New day centre offers life skills

Chy-Lowen is a house that has undergone minimal conversion to become a day centre run by KenRoy Enterprise.

The duo behind the project are Michelle Stannard and Carol-Anne Jackson, and the idea was to create a day centre where people could learn those everyday important skills to allow them to live independently.

Michelle said: “We wanted to do something different, something to help people.

“It is a house. We have a lounge, TV, full kitchen, bedroom, shelves with items on, pictures on the walls.

“The idea is the adults who come here can learn how to look after a house, cook meals, tend a garden, do the washing and all that – as well as getting a qualification.

“We are also forging links with the community so they can go out and meet people, and with businesses so there are work experience opportunities.

“The whole project is designed to get people ready to live independently.

“We can take almost every person, although we cannot take people whose mobility means they can’t use the stairs. We tried to remove the stairs, but the building has no space for anything else.”

The pair were invited to give a talk at the parish council’s AGM, who were supportive.

The centre is also a registered training centre with ASDAN, a curriculum development corporation.