There are ambitious plans to build a unique multi-purpose facility for children and young people with multiple complex learning in Inverness.
It will be the first in Scotland to provide on one site, integrated care for children children from birth to 19 and young people up to the age of 30. The aim is to fill in some of the gaps in provision for them after their school day is over, or they reach leaving age.
The Haven Centre will be located on the site of a former nursing home in the Highland capital. It has lain derelict since being destroyed by fire in 2010, when 59 residents and 12 staff were safely evacuated. But it will also serve the wider Highland area.
The project is being developed by the Elsie Normington Foundation, which has formed the Haven Project Appeal to raise £3.2 million over the next 18 months. The Foundation has already secured funding and donations of £400,000.
Community development office Elsie Normington, chairs the Foundation. She has a 32-year-old son, Andrew, who is profoundly disabled and lives in independent supported accommodation. She wrote a book “The Silent Door Bell”, about coping with Andrew’s condition.
She said it had long been her dream to deliver a centre that cared for those children in the Highlands whose special need were not being addressed, giving them "the chances in life that they so richly deserve.”
Another mother involved is Dina McLintock whose daughter Katie is 19 has completed her time at Drummond School for Children with Special Needs in Inverness.
Katie has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is registered blind. Dina now has to make her own arrangements with carers and she sees Haven Centre as a place where Katie will be able to visit for day and respite care.
Mrs McLintock said: “Apart from being excited about the wonderful respite facilities planned at the Haven, I am very excited about the prospect of the cafe and outdoor spaces which will provide a place for carers to meet up. When that happens, that is when the Haven will evolve and become so much more than we dare to imagine. For me, the Haven can't come soon enough for families.”
Project partners include Direct Childcare, who will provide the child care in the specialist play centres and Key Community Supports, who have wide experience in housing support, short breaks and community support to adults with learning difficulties.
Featured in the main building will be a specialist play centre to be run by Direct Childcare and it will be linked to a community café, which will be run as a community enterprise. The complex will also have an outdoor play centre and community garden, office space and meeting rooms which can be used for training and family support and by local community organisations. Three respite apartments to be serviced by Key Community Supports, will also be built on the site..
Helen Bull, Principal Teacher for Transitions (Post-School Provision) at the 93-pupil Drummond School is a Foundation director and 100 per cent behind the Haven vision.
She said: “This is a much-needed project, which is vitally important for both the young people who attend local schools including Drummond School and also those aged between 19-30 needing post-school care/training. The provision of safe and meaningful activities and respite care in a purpose built integrated complex will make such a difference to their lives.”
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