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Site for 拢3.1m Bristol leisure centre for disabled children secured

Gympanzees is set to establish the 海角视频’s first disability-specific play and leisure facility for children and young people

The former motorway services in Aust, South Gloucestershire, which is set to be transformed into a leisure centre for disabled children(Image: Gympanzees)

A Bristol-based charity has secured a site for the 海角视频’s first disability-specific play and leisure facility for children and young people.

Gympanzees has completed a £3.1m deal for a former motorway services building near Aust in South Gloucestershire. The organisation, a previous recipient of The Queen’s Award for enterprise and innovation, said it expected its new centre to welcome more than 200,000 visitors each year.

Scheduled to open in 2026, the facility will be designed to cater for children and young people with the most severe physical disabilities, who require support for all their needs and movements, through to those with autism and ADHD.

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The building will be the first permanent home for Gympanzees, with the group previously running ‘pop up’ events in the Easter and summer holidays in schools over the past five years, which to date have attracted 21,000 visitors over 130 days.

Stephanie Wheen, chief executive and founder of Gympanzees, at one the organisation's pop-up sessions(Image: Helen Sampson)

Stephanie Wheen, chief executive and founder of Gympanzees, said: “We have achieved this mammoth first step in fundraising and purchased the building, now we need to fit it out and deliver this much-needed centre for disabled children and their families.”

Bristol-based Triodos Bank provided a £2.2m loan to finance the acquisition, with support also coming from The Nisbet Trust, Rockcliffe Charitable Trust, The Sunrise Foundation and individual gifts. Gympanzees were also donated more than £200,000 of pro bono work to secure the site by Stride Treglown, BOM IT Solutions, Osborne Clarke, Northen QS, JLL, Hydrock and Burston Cooke.

John Sharpe, business banking relationship manager at Triodos Bank 海角视频, said: “We’re pleased to play a pivotal part in this important next chapter for Gympanzees. Our finance always aims to have a positive impact and we can see what a difference this permanent centre will make to the lives of young people with disabilities and their families.”