A project to create the first national bespoke training, recreation and learning centre for young people and adults with special educational needs and/or disabilities in Ramsgate has reached its second phase.
The Hive scheme headed by Foreland Fields Charity, working with Kent County Council and assisted by GPM2 Design Architects & Surveyors, will create an accessible sport and leisure hub behind Foreland Fields School, including a football pitch and sport field, inclusive pavilion, horticulture area, forest school, and arts area.
The hub will be used by the children and young people of Foreland Fields SEN School as well as partners from the wider local disability community, including Thanet Galaxy PAN Disability Football, Inclusive Sport, and East Kent Mencap.
The facility will provide a safe environment to develop a wide range of skills through activities such as football, cricket, athletics, cycling, forest school, music, drama and art projects, outdoor education and gardening, and will help create lifelong learning opportunities for children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
The Foreland Fields Charity has now announced phase one – to prepare the grounds and complete an access road, services and fences – is complete and phase two, for the creation of the Pavilion building, is now underway.
The aim is for the Pavilion to be fully installed by the end of the summer.
The total cost of the project amounts to £1.2million. Funds of £755,000 were secured to complete phase 1 and £450,000 for phase two.
Funding for this phase has come from individuals and also groups such as the Masons, The Clothworkers Foundation, Baily Thomas , Wolfson Foundation, Peter Harrison, Garfield Weston and the St James Trust.
PAN disability football team Thanet Galaxy will have their home stadium at The Hive.
Phase 3 will start once the charity has raised the remaining funding This phase will include creating the sensory garden, cycle track, Forest school and furnishing with the specific equipment needed.
There will be aa horticulture area for growing various fruits and vegetables to use in the onsite café with all tended to and run by the site users. The Forest school will run courses in woodcraft, wood working, camping skills, facilitate the Duke of Edinburgh award and many more outdoor learning activities.
There will be a multi-use learning area for lessons, sensory play, story-telling, music and drama activities along with training courses like the bike repair qualification.
Diarmuid Molloy, Director of Philanthropy, said: “This is going to be a first-of-its-kind national facility for SEND young people and adults along with their family where they can learn and enjoy safely.”
“This will be a blueprint for how to get 19-25 year olds SEND young people trained and into employment to reduce loneliness or isolation as adults. We hope to train young people to join local large companies and train them to cycle well for example so they can go to work independently!”
How to help
If you’d like to make a donation, have an idea for funding or can volunteer in anyway get in contact at [email protected]
Or find the fundraising page via https://www.foreland.kent.sch.uk/about-us/fundraising/donate-via-justgiving/
Foreland Fields Charity is specifically looking for donations of cladding or someone that can install it, shipping containers, a kitchen that would suit a small cafe and lumber for the raised sensory gardens.