Work has begun converting what was once one of the most famous motorway service stations in the country into an £8 million centre for disabled children – but the charity behind the transformation is still fundraising to finish the job.
In a ceremonial sledgehammer blow, the first interior wall of the building that was once the old Aust services on what was once the M4 was knocked down by Stephanie Wheen, the founder and boss of Gympanzees, a Bristol-based charity.
Gympanzees has raised £4.5 million of its £8 million target to turn the old service station on what is now the M48 into the UK’s first fully accessible exercise, play and social centre for disabled children and young people.
At the moment Gympanzees operates pop-up centres, mainly in school holidays, and children and families come from across the country to visit the unique centre. The service station building, which has been offices for the past 20 or so years, would provide Gympanzees with a much larger, permanent home, complete with outdoor areas, a forest school and enough space to expand.
The new centre will feature 11 fully inclusive rooms, one of which will have a horizontal climbing wall that will be accessible for all children and two storey soft play with a wheelchair lift. The transformation is due to be completed in June next year, but Gympanzees still needs to keep fundraising and the appeal to make the vision a reality is still very much live.
“It will be the first centre of its kind as it will support all disabled children and young people who may be excluded from existing leisure activities,” a spokesperson for Gympanzees explained. “From those with the most severe physical disabilities, to those who are autistic or ADHD who can be incredibly active and seek movement, the new centre will give them somewhere to have fun and get active.
“Children with disabilities are half as likely to be active as their non-disabled peers, so the space that Gympanzees provides these children with to exercise and have sensory experiences is crucial to improving health outcomes later in life. Previously the charity was reliant on pop-up events, taking place in temporary homes around Bristol.
“The sessions have been incredibly popular with over 28,000 visitors enjoying the unique, life-changing benefits of accessible fun and fitness, alongside lending specialist equipment to over 2,800 families and schools,” she added.
The charity has managed to raise £4.5 million, mainly from the Bristol and West Country, and last year secured a £1 million donation from the John James Foundation in Bristol.
Gympanzees has hired Oakland Construction to undertake the first stage of work. That will involve demolishing the existing internal walls and ceilings on the ground floor of the former service station, creating an empty space that will prepare for the construction of the 11 fully-inclusive rooms and spaces that will make Gympanzees.
Striking the first sledgehammer blow was Stephanie Wheen, who saw the need for a centre like this during her work as a physiotherapist for disabled children. “This has been a long journey from when I initially had the idea for Gympanzees way back in 2016, but I’m so proud of how far we have come,” she said.
“The pop-up events were a brilliant way to show the concept was a good one, but we needed to do more for these amazing families. It is incredibly exciting that work has now started, after feeling like a pipe dream at times, it now feels incredibly real. We are doing something never done before and we now have a site and work has begun, our permanent home is closer than ever.
“We can’t thank the funders, corporate supporters, and the public enough for all their support. We have had fantastic feedback from our services to date, but families crucially deserve more than temporary Pop-Ups and remote support. They need a place they can trust and rely upon all year round that is welcoming, safe, fun and supports all their health and well-being needs,” she added.
Michelle Brain has taken her son Conor to Gympanzees’ pop-up sessions regularly, and said having somewhere permanent to go will be a life-changer.
“Days out for us as a family are virtually impossible,” she said. “Conor has autism and is non-verbal so we spend all our time worrying that others won’t understand Conor or he’ll be able to find a way to escape. Gympanzees’ pop-up sessions were such a relief for us as they offered us a safe space that Conor can play and express himself without judgement.
“The new centre will be incredible for us. Conor loves Lego and has a lot of energy to burn, which is one of the reasons why he loves Gympanzees,” she added.