‘Life-changing’: parents welcome £10m UK play centre for disabled children
Summary
Gympanzees, a £10m play and leisure centre for disabled children near Bristol, is preparing to open after more than a decade of planning and fundraising. The centre will offer accessible play, exercise and sensory spaces, alongside support for families.Key Facts
- Founder Stephanie Wheen developed the idea through her work as a children’s physiotherapist in Bristol.
- The charity began running temporary play and exercise sessions in schools, attracting 1,000 visitors in its first four weeks.
- Gympanzees bought a former service station near the Severn Bridge and adapted the 4,000-square-metre site.
- The project has raised more than £10m and has £400,000 left to raise; a £2.2m loan helped fund the site purchase.
- The centre will include 10 activity spaces, an accessible outdoor play park, a café and a shop selling care supplies.
- Its two-storey soft-play area will use two hoist systems to improve access for wheelchair users.
- A party room will have DJ equipment controlled by eye-gaze technology, which lets users operate devices by looking at controls.
- Scope research cited in the article found that half of UK playgrounds are not accessible to disabled children.
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