Refurbished Room for Surrey Charity
Woking-based LinkAble have relaunched their sensory room
Last updated 21st Feb 2023
A charity based in Surrey has recently completed a refurbishment of their sensory room.
LinkAble, based in Woking, is a charity that helps people with special needs. They provide a service for children, teenagers and adults with learning difficulties - and offer a wide range of activities.
A key part of LinkAble's site is the Sensory Room, where service users can relax and engage with the sensory activities.
However, as the room got older, a renovation of the room was needed.
"It's a space that they really enjoy."
"The sensory room that we'd had, had been in service for around 8 years." Said LinkAble's CEO Alison Keeley.
"It gets a huge amount of use. So over those 8 years, as you can imagine, elements of it needed refreshing and renewing."
LinkAble's Christmas Appeal was a key part of funding the sensory room renovation, whilst the Surrey Freemasons, St Peter's Relief in Sickness Fund and The Douglas Carter Fund were also key donors.
Alison also explained that the refurbished sensory room is vital to LinkAble's service, particularly for families of service users who may be affected by the cost-of-living crisis:
"We're always looking at supporting as many families as we possibly can.
"Families with children with a learning need often find it difficult, even without the cost of living crisis."
Features of the new sensory room include vibrating pillows, a hurricane tube and an infinity tunnel. The lighting has been changed, and seating has been altered to improve accessibility.
Alison went on to explain that ongoing costs can be harder to deal with.
"Whilst funding physical things like the sensory room is relatively easy, what is harder for us is to get the funding to pay for the staff who support the children to access the centre.
"whilst we have one-off-costs of the sensory room, we have a huge number of ongoing costs."
Melissa Anders, the Head of Under 21 services at LinkAble, said that it's "used every session by a lot of our children and young people, it's a space that they really enjoy."
"It really helps them have some quiet time, time to calm down if they need it, away from all the noise from the rest of the group.
Information about donating to LinkAble is available on their website.