It's 'Sorted' - day care for adults (From Penarth Times)

It's 'Sorted' - day care for adults

PENARTH is set to get day care facilities for adults with physical and learning disabilities.

GM2 on Plymouth Road, will take some of the adults who go to Woodlands day centre in Barry.

The Woodland building has been in a state of disrepair for many years and it has been deemed too expensive to totally repair the building.

It was built in 1896 and needs £250,000 spent on it to begin with as the premises are in such a dire condition.

At GM2 there is a project called 'Sorted' which is a new type of scheme for adults with learning disabilities.

The scheme runs a vocational packaging business which helps to train the members in various aspects of work.

Sue McFarland is a member of the Parents Federation, a group for parents with children who have some disability.

She said: "My daughter is not old enough to attend the day care centre yet.

But I want to see what will be in place for my child when she leaves school. We as parents have to express our views in full and make our points of view count."

Vale Cabinet member for Health and Children's Services, Councillor Clive Williams said: "We are working together on this very important issue to get the right services for all.

There is no doubt that the staff make the day centres great places for the adults to attend. Without them the service would be worthless."

Charity Vision 21 provide the expertise for Sorted and Mary Harris, Development Manager said: "We work in partnership with the authorities to identify community based projects for the members.

"We aim to be able to offer alternative activities to the more traditional ones."

Director for the Parents Federation, John Cushen said: "A meeting held last Friday at the GM2 building, was a way to tell parents that there will not be a void when the Woodlands closes.

"It also gave us an opportunity to flag up new services and to show the way in which needs have changed."