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Disability centre opens new sensory room ahead of 5k sponsored walk

News | Rhys Williams | Published: 11:46, Monday June 23rd, 2025.
Last updated: 11:46, Monday June 23rd, 2025

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From left: Huw Thomas, chair of Wooden Spoon Wales; Owain Rees, regional fundraising manager for Sense in Wales; George Nott; Lucy Romain, operations manager for Sense in Wales; Kate Wright; Claire James and Anthony Evans, both from the Wooden Spoon Wales team
From left: Huw Thomas, chair of Wooden Spoon Wales; Owain Rees, regional fundraising manager for Sense in Wales; George Nott; Lucy Romain, operations manager for Sense in Wales; Kate Wright; Claire James and Anthony Evans, both from the Wooden Spoon Wales team

A charity which runs a day care centre for adults with complex disabilities will be hosting a five-kilometre sponsored walk this week.

Sense Cymru, which runs the centre on Caerphilly Business Park, has organised a walk in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday June 25 to mark both Deafblind Awareness Week and the charity’s 70th anniversary.

It comes after the centre recently opened a new sensory room – the Rainforest – which has special lighting, sensory objects and relaxing music.

It was funded by a £7,500 grant from Wooden Spoon, a rugby charity changing the lives of children and young people.

Having completed his move from the Dragons to Cardiff, rugby star George Nott was joined by service user Izzy Wilshaw to cut the ribbon and officially open the new room.

‘It could do amazing things’: Charity nears £51k fundraising target

Nott said: “I had to apologise when I turned up at Sense Caerphilly Hub to open the new sensory room, because I had done my medical for Cardiff first. It ran over a little bit and I ended up being 15 to 20 minutes late.”

He continued: “A big thing I’ve learned over the past years is that a lot of disabled people really enjoy being active and getting out there and doing stuff. So the more we can facilitate that, the better.

“The sensory room is important because it gives people time to gather their thoughts, relax and reduce their stimulation a little bit, and that then allows them in the next hour to go and do something else.

“If there’s anything I can do that would be of use, I would love to be involved with Sense. I’ve asked them to keep me in the loop and if I’m available, I’ll come down as much as I can – that would be nice.”

George Nott and Izzy Wilshaw open the new sensory room at Sense Hub Caerphilly, alongside Kate Wright
George Nott and Izzy Wilshaw open the new sensory room at Sense Hub Caerphilly, alongside Kate Wright

He added: “I’m going to do the sponsored walk and I think I’ll take my lad along too. I’ll probably stick him on my shoulders for most of it because 5km is a long way.”

Huw Thomas, Chair of Wooden Spoon Wales, attended the opening ceremony and said: “It was a delight to see the joy on the faces of the children and young people following our visit. We hope the Rainforest will give them many hours of pleasure and a peaceful place.”

Kate Wright, resource manager at Sense Hub Caerphilly, said: “It’s so exciting to have a gorgeous new sensory room that the people we support at Sense Hub Caerphilly can enjoy. Everyone loves using it.

“We are hugely grateful to Wooden Spoon for the generous grant that allowed us to create the room, and to George for declaring it open – then signing up for our 70th birthday fundraising walk too.”

Visit JustGiving to make a donation or for more information about the sponsored walk.

Disability charity walk held in Caerphilly to mark Deafblind Awareness Week
Royal visit at disability centre as Princess Anne comes to Caerphilly

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