PARENTS have launched a new accessible activities and sports club in Cumbria. 

Wonder World Cumbria is the brainchild of local parents of three, Heather Goodfellow and David Moran.

The group will run at Dalston Recreation Centre and aims to create a safe and inclusive space for local children.

At Wonder World Cumbria, Heather and David plan to pull out the stops to create a truly inclusive experience with this including the use of Makaton, a unique communication programme that uses symbols, signs, and speech to enable people to communicate, visual timetables, and sensory spaces. 

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Heather and David were inspired to create World World Cumbria after not being able to find a suitable inclusive group for their eldest son, who was also turned away from a local grassroots football club due to his additional needs. 

"Our eldest son is 11 and has just started secondary school and he has a diagnosis of Autism, Global Development Delay, and Sensory Processing Disorder so he has struggled right throughout his childhood to access the normal sort of soft plays and things like that," Heather said.

"We actually had an experience where he attended some football coaching in Carlisle but they would not accept him for a holiday club because they said he would not be able to do it, they just dismissed him.

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"It's something that a lot of people face at clubs and other things and that is why we wanted to start something ourselves and something that was more accessible.

"We just want people to feel like their child can be themselves and not have to fit into a mainstream club as it were."

Heather also discussed more about what will be on offer at Wonder World Cumbria's first session which begins during the week commencing Monday, September 16, with these following the group's successful open day on Sunday, September 8. 

She said: "Dave is an FA-qualified football coach so wanted to do something to make sports more accessible and that is why we have ended up with a multi-sports club which is not just going to be football, it will be lots of different sports.

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"I am more of the creative side and do lots of sensory play, arts and crafts, singing, stories, and all of those sorts of things.

"When we spoke to other parents we also noticed a gap in terms of clubs for kids who are past soft play age as well as teenagers and young adults so we have decided to do a youth club on a Sunday evening."

As parents of a child with additional needs, Heather and David have first-hand experience when it comes to delivering these extra provisions and hope that this will give parents the confidence to get involved with Wonder World Cumbria. 

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Heather said: "I would encourage parents to get in touch, there is no pressure from us, it has to be right for their child and it is not about us forcing sessions on people.

"We want our sessions to be personalised for each child and if their child comes along and it is not for them we will do everything to make that child more settled or put something in place so it did fill their needs."