Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport hosted a day of fun activities supporting children with disabilities and/or additional learning needs and their families last weekend.

The free event hosted by Sparkle, brought together hundreds of users of the centre as well as members of the local community and general public on Sunday July 31st, and brought “all the fun of the fair” with sports, carnival games and activities all raising money for the charity Supported as part of Newport Council and the Welsh Government’s “Summer of Fun Campaign,” Newport Live and Newport County in the Community were on hand teaching sports skills while members of Scouts Wales and Newport Scouts hosted nature and craft activities. There were also demonstrations from the Welsh Ambulance Service, Gwent Police, and visits from Make A Smile, O2E and MediCinema.

The children and families made use of the accessible play equipment and grounds at Serennu and engaged in activities with Sparkle play workers, who provided play sessions and sensory activities throughout the centre and its park. There were a host of stalls and traditional fete games, bringing together the local community thanks to support from TSB, Recresco and volunteers supporting the charity.

Francis Binnel one of the parents attending the event, from Newport commented. “We all enjoyed a fabulous time at the Serennu fun day on the weekend! As both my girls were born prematurely, we have used the centre’s facilities and the beautiful park in the past… “You could see the effort that had gone into planning a safe and fun day for all. Congratulations Sparkle on a amazing event that brought the whole community together for some summer fun, your staff were brill and our family loved it!” Stacey Heard also from Newport spoke about the event on social media, adding “We absolutely loved this Fete today and appreciate all you do for the families that use the centre and the community.”

Sparkle Trustee Nicole Garnon said: “it was fantastic to see so many families enjoying our summer fun day. We would like to thank all the families for attending and all those staff, volunteers and local organisations who helped make it such a success.” Supported by Sparkle, the state-of-the-art building at Serennu provides assessment, treatment, care, information, support and leisure services for children and young people with disabilities and/or developmental difficulties, all under one roof. This provides a more child centred and coordinated service for families. The aim of the charity is to ensure that the children, young people, and their families are able to participate in valuable childhood experiences with access to the same range of opportunities, life experiences, activities, and community services as any other child and their family.