Diverse Abilities, Dorset’s disability charity, has announced plans to move its Children’s Short Breaks Services from its existing site in West Moors, to an exciting new base on the site of Adventure Wonderland in Hurn, Bournemouth, to be known as The Treehouse.

This will include play sessions for SEND children and teenagers aged two to 18. These include sessions for the whole family, for children to attend alone, siblings support sessions and family support. The services that will move are known as Coping with CHAOS, Project, Awesome Nights, STARs siblings support, and Family Support Sessions. 

Mark Powell, CEO at Diverse Abilities, commented: “This is such an exciting development for everyone involved and we are thrilled to be able to expand our reach. After working alongside the team at Adventure Wonderland over the past few months to assess how this move could work best for us and the families we support, we are pleased to come to an agreement which will see us opening our doors in time for the Easter holidays in 2024.”

Coping with CHAOS, and its adjoining Short Breaks Services, have been based in West Moors since Diverse Abilities adopted the offering in 2012, after its founding by parents, and has steadily grown the service since. During the 2022 to 2023 financial year, more than 550 children with additional needs and their siblings and families were supported by any of the charity’s Short Breaks Services with over 12,300 hours of support. The move has been driven by the increasing needs of more families, driven in part by the closure of other services, and by the charity’s ambition to create a large hub with specialist facilities where as many families as possible can feel welcome, included, and supported.

Clare Rochford, manager of Short Breaks Services, added: “This is a fantastic chance to finally be able to open our doors wider and support more families. There is a growing need across Dorset and beyond to provide more support for SEND children and their families. As a charity we’re always looking for ways to make this possible and this will truly make such a huge difference to everyone involved.”

A spokesperson for Adventure Wonderland commented: “We’ve worked closely with Diverse Abilities over the years to ensure the children and families can visit for days out and make long lasting memories. To be able to continue this support providing much needed space and facilities is such a wonderful way to help support families with disabled children.”

Adventure Wonderland will be retaining over half of the existing site, including the huge Alice in Wonderland Maze and Alice Café and is planning a new and exciting family friendly attraction to open later in 2024.

The charity will be opening its doors at its new site in time for the 2024 Easter holidays and welcomes any support from the community and businesses looking to fundraise for the refurbishment work, or to volunteer to help with painting, decorating, and gardening. 

For more information about volunteering opportunities, email volunteering@diverseabilities.org.uk or email fundraising@diverseabilities.org.uk for fundraising enquiries. Email chaos@diverseabilities.org.uk or visit diverseabilities.org.uk for more information about the charity and its Children’s services.