Charity gets key to ‘life changing’ home
ACHARITY that helps disabled children has announced the ‘life changing’ news that it will have its own venue.
Just two years after the launch of Jolly Josh’s first ever session, the group received the keys to their new Castleton home.
Families were invited to a mystery meeting at Ensor Mill alongside the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, where they were told the good news.
Founder Carole Kelly, 35, created the playgroup in 2017 in memory of her son Josh, who passed away at just 15-months-old from a mitochondrial disease, when she learned there were no groups in the area for disabled youngsters under four.
She said: “Words cannot describe how thrilled we are that we have been given this opportunity, the dream of dreams! Today, we welcomed our families to surprise them with our news, after a week of building up the suspense on our social media, I don’t think that any of them could have predicted such an announcement; this will be life changing for many. It was an unbelievably proud moment!
“Today has been an empowering day for us all, a prospect and concept which our families dreamt of, a fully inclusive centre to call ‘home.’”
Plans for the new Queensway centre include a ‘Multi-Functional Room,’ a monthly session to introduce sign language and many more ideas that include music therapy and sensory stimulation.
Carole also hopes they will be able to host parties for children with SEND and short life diagnoses.
She added: “These plans are at present just ideas, thoughts as to how we can develop our charity to meet the needs of our families, but as a team in 2017, we dared to dream of the concept of Jolly Josh, in just two short years we have proved that this group was needed within our community.
“Our dreams of bringing families together, to create a louder, stronger, united voice for our disabled children and our loved ones with PMLD (profound and multiple learning disabilities), are becoming a reality.”
Carole, originally from Castleton but now living in Wardle, was named the Woman of Rochdale 2019 in June of this year.
After losing her son in 2017, she transferred from her teaching job in a mainstream school to special education, giving her great insight into some of the challenges faced by families with disabled children.
She plans to rectify some of the problems she noticed with the new centre including appropriate changing facilities and a hydrotherapy pool.
Despite their success, and having received over £75,000 in donations, the charity is still in need of help from volunteers to help with plumbing, plastering, flooring, air conditioning and joinery.
You can find details on how to donate or volunteer on the Jolly Josh website.