Changing Places at new Mencap Centre

It’s stunning, it’s new and it’s almost ready! Belfast’s Mencap Centre will be welcoming children with a learning disability to enjoy its facilities from January 2016 and the project is running both on time and on budget. With a new Changing Places toilet the Mencap Centre will also house the organisation’s administrative staff in Belfast and extend its facilities to cater for young people with a learning disability, providing a space for them to meet and build friendships and relationships.

Every type of fundraising idea imaginable – walks, runs, cycles, sails, abseil climbs, parachute jumps – to name but a few – have been used to bring in the much needed revenue to help the campaign.

Meanwhile, celebrity endorsement from star golfer Rory McIlroy – whose Foundation pledged £500,000 in funding to help reach the total – kept the profile of the campaign at a very high level in Northern Ireland.

Project Manager Una Brown believes; “This is an inspirational project and it has been such a privilege for me to be part of it. Mencap staff, the construction team, local residents around the site and a real swathe of the Northern Ireland public have helped to get us where we are – preparing to open this centre of
excellence. It’s a real game changer for the learning disability community in Northern Ireland and will
allow us to reach out to even more local families."