Play and respite centre opens in Inverness for children with disabilities

A purpose-built play centre and respite facility for children and adults with complex needs and disabilities has officially opened in the Highlands.

The £4.1m Haven Centre in Inverness has three two-bedroom respite flats for people up to the age of 30, and an indoor specialist children's play centre.

It also has a community café, meeting spaces and an outdoor garden.

The project, led by the Elsie Normington Foundation, to raise the funds needed and build the centre was started 10 years ago.

Founder Elsie Normington, whose son Andrew was diagnosed with a severe and intractable form of epilepsy when he was four, said the project would not have been possible without the support of generous fundraisers and donors.

She said: “It is a dream come true seeing the Haven Centre vision become a reality.

"We look forward to seeing many children, young adults and their families visiting and enjoying the Haven centre for many years to come."

She added: "We are a small charity with big ambitions and will continue to develop and deliver new projects in the Highlands which will support local children and young adults with learning disabilities, and their parents and carers."

The Haven is run by the foundation in partnership with another charity, Special Needs Action Project Inverness.

The centre aims to provide an inclusive community space where children and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities have opportunities to have fun, play, socialise and develop.

SNP MSP Kate Forbes formally opened the centre.

She said: “The Haven will undoubtedly become one of the most vitally important facilities for the north’s young people and their families and I wish the team every success."