Always on
This project successfully funded on 8th July 2021, you can still support them with a donation.
Vision25 - Making the dream happen
Stockton On Tees, England, United Kingdom
Aim: Part 1 done: We've found our new "forever home" in Stockton High Street. Part 2: We need your help to make it special for our young adults.
Background
Vision25 is an independent social care and training provider. We provide a meaningful option for young adults with learning disabilities aged 17 plus. Our programme of activities is fun, interesting and motivational.
We started life in May 2016 as Community Interest Company (CIC), before officially achieving charity status in September 2019.
The organisation is the brainchild of our CEO Jen Addison, who at the time was an SEN Teacher in Stockton-on-Tees. Jen noticed that young adults leaving school, had minimal options for a daytime provision. With this Vision25 was born.
What we do
We offer part time/full time placements for 51 weeks of the year, as part our meaningful training programme. Group sizes are kept small and our normal staffing ratio is one member of staff to three young people. All staff at Vision25 are passionate about helping young people to realise their potential and build self-worth.
We are based in Stockton, and pre-pandemic were operating across 3 sites:
- Richard House, head office and where most of the activities takes place.
- Fountain Shopping Mall, a location where the young adults could trade in a "live" retail environment.
- Stockton Business Centre - where furniture was upcycled and the young adults would learn social enterprise skills.
Due to the effects of Covid-19, like every other organisation, we have had to adapt and consolidate our services. Further to this, we have been operating from one site (Richard House) for the past 12 months, however, with the success of the vaccination programme and the easing of restrictions, we are now keen to press ahead with our plans.
Why do we need your help?
We have identified the perfect location and building to grow Vision25 and make an already special charity, even more amazing. 144 High Street, Stockton has been vacant for a number of years after having intensive negotiations with the owner, we have secured a long term lease on the property.
The building is vast, spanning a total of 16,000 sq ft across 2 floors, with ground floor alone providing 8,500 sq ft. To give some context that is over 8 times bigger, than our current home in Richard House.
As you will see from the proposed plan below, the space is both vast and practical enabling us to further develop and grow our charity, all for the benefit of our young adults.
Some highlights include:
- Dedicated Cafe - providing the young adults with a "live" environment to serve food and drinks to the pubic. They will learn basic cookery skills, money handling and customer service experience.
- Retail unit - as you know our young adults love their crafts and making amazing gifts, via our social enterprise sessions. The shop will allow their products and gifts to be sold to the general public.
- Both the cafe and retail unit will provide the young adults with the opportunity to work towards an NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service, which will further improve their chances of gaining employment in the wider community.
- Sensory Room - a therapeutic space with a variety of equipment that provides young adults with special needs a personalized sensory input—helps our young adults be calm and focus themselves so they can be better prepared for learning and interacting with others.
- Classroom - dedicated classroom space for the young adults to learn in a structured learning environment. Having this space that is designated for learning will be a huge help to them and their prospects.
- Dining Hall - an area where the young adults can enjoy their lunch or break in the comfort of their own dining area. Again, having the ability to separate this from day-to-day activity is of huge benefit to Vision 25. Not only does this area provide a place to eat, it also gives our young adults the opportunity to develop their cooking and life skills.
- Sports Hall - when the dining room isn't being used as an eating area, it will double up as a Sports Hall, where the young adults can exercise, dance, partake in performing arts, play and be stimulated during the day.
We hope you can see from this how brilliant our young adults are! We want to provide the best possible environment for them and we know we have the perfect place and location to do this.
We now need all your family, friends, work colleagues, business contacts to help make the dream come true. We have aimed big on this project, but it comes with a big budget! With your help, we will get there.
Thank you, from all at Vision25!!