CHILDREN with special needs are getting ready for a new adventure after taking delivery of play equipment from the Market Place.

The shopping centre is in the process of converting its children’s area into a soft play area, which means wooden adventure equipment was no longer needed.

Determined to find a new home for the equipment, which is worth £20,000, the centre decided to offer it to a local deserving cause and put out an appeal for applicants.

The proud new owners of the structure, Children’s Opportunity Group, took delivery of it this week and the climbing frame will be re-erected by a group of volunteers in the garden of their Lowndes Street, Heaton, nursery.

The Children’s Opportunity Group provides a stepping stone between home and playgroup or nursery for pre-school children with disabilities or special educational needs.

Cheryl Wyatt,from COG said: “As a charity we usually rely on our parents fundraising skills to provide any significant new equipment or resources for our children, and, given the times of austerity we face, getting the best things for our children isn’t all that easy! We are thrilled to be awarded the fantastic play equipment for our garden, and our children will love it too.”

The charity has also been boosted by a further £410 donation from the shopping centre — proceeds from their ‘Breakfast and Dine with Santa’ events in the run-up to Christmas.

The cash will be used to pay for upgrades to the organisation’s sensory room which provides stimulation for children with autism, ASD, multiple or profound disabilities.

Market Place manger Nikki Wilson-Cook said: “We’re thrilled by the response that our appeal to rehome the play equipment achieved and even more-so that it is going to such a brilliant new home. We can’t wait to see how COG uses our donation in their sensory room too.”

Amazonia operator, MHM Leisure, is investing £40,000 in a larger, three-storey soft play area designed for toddlers. Numbers of younger children using the facility, based in The Vaults, have risen dramatically since it opened in July last year.