On 25 January 2022, HRH Princess Anne opened a new hydrotherapy pool at the Chamwell Centre, which was part funded by the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation. The centre, which forms part of the Milestone School, was built to support local children and adults with disabilities. The state-of-the-art facility is open seven days a week and consists of an all-ability play and sports area, therapy, and sensory equipment, rebound therapy, soft play, and the hydrotherapy pool itself.
With a £1.48M grant from the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation in 2017, and support from another major donor, the Chamwell Centre was designed to enhance the wellbeing of those with disability – how they feel, how they function on a personal and social level, and how they feel about their lives as a whole. The vision of the school was to remove obstacles and enable access to learning with a child-focused view, taking into consideration all aspects of a child’s development. The environment is one which positively engages the community and prepares pupils for a mature life.
Along with HRH Princess Anne, the opening was attended by staff from the Chamwell Centre, Milestone School, and representatives from St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation. Marie Owen Chair of the Chamwell Centre, said “The Trustees of The Chamwell Centre are thrilled with the generous donation from the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, which is enabling the dream to actually start happening. The Centre’s atrium will contain a café, providing work experience for pupils of the school, a space for young enterprise projects and a fully accessible meeting place for the people of Gloucestershire.”