Staff are celebrating as work starts to create a state-of-the-art £460,000 residential unit for children and young people with disabilities at an award-winning outdoor education centre in Ilkley.
The new building at Nell Bank Outdoor Education Centre, in Denton Road, will have room for up to 12 children with additional needs and their carers.
It will feature under-floor heating, solar panels, large changing and washing areas and a jacuzzi bath.
Centre Manager Bruce Fowler and young disabled visitors from Braithwaite Special School in Keighley will be cutting the first sod at the site on Friday, 3 July, before the diggers roll in on Monday, 6 July.
Managed by Bradford Council's Early Years, Childcare and Play service, the centre has spectacular views of Ilkley Moor and the Wharfe Valley, is surrounded by 100 acres of woodland and is visited by about 18,000 children a year.
The funding for the project has been awarded by Aiming High, a Government scheme to support projects for children young people with disabilities and Bradford is leading the way with an overall £5 million pilot scheme.
Coun Michael Kelly, the Council's Executive Member for Services to Children and Young People who will also be attending the sod-cutting event, said: "This is great news that Nell Bank has been given the funding to help expand the centre and allow more children and young people to enjoy the excellent activities on offer.
"It also reflects our b someone campaign which is about making sure children and young people, of all abilities, are given the support they need to boost their skills and go on to achieve."
Mr Fowler said: "Nell Bank is leading-edge, probably the best outdoor centre in the UK for inclusion. Children and young people with and without disabilities and other additional needs take part in the same activities alongside each other at the same time.
"This funding enables us to ensure disabled children can take advantage of and fully enjoy a residential experience alongside their more able-bodied friends."
Ann Roli, the Council's Commissioner for Disabled Children, said: "The building of a unit on the Nell Bank site has provided us with an exciting opportunity to ensure all disabled children and young people are able to access the unique experience that the site provides while responding to families' wishes to increase the number of venues where families can have fun time together in an environment that welcomes everyone."
Pupils at Ilkley Grammar School who attend a Tuesday gardening club at the centre with a landscape gardener will be putting their new skills to the test by planting and landscaping the grounds once the building is finished.
The centre won the National Lottery Awards best environmental project in the country in 2008 and scooped £2,000 towards the scheme.
It also boasts a Nellmobile which can transport children in wheelchairs around the site so visitors they can enjoy orienteering and the habitat trail through the woods.
Media Relations Officer:
Carolyne Coyle
Telephone: 01274 432400
Fax: 01274 432005
Email: press.communications@bradford.gov.uk
Date: 03.07.09
