Watch: Behind-the-scenes progress at Highland centre for young people with complex needs
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Excitement is growing as construction of Scotland’s first multi-purpose centre for young people with learning disabilities and complex needs gathers pace at a site in Inverness.
The £4.1 million pioneering Haven Centre, set to open this summer, will include an indoor specialist play centre with child care facilities, a community café, meeting spaces, and an outdoor garden.
The development also includes three badly-needed respite flats for young adults up to the age of 30.
The project, led by the Elsie Normington Foundation, has been 10 years in the making and has received support from the Scottish Government, the National Lottery Community Fund and Highland Council as well as the public.
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The site is currently a scene of frenetic activity with construction workers, joiners, plumbers, electricians, painters and others all playing a role in shaping the pioneering centre located in Murray Road.
Principal contractor Compass Building and Construction Services expects to hand over the development about the end of May when it will be fitted out by the foundation.
Although still unfinished, a behind-the scenes tour reveals the scale of the two-storey centre with its distinctive rotunda entrance.
A community cafe with panoramic views looking towards the Moray Firth is set to become an important hub
Kirstin Mackay, the foundation's programme manager, said it will be operated by a paid member of staff plus a team of volunteers.
"The cafe will be open not just to people who used the centre but members of the public who want to come and sit," she said.
A tower of scaffolding currently fills the designated area for the indoor soft play area, which is to be fitted with specialist equipment, while another large area will provide a flexible space for activities ranging from indoor play activities or messy play to fitness classes and arts and crafts.
The building, which will be fully accessible and include disabled toilets, will also accommodate a meeting room and a staff kitchen.
Discussions are ongoing with an interior designer for the final designs.
The overall development also includes three respite flats – one two-bedroom flat with an additional en-suite room for a carer and two one-bedroom flats – for young people aged 15 to 30.
They will feature en-suite wet rooms, electric wheelchair charging points and a utility room.
The respite service will be operated by Key Housing.
"I expect there will be huge demand," Mrs Mackay said.
"Respite is so scarce. More and more people are crying out for it.
"It will alleviate the pressure but there needs to be more."
She said being involved in bringing the vision of the Haven Centre to fruition is a career highlight.
"To see the progress being made and knowing the difference it is going to make for the children using the service is so heartwarming," she said.
Greg Cooper, site manager for contractor Compass Building and Construction Services, who has overseen progress since the 'spade in the ground' event in March last year is seeing at the first hand the project rise from the ashes.
The site was previously occupied by Culloden Court Care Home which was destroyed by a blaze in 2010 and Mr Cooper was involved in work carried out by Morrison Construction following the blaze.
"We came to make the building safe before it was later knocked down," he recalled.
He said construction of the new centre is progressing well.
"It is exciting," he said.
"A good milestone was getting the rotunda in – there was a lot of work involved. We built the whole building and then put it in."
Elsie Normington, founder and chairwoman of the Elsie Normington Foundation, is delighted with the progess on site.
"The Haven Centre vision is now a reality and we are looking forward to building handover at the end of May," she said.
"We are so proud to be delivering the Haven Centre which will provide such a vital and much needed service to children and young adults with severe and complex needs and disabilities in the Highlands.
"This year, the foundation is also celebrating its 10th anniversary and we have been reflecting on the tremendous support of our donors, fundraisers, the local community and grant funders who have helped us to realise the Haven Centre vision and we look forward to the future of the foundation and developing and delivering new projects in the Highlands which will support local children and young adults with learning disabilities, and their parents and carers."
