It has been over a decade since Stephanie Wheen set out to create the UK’s first play and leisure centre specifically designed for disabled children. Over the past 10 years, she and her team have raised millions of pounds, meticulously researched how to make the centre as inclusive as possible and spent years trialling sessions with disabled children. And soon, the doors to Gympanzees will open for the first time.
I expect families are going to be quite awestruck because it’s been made for them when they’re so used to there being nothing,” said Wheen. The idea was born in 2016 out of Wheen’s work as a children’s physiotherapist in Bristol. With her sessions constantly fully booked, she tried to get the disabled children she worked with to do more physical activity in the community so they would not need to rely so heavily on her service.
Wheen felt a purpose-built activity centre was the only way to address the gap. With a team of volunteers, she began booking Send schools during the holidays to run “pop-up” play and exercise sessions, bringing in three lorries loaded with specialist equipment. They saw children’s physical and mental health improve instantly.
Some walked, held themselves upright or rolled over independently for the first time; others laughed in a way they never had before. Some families travelled up to eight hours to attend the sessions. After years of hunting, they bought a 60-year-old former service station by the Severn Bridge, north-west of Bristol.
They used a loan of £2.2m to buy the 4,000 square metre (43,000 sq ft) site, and have raised over £10m to finish the project. They have £400,000 left to find. The centre, which took three years to design, will have 10 spaces including a music room, gym, trampoline and climbing area, and dark and light sensory rooms, as well as a fully accessible outdoor play park.
There will be a party room with DJ equipment that can be controlled by eye-gaze technology. There will be a cafe and a shop selling nappies and feeding tubes, as well as a lending library so parents can try out equipment at home that their child has enjoyed. Families will be able to book different sessions depending on their child’s needs.
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