HAVE YOUR SAY
Our small, volunteer-led charity seeks your support for the refurbishment of an old milking barn in a rural area on the outskirts of Oxted. The barn is home to Head2Head Sensory Theatre, a charity dedicated to the special needs’ community. Since moving into the barn 18 months ago our small charity has made many minor improvements but we cannot open our doors to the public as the building remains FREEZING COLD.
The cost of our project is £115,000. Thanks to support from The Wooden Spoon Foundation and private donors we have raised £20,000 and are asking Your Fund Surrey for £95,000.
Help us to secure a working base for our volunteer-led charity for future generations by commenting on this project: https://www.h2hsensorytheatre.com/whats-on/play-your-part
Interested in knowing more? Then please read on …
The barn has single glazed windows, no ceilings, wooden barn doors and only one oil fired heater to warm up three large areas: theatre studio, storage and reception. We wish to create a sustainable, energy efficient centre for the special needs and local communities by installing:
– double glazed windows
– suspended ceilings
– air source heat pump
– solar panels
– heating panels and hot water system
– fire doors & partitioning
– wall insulation
Despite having little or no heating the barn has been the base from which our charity runs its Work Experience Programme & Professional Placement Scheme for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. This provides them with experience and training to enable them to fulfil their dreams of taking on a career in the theatre industry or a customer-facing job.
We are a well integrated part of our rural community which has no public transport so elderly and infirm residents have difficulty in reaching nearby town amenities. They are keen to use the building as a community hub, providing social events, fitness classes and a free lending library.
We wish to create a warm and welcoming environment for local residents and for families of children with a wide range of learning difficulties and disabilities.
The money will be used for the following:
- Suspended ceilings will reduce sound distortion and help retain heat.
- Air source heat pump will improve energy efficiency and reduce the barn’s carbon footprint.
- Heating panels and hot water system will provide our charity with a sustainable cost-efficient and ‘green’ heating system throughout the barn.
On a much needed social level the project will enable us to:
- Include Oxted in our touring schedule with live, interactive and multi-sensory performances for the special needs’ community (over 500 children with disabilities per annum)
- Provide more space for creative learning activities enabling us to increase attendance from on-line to in-person workshops by over 50%.
Each year over 5,000 children and their families attend our creative learning activities and performances with nearly 90,000 viewing our online events. Once refurbishment is complete we will have a large community space available for local residents and children and young people with special needs, their families and carers, as well as regular holiday activities.
The retired and elderly in our community will use our free lending library, attend social activities and feel supported by their community.
As a charity dedicated to the special needs’ community, our role in delivering multi-sensory accessible arts activities is vital. Through our work we support the mental health and wellbeing of Surrey residents who have learning difficulties and disabilities.
Our Yearn to Learn programme for children with disabilities who are home schooled or anxious about attending community events, is vital. Through our work we support the education, wellbeing and mental health of Surrey residents, giving a sense of pride and accomplishment to the young people with whom we engage.
We partner with special schools, colleges and care homes to ensure that everyone is included and given the chance to explore and go beyond the boundaries of their existing accomplishments.
How It Currently Looks
