Northwich autism charity looks ahead to future following flood disaster
Cheshire Autism Practical Support had found the ideal home for its new centre, but was met with disaster earlier this year.
The Ark team is looking toward the future
Submitted by Jo Garner
Having spent several months refurbishing a building to provide a centre for its services, the entire ground floor of a local autism centre was submerged following recent floods.
Cheshire Autism Practical Support (ChAPS) obtained a building overlooking the river Weaver for its Autism Centre in October 2020.
The building in Northwich, Cheshire, was deemed to be a perfect location as it provides plenty of space for the charity to deliver activities, professional training, adults' groups, and specialist therapies, as well as centralising its office team.
On January 21, 2021, floods ran throughout the entire ground floor of the building, dubbed The Ark, and caused a mass set back to the charity's efforts.
Jo Garner Managing Director said: "It was heart breaking. All the hard work that we had done trying to get the building ready to open had gone to waste.
"We had struggled to get contractors to work at the building due to the pandemic and couldn’t believe we would have to start all over again.
"Our new kitchen, including a commercial fridge, freezer, and cooker, none of which had been used, had to be replaced.
"The scene of destruction was appalling – they say a picture speaks a thousand words – well that is a picture I never want to see again!"
The ChAPS team spent the next two months rebuilding their shattered dream; removing all the ground floor flooring, the new kitchen equipment and resources which had been lovingly collected through the charity’s 10-year history.
The drying out of the building took several weeks; this was followed by refitting the kitchen and installation of new flooring. Only then could the charity start to replace their furniture, all their resources and make the centre feel like theirs again.
Jo said: "In some ways we were very lucky – we were scheduled to have a state-of-the-art sensory room installed; this had been delayed until the start of February so the work hadn’t commenced.
"Had it done, it would all have been ruined. We had also recently purchased a 65” interactive screen for our professional training room – this had been delivered two days before the flood; thankfully we had already put it on the wall, so that was also saved from the flood water."
Despite its setbacks, the charity has still managed to deliver sessions and therapy throughout the entirety of lockdown and the staff team have been able to adapt their methods of delivery in these challenging and unprecedented times.
Carey Hulme, Families Manager, said: "We have seen lots of positive examples of children, teenagers and adults engaging in our online Zoom sessions, chats and Google Classroom joining an array of activities such as mindfulness, mental health self-help and cooking sessions.
"A number of members joined virtual sessions for the first time as their social anxiety makes face to face activities too difficult to access.
"The lockdown has been a double-edged sword for our members – the positive engagement is brilliant, but the thought of coming out of lockdown and having to return to face to face activities can create anxiety for many of our members."
Jo added: "There is nothing that our children and adults cannot achieve with the right help, support and mentoring. They are a pleasure to work with and we can’t wait to see them back face to face very soon."
