# ‘Life-changing’: parents welcome £10m UK play centre for disabled children

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/life-changing-parents-welcome-10m-uk-play-centre-for-disabled-children/
- Published: 2026-11-07T15:00:13+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T15:20:34+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/07/life-changing-parents-welcome-10m-uk-play-centre-for-disabled-children
- Topics: UK, World

## Key points

- Gympanzees is a new specialist play centre near Bristol.
- The £10m project has £400,000 left to raise.
- Its facilities are designed around disabled children’s needs.

## Summary

Gympanzees, a £10m purpose-built play and leisure centre near Bristol, is preparing to open for disabled children who often cannot use ordinary playgrounds. Founder Stephanie Wheen says the centre is designed to give families access to exercise, play and social activities that are frequently unavailable to them.

The charity grew from holiday sessions that drew 1,000 visitors in four weeks and showed families the benefits of specialist equipment. Its former service station site covers 4,000 square metres and will include 10 activity spaces, an accessible outdoor park and a two-storey soft-play area with hoists. More than £10m has been raised, with £400,000 still to find; the article says disabled children are twice as likely to be obese as other children, while half of UK playgrounds are inaccessible.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.