Senses Stimulated at Newcraigielea

Heart of the Community Trust funding used to create a sensory room for those with learning disabilities.A grant of £10,214 from Scottish Sea Farms has allowed the Newcraigielea centre in Lerwick, Shetland to create a multi-sensory stimulation room which opened this month (December 2014). Newcraigielea is a purpose built unit, which provides respite, short break and day care services to adults in Shetland with learning disabilities. The Heart of The Community funding of over ten thousand pounds has purchased all sorts of equipment to create the sensory room.Fiona Hillyear, Team Leader at Newcraigielea said: “This fantastic new room provides a safe space with wonderful sensory experiences for people who have varying degrees of support needs. The people who access our service are very excited about the room and everyone is extremely grateful to the Scottish Sea Farms Heart of the Community Trust for granting us the funds to make this all possible.“Each year we have more young people being referred to us once they leave Children’s Services and others who are referred to us from other sources.”Multi-sensory stimulation rooms are widely used across education and care settings due to the beneficial effects these environments produce. A mixture of lighting effects, music, aromas and textures have been shown to have a therapeutic benefit by creating a safe and comforting environment, where users can relax and explore new experiences. The room encourages independent use by incorporating specially adapted remote controls, letting users choose which piece of equipment they interact with, whatever their level of ability.Marjory Bowie, Factory Quality Manager at Scottish Sea Farms in Scalloway, said: “This is a fantastic new facility for Shetland and it is just the type of project that Heart of the Community is set up to help with. To see people using the equipment and enjoying the room is truly heartening and we are delighted to have been able to support Newcraigielea with this fantastic idea.”Application forms for the Heart of The Community can be found on the Scottish Sea Farms website – www.scottishseafarms.com – together with full details of the criteria required.