Special educational needs centre looking for home

SEN Den Somerset would offer a café, play sessions, workshops and other facilities in Taunton

A project hoping to create a community centre for children and adults with special educational needs (SEN) is looking for its first home.

The people behind SEN Den Somerset want to open a cafe and day centre in Taunton that will provide respite for families.

The space would have a sensory room and offer play sessions, music workshops and other facilities including soft play.

"We want it to be a real community space," said the project's training director Ruth Irvine.

Ms Irvine said the idea came to her when she realised how many families were desperate for respite.

"There's really nowhere for children to go where they can be themselves without having to comply with a certain way of behaving," she told BBC Radio Somerset.

'Open to everybody'

The project's operations director Paul Arvidson said the cafe will be "open to everybody" and will provide opportunities for people to "get involved" and "learn how to do things in the cafe".

SEN Den Somerset is now looking for a base, applying for grants and crowdfunding to try to make the project a reality.

"In order to make a building accessible, it needs proper ramps," said Mr Arvidson.

"A Changing Places toilet isn't cheap," he added. "We need extra funding for all these things, so we need all the support we can get."