Northallerton and Dales Mencap in bid for purpose-built centre

The Northallerton and the Dales branch of Mencap has set itself a fundraising target of £580,000 for an ambitious project to create a new venue.

The charity has had plans to create a new centre in the pipeline for several years, but the cost of its original project was estimated to be about £1.5m, so the charity decided to rethink its plans.

The latest proposals involve demolishing the existing centre off Goosecroft Lane in Northallerton and creating a purpose-built centre in its place.

It is hoped the new centre will have a sensory room, internet cafe, time-out space, interview rooms, a larger kitchen, which can be used for training, and a Changing Places toilet specifically geared for people with disabilities.

The centre will continue to be used by Breathing Spaces, which provides activities and evening classes for adults with learning difficulties in North Yorkshire, and offers respite for their families.

The new space should allow both charities and other groups that use the building, to offer more training courses and activities. The extra meeting space will also allow up to four different activities to take place at any one time in the centre.

Already Mencap has £200,000 in place and hopes to raise the remaining £380,000 by the time of the branch’s 50th anniversary next year.

Sue Lear, development manager for Mencap, said rebuilding the centre on its existing site had many benefits.

“This building is very old, it used to be a wine warehouse,” she explained.

“It’s seen its day really and we’ve outgrown it. Lots of community groups use the centre, as well as people with learning disabilities and their families and carers.

“People feel safe here and they can walk to it, or use the bus which stops near here, which gives them some independence.

“A lot of things have changed, a lot of day centres have closed, so we need to offer more activities, training opportunities, employment training. It will be a very flexible building.”