Sensory room to be a welcome feature at Carrickfergus and Larne Child Contact Centre's new premises

A centre which aims to facilitate contact between families is moving to a new venue in Carrickfergus town centre.
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Carrickfergus and Larne Child Contact Centres provides a safe, neutral, and comfortable place for children to see the parent they don’t live with, or sometimes other close family members.

It was previously based in the YMCA building before relocating to new premises in nearby West Street, where it is hoped the service will be up and running next month.

A registered charity, the centre provides a range of play activities for children aged 0-16, with every family having the opportunity to enjoy safe contact time while being supported by highly trained and skilled volunteers.

Volunteers from Carrickfergus and Larne Child Contact Centre pictured at their Christmas lunch in December 2021.Volunteers from Carrickfergus and Larne Child Contact Centre pictured at their Christmas lunch in December 2021.
Volunteers from Carrickfergus and Larne Child Contact Centre pictured at their Christmas lunch in December 2021.

Shelly McCord, co-ordinator of the service said: “Our centre would not be able to run without the hard work and ongoing support of our team of volunteers. All volunteers receive regular training and are all vetted through Access NI to ensure their suitability to work with children and young people.

“Families get involved in using our centre through the service of a solicitor, family court, or Social Services.”

In Northern Ireland, contact centres utilise church halls and similar facilities to facilitate contact sessions. “During the pandemic, the Carrickfergus centre only closed for the first lockdown, and has managed to maintain direct contact for all of our families since June,” Shelly added. “During the lockdown period, indirect contact was maintained for families via our own Zoom facilities, enabling separated families to maintain much needed contact with each other.”

Shelly is now hoping to expand the centre to bigger, better facilities, extending availability from limited hours to a six days a week service.

The service is relocating to West Street in Carrickfergus town centre.The service is relocating to West Street in Carrickfergus town centre.
The service is relocating to West Street in Carrickfergus town centre.

Sensory room also for public use

Additionally, she envisaged the development of a ‘sensory room’, professionally designed and installed, free for public use for families with children who might benefit.

Shelly and the centre’s chairperson, Tony Barclay, embarked upon a development project to identify potential costs, location and feasibility of the proposals.

In October 2021, whilst researching potential premises, 13 West Street was identified as a potential option. A former butcher’s shop, the unit had been completely redesigned as offices, a project which had stopped during the pandemic.

The trustees of the charity agreed that the project should commence, and a lease for 13 West Street was signed.

Within the centre, facilities are being developed to accommodate children of all ages from birth to 16 years, including an open play area for younger children; a private, secluded room for older children, and – uniquely in any contact centre in NI – a professionally designed and installed sensory room, to be made available not only to service users of the contact centre, but also to other charities working with children who would benefit.

The sensory room is also to be made publicly available to any family whose children would benefit from it, at no cost to the family.

“We anticipate opening the centre and its facilities in February 2022, once the full fit out is completed,” Shelly said.

“We anticipate the sensory room will also open and become publicly available around the same time, bookable for 45-minute sessions for single families. A booking system is being developed for this purpose.

“Our research has identified the existence of other sensory rooms in schools and other facilities across NI, but none which are available publicly – we believe this is the first.”

'Superb' support from local community

The Contact Centre is partly funded by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and partly by charitable grants.

So far, staff have secured £9,500 of funding specifically towards the development of the sensory room, although another £6,000 is needed to complete it, including lighting, soft flooring and soundproofing the walls.

"The local community, businesses and individuals have been superb in supporting us as we move forward, including builders merchants providing materials, the local community coming together to provide equipment, and individuals providing their own support," Shelly continued.

"We have been especially blessed in the form of local resident and businessman Gary Connolly, who has provided a great deal of time and personal effort to build the walls within the new centre, including the Sensory Room, free of charge to us.

"In order to complete the new centre, we need to raise more funds, and furnish the centre with equipment suitable for the families we support. As a registered charity, we provide all of our

services free of charge to our service users. As well as needing to raise £6,000 to complete the sensory room, we need durable flooring, baby change facilities, accessible toilet handles/emergency call system, fire extinguishers, a secure door access system, a small CCTV system, and more.

"We greatly appreciate all the help the local community has offered, as well as the support from the Law Society of NI, who have fully endorsed and are supporting the development of the new centre, which will offer so much to the local community – and possibly much further afield."

Meanwhile, waiting times for access to a contact centre will be reduced, and possibly even eliminated, with the planned six day opening. "Families with special needs, including wheelchair

users and those with sensitive children of all ages, will have the opportunity to access a centre designed to meet those needs.

"The fit out of the new premises is already underway. There is still much to do in order to be ready for opening day in February. The charity welcome any and all support, in terms of funding to help us achieve our goals including the sensory room, to provide furniture and toys for all ages from 0- 16, and to finish the fit out."

Shelly McCord can be contacted by email at [email protected], or by phone at 07853 938881, while Tony Barclay can be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at 07990 684255.