Bendrigg Trust nears sensory room fundraising target after £5,000 Armistead Wind Farm fund grant

A specialist residential outdoor education centre in south Cumbria is closing in on its fundraising target for upgrading its sensory room equipment after receiving a £5,000 grant from a local renewable energy developer.

Bendrigg Trust in Old Hutton works with groups of disabled and disadvantaged people from right across the UK, and aims make adventure accessible, working together to overcome barriers and transform lives.

Bendrigg’s sensory room provides a crucial space for emotional regulation and anxiety reduction for any of the 2,900 disabled children and young adults who visit its 60-bed residential centre each year, but after being very well used for the last decade, the room’s existing equipment was reaching the end of its working life.

A £16,000 fundraising campaign was set up to bring in the money required to upgrade its equipment, with a £5,000 grant from the community fund linked to OnPath Energy’s nearby Armistead Wind Farm now taking the Trust to within £2,000 of its target.

Bendrigg has already been able to start buying individual pieces of equipment for the sensory room, and with fundraising work continuing, it is hoping to hit its target over the summer and to complete the refurbishment by the autumn.

A new H-track hoist is going to be fitted in the room as part of the project, which will allow wheelchair users to safely access all the available equipment and so choose the sensory experiences they want to interact with.

It’s the third time that the Trust has received support from the Armistead Wind Farm fund, with a previous £6,000 grant helping to fund the creation of a fully inclusive outdoor play space, and a £5,000 grant towards the costs of a fleet of new canoes and associated equipment.

Founded in 1978, the Bendrigg Trust has over 45 years’ experience providing outdoor adventure activities for people with disabilities and from disadvantaged backgrounds, and welcomes around 4,200 people of all abilities every year, including those with autism, neurodiversity, physical disabilities, learning difficulties, sensory disabilities or behavioural difficulties.

It is run by a team of 45 staff who work alongside more than 200 volunteers, and is one of very few providers of such comprehensive outdoor educational facilities anywhere in the UK.

Sarah Abbiss, trusts and foundations fundraiser at the Bendrigg Trust, says: “Our aim is to make adventure accessible for everyone by overcoming barriers to participation and we have a long track record of making the ‘impossible’ possible in ways which help to build our visitors’ confidence and enable positive experiences that might otherwise be out of reach.

“New adventures away from home are extremely exciting, but for some young people, the new sights, sounds, smells and activities can be incredibly overwhelming and difficult to understand.

Our sensory room provides a space where anyone who’s experiencing this sort of sensory overload or who just needs a quiet place to go, can take some time out and make their own decisions about how they use the equipment available.”

Sarah Abbis, Trusts and foundations fundraiser at the Bendrigg Trust

“With our existing sensory room kit being over ten years old and starting to show signs of deterioration, we knew we needed to act to bring it up to date and it’s brilliant that we’ve been now almost hit our fundraising target.

“Having the hoist in place will mean that wheelchair users can access all the pieces of equipment and will help to ensure that there aren’t any barriers to them using everything that the room has to offer.

“OnPath Energy’s contribution has been a real gamechanger for our fundraising campaign and we’re confident that we’ll be able to get this important project finished by the autumn.”

OnPath Energy’s Armistead Wind Farm generated more than 31,300 MWh of green electricity in 2024, which is enough to meet the average annual electricity needs of over 10,800 homes, while over £18,100 was directed into its community benefits fund over the same 12 months.

Tom Chaplin, partnership & community manager at OnPath Energy, adds: “Our OnPath Together development approach delivers direct contributions into the communities where we work and helps us make a long-term impact on the facilities and opportunities available there.

“The Bendrigg Trust provide an outstanding range of opportunities for people of all ages and abilities and we’re very pleased to be supporting their commitment to keep providing the best possible facilities for them all.”

Environmental and community projects in the vicinity of the Armistead Wind Farm which are interested in applying to its Community Fund should first contact the fund manager via apply@onpathcommunityfund.co.uk or on 0191 378 6342 to confirm that their group or project is eligible.