships.
Outdoor Playground
Description
An accessible and inclusive outdoor playground. The playground will have a mix of equipment, some for those in wheelchairs such as a wheelchair swing and wheelchair see-saw, some for reduced mobility and other equipment for more active children so that everyone can play and exercise together.
Impacts
- ‘Hard work’ for the joints and muscles (such as climbing or hanging on monkey bars) has a fantastic calming effect and improves stereo-typical behaviours, mood, and concentration for those with sensory difficulties – especially for those with ADHD or Autism.
- Spinning, swinging, and rocking can be calming or alerting – depending on the ferocity of movement. Children can get the stimulation they need or the repetitive movements to feel safe and secure, whether they are wheelchair users or are mobile.
- Activity and exercise on climbing equipment helps with strength, balance, and coordination, as well as all the regular benefits of exercise.
Description
Reception is a light and airy space with calming areas to help young people transition from their journey and ready themselves for their visit. There are entry barriers which will allow for quick entry for those who can’t queue, but keeping children safely in the centre. The reception desks are height adjustable to allow for staff and visitors who are wheelchair users. There will be sensory panels on the walls and sensory pods, so that children can be engaged in these if their parents are at the reception desk. There will be an area showing a safety video on a loop for new visitors.
Funded by
Funded by
Description
An interactive room with a variety of high-tech specialist equipment including an interactive screen, interactive sandbox, interactive wall to play ball games against and an interactive floor mat. In an active and noisier sensory room, children will be able to explore and change the feel of the entire room.
Impacts
- The highly engaging nature of the equipment helps to improve concentration and focus.
- Cause and effect encourage movement and activity
- The interactive nature of the equipment encourages play with others, communication and teamwork which can be a struggle for many, especially those with Autism.
- Physical movements like two-handed play and crossing the hands to the other side of the body during play also helps brain development and body awareness.
Description
This will be a fully sound-proofed room, with high-tech equipment, including musical floor mat, music beams and musical walls to make it a fully immersive sensory experience!
Impacts
- Music can be a powerful tool for emotional and physical development in children.
- Making music offers opportunities to improve communication.
- Children can express emotion through the noises that they make, practice back-and-forth exchanges, turn-taking and listening skills by making sounds together.
- Music can also help regulate the nervous system. Slow, soft music and sounds are calming and can ease anxiety, while loud, up-tempo music is alerting, which helps an under-stimulated nervous system.
Description
Two joined sensory spaces – one dark and one light room – with a variety of interactive light, tactile, vibration and gentle movement equipment. Hoist access to all equipment. The calm sensory room will be full of visual and tactile items to explore. The room itself will be dark with fibreoptic lights, vibrating beds, and dark dens. There will be a bubble machine and projectors, alongside other light-up and tactile equipment.
Impacts
Most children and young people with impairments and disabilities will have some sensory challenges which can impact their development and behaviour. The calm sensory room will be full of equipment designed to help children modulate, stimulate, and calm their sensory systems, allowing them to:
- Develop gross and fine motor skills, communication skills and self-help.
- Help them to calm if over-excited after lots of play at Gympanzees before going home, or help them relax, ready to play for their session.
- Feeling different textures and seeing different visual stimulants encourage brain.
Café
Description
The café will have 130 covers and can be used by all visitors for as long as they want after their session. The Cafe is adjacent to reception so can also be accessed by those not using the rest of the centre. The cafe will have noisecancelling modalities, quiet areas, and booths for those with sensitivities to noise or smell. The noisy coffee machines and other cooking items will be in the kitchen to keep the noise and smell down. The counter will be height adjustable for staff and visitors who are wheelchair users. Parents can bring food for their children who might have allergies or restricted diets. The tables will be moveable so visitors can put tables together to encourage socialising. Chairs will be moveable to allow for wheelchairs and buggies. There will be a microwave and taps for those who need to heat food or need water to flush out feeding tubes. There will also be a kettle and toaster for young people to practice independence skills. There will also be a playpen for toddlers and a playroom adjacent for older children so parents can relax. The cafe will host training and work experience for adults with disabilities.
Impacts
- The café is key for social interaction after the families use the activity and play rooms. We have seen this many times at the Pop Up. Families meet while children play and then come into the café together to cement new relationships. This will help reduce isolation and, in turn, improve mental health.
- The café will allow disabled adults to gain valuable work experience and employment, improving independence.
- The café will also give opportunities for disabled young people and adults to practice life skills such as using money and basic cooking and self-help skills.
