Surrey opens two projects in one day with John Inverdale

ON a very wet and windy November day, Wooden Spoon Surrey Honorary President, John Inverdale, opened the region’s latest two projects.

In the morning, The Wooden Spoon Tranquility Room at Croydon Legacy Youth Zone was officially unveiled. The CLYZ is a brand new £8 million activity centre built in an area of severe social deprivation. It provides a wide range of sporting, educational and career advisory services to over 4,000 youngsters. It is also one of a nationwide network of similar venues run by the On-Side charity.

By its very nature, the Youth Zone is a noisy, busy and often turbulent environment with hundreds of youngsters using the various facilities.

A £12,000 donation provided a fantastic range of sensory equipment which creates a welcoming environment for children with autism or other learning difficulties who may suffer from a sensory overload when attempting to participate in the individual or group activities.

As one young man told John Inverdale: “The Tranquility Room is my second bedroom.”

In the afternoon, we moved on to Limpsfield Grange School, the only state school in the country which caters exclusively for girls with autism. Eighty girls, including around twenty boarders attend.

Although the school is able to offer its pupils a terrific range of equipment and facilities, there was a desperate need for a dedicated room where the girls could ‘chill out’ in the event of suffering from severe emotional or behavioural trauma.

A £17,000 donation facilitated the purchase and construction of a timber cabin, built in the grounds of the school which provides a haven of peace and tranquility.

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