Disability charity to move after outgrowing base

A charity supporting disabled children and young people is set to relocate as demand for its services has become so high that it has outgrown its current site.

Building for the Future has been running a specialist play and therapy centre in Wokingham, Berkshire, for the past 12 years.

The organisation aims to plug gaps in publicly available disability care by providing a safe, inclusive space for children and young people, giving their families respite.

The charity now plans to move to a larger building in Reading and has launched a fundraising campaign to make the project possible.

"We're supporting close to 1,000 children over the course of a year now but the building has become tired and too small," the charity's chief executive Jane Holmes said.

"We are now in the very regrettable situation that we're having to start to turn people away, which goes against absolutely everything that we stand for."

According to the government's UK Disability Survey research report conducted in 2021, only 6% of carers agree that the government provides a good level of support to disabled people.

Charities like Building for the Future provide auxiliary therapy, social events and family support.

Hayleigh Woolven, who has two disabled sons, said: "They've got soft play, they've got a little ball pit, they've got a sensor room and it's just the most relaxed I've ever been with the kids out.

"That is such a nice feeling because you never get that as a SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) mum."

Renovations at the new site are expected to cost £250,000 and will be funded entirely by donations.