Description
This room is for our older young people and is designed for them to relax and socialise. It has sofas, ping pong, arcade games as well as gaming areas including a Virtual Reality gaming area. The room can be used flexibly with moveable equipment so the young people can set it up to suit them and can also be used for working on independence skills, social groups or for youth clubs.
Impacts
- A chance to relax and play games with others encourages communication and building relationships and friendships.
- Hanging out allows those who may be nervous about using the rest of the centre to relax and feel confident before they venture to the other rooms.
Party Room
Description
The party room at Gympanzees will be a large 145sqm room. Birthday parties will include a session at Gympanzees and then an hour of use of the party room for children and young people to celebrate with friends and family. The room can be used flexibly, with removable tables and chairs so that families can tailor their celebrations depending on the child’s needs.
Whilst this room is designed to enable families to have parties and provides a blank canvas for them to do so, it can also be used by other groups in the disability community, e.g., for therapy, disabled exercise classes, or classes for parents.
Impacts
Many of our families have never had the opportunity to host parties for their children due to accessibility or sensory issues, so this space will enable them to have their birthday parties and create priceless memories as their children grow. It also opens opportunities for their non-disabled friends and family to join in at Gympanzees so educating others that disabled people can be ‘able’ in an environment that supports them and that they can play and enjoy themselves alongside their disabled friend or family member, which is so often not possible elsewhere.
Kitchen
Description
The kitchen will be fully adapted for disabled staff, trainees and work-experience students. It will be suitable for cooking basic food—handmade sandwiches, pizza, baked potatoes and paninis. The kitchen will also house any more noisy café equipment, such as the coffee machine, to keep the café quiet for our children who are sensitive to noise.
Impacts
We will be working with other charities to employ disabled kitchen staff and to offer training opportunities for disabled adults. Our kitchen will allow for this to happen – enabling disabled employment.
Our kitchen will support our café, allowing for crucial socialising for our families.
Shop and Lending Library
Description
The Lending Library lends out our larger gym, therapy, soft play, and sensory equipment, which is found at the centre, into homes, schools and other disability groups. Users of the centre will be able to trial equipment in the various activity rooms and then come to the Lending Library to borrow equipment for 4 weeks. The Lending Library is run from the shop. The shop will be a fully accessible space for parents to be able to purchase some of our most popular equipment and Gympanzees merchandise.
Impacts
- Being able to have equipment at home allows for a multitude of physical, sensory, and mental health benefits.
- New equipment at home can help with behaviour and family bonding.
- Equipment for disabled people is often incredibly expensive and only available online, so the opportunity to try before they buy is very beneficial for families.
Café Play
Description
This play area will be a room off the café, where children can play so parents can chat and relax in the cafe. It will have a variety of toys and games so children can play by themselves or with others. It will have one-way glass so parents can keep an eye on their child without the child being distracted by what is in the cafe.
Physio
Description
Physiotherapy works on movement and mobility – aiming to improve mobility in its many forms. This could be from working on head control through to helping children to walk. The Physio room includes mats, toys, rolls, wedges, benches, therapy balls and other physio equipment. Also, the ceiling hooks for sensory integration swings. This room can also be used as a multipurpose room.
First Aid Room
Description
Height adjustable bed, chair, hoist, and sink. An injury or illness can be very distressing for children with disabilities and a dedicated room with the right equipment is essential for the best outcomes.
Changing Places
Description
A changing place is a fully accessible changing room with a height-adjustable adult-size changing table and ceiling hoist, shower, and height-adjustable sink, as well as a disabled toilet and child toilet that can be used by the whole family. These changing areas allow disabled people of all ages to be changed in a fully accessible and dignified setting.
Impacts
Many disabled people are restricted to where they go out of the home because of toileting difficulties.
Changing Places are very rare in the community and will allow families to leave the house with confidence that they won’t need to leave prematurely or have distressing toileting experiences.
They also allow for the whole family to use the toilet together, so siblings and parents are catered for as well.
ACCESSIBLE FACILITIES
Inclusive Design
Hoists to enable non-mobile children to access all facilities.
Specialist toilet amenities that include hoists and adult sized changing beds.
Cleanliness is essential for our children’s health. We will be scrupulous with cleaning and provide anti-bacterial materials where appropriate, and hand wipes/ washes available at all doors.
State-of-the-art technology including interactive, immersive sound and visual equipment, hearing loops and programmable lighting to enhance our children’s experience.
We have created separate rooms, and will keep the capacity to levels that ensure noise and sensory needs are met.
There will be ceiling hoists throughout, changing places and unisex family toilets.
