Sensory rooms at High Rise reopening on Friday 6 January

We are delighted to announce that the sensory rooms at High Rise will reopen to guests on Friday 6 January. Our sensory rooms are one of the key features of the centre and are highly valued by our guests, particularly those with additional needs, many of whom previously travelled long distances to use the rooms.

Here in High Rise we have two sensory rooms, both located on the first floor and both kitted out with state of the art equipment designed to stimulate or relax guests. Our larger sensory room, Sensory Room 1 is suitable for exclusive family bookings or for larger groups. It features a large bubble tube and projector along with a vibrating plate, interactive wall panels and messy floor tiles. The smaller room, Sensory Room 2 has a soothing ceiling sparkle cloud, mood lighting, fibre optic strands and a range of sensory toys. It’s a more intimate sensory space and can accommodate up to three guests in a single group, such as a family, and is particularly suitable for relaxation, quiet and chilling out.

The sensory rooms at High Rise provide a welcoming space for everyone, whatever their needs or ability. They are available (subject to bookings) to anyone who wishes to use them. They have been specially designed to support our guests with additional needs, but may be beneficial to:

• Anyone with a sensory processing disorder
• Children on the autistic spectrum
• Adults with additional needs or learning disabilities
• Babies and their parents or carers
• Those with brain injuries or recovering from accidents.

Commenting on the announcement that the sensory rooms at High Rise are reopening, Employers For Childcare Chief Executive, Marin Marin said: “When we developed High Rise we wanted to ensure it would be somewhere that all families could visit together, whatever their needs, and the sensory rooms are key to that. We know they make a huge difference to the families and other groups that use them. We are particularly pleased that we have an in-house Sensory Assistant Julie McIlwrath within the centre to work with and support our guests. We are grateful for support from the Start Here programme, funded by the Department for Communities and delivered by the Rank Foundation, which helped us to appoint Julie to this role. She is already hard at work developing programmes and activities to take place within the centre over the coming months and we can’t wait to welcome our guests back to use these state of the art sensory rooms”.

Guests are advised to pre-book the sensory rooms at High Rise (link below).