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Ambitious plans for pioneering centre for young people with learning disabilities and complex needs in the Highlands take another step forward with £250k boost


By Val Sweeney

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Lauren Hendry and Elsie Normington at site where the Haven Centre will be built.
Lauren Hendry and Elsie Normington at site where the Haven Centre will be built.

An ambitious project to develop Scotland’s first integrated centre for young people with learning disabilities and complex needs in the Highlands has received a major £250,000 boost.

The Haven Appeal has received the pledge from the UK charitable institution the Garfield Weston Foundation.

It takes the appeal so far to £2.6 million and comes hot on the heels of a £1.1 million grant from the National Lottery Community Fund.

The appeal, launched by the Elsie Normington Foundation, aims to raise £4 million to build the Haven Centre – featuring a specialist play centre, three flats for overnight respite care, a community café and garden – on a derelict site in Murray Road, Smithton. It will cater for up to 400 families a year.

Foundation chairwoman Elsie Normington welcomed the latest pledge to help the most vulnerable.

"I cannot thank the Garfield Weston Foundation enough for recognising the acute need of disabled young people in the Highlands to have a place where they can have fun, socialise and build a community in an environment that caters for their needs," she said.

The successful application was the first bid made for the appeal by newly appointed grants officer Lauren Hendry, who is helping to ramp up fundraising efforts in the hope the centre will open in 2022.

Miss Hendry has recently returned to the family home near Cromarty after several years away studying and fundraising for organisations across the UK.

"It’s such a privilege to work with an organisation which has done so much to champion the voices of the Highland’s disabled children and their families," she said.

"The pledge from the Garfield Weston Foundation is hugely welcome and our focus now is on getting the appeal to the ambitious target."

Chairman of the Haven Appeal David Sutherland.
Chairman of the Haven Appeal David Sutherland.

Appeal chairman David Sutherland said: "Garfield Weston Foundation’s pledge is an important step towards making the Haven Centre a reality, as we get ever closer to our £4 million target and opening the Haven Centre’s doors and being able to welcome young disabled people from across the Highlands."

The Garfield Weston Foundation, established in 1958 by the Weston family, donates more than £80 million to about 2000 UK charities each year.

Director Philippa Charles hoped its support would encourage other funders.

"Our trustees are delighted to pledge our support to the Haven Centre, which we hope will create a space where young people with complex disabilities can meet friends and have fun whilst accessing the care they need," she said.

Related story: Ross-shire mum camps out to support Haven

Haven charity hosts online appeal


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