A Meldreth school for children with complex needs and its sister residential home for young adults with similar conditions are about to each undergo a major redevelopment.
The new owners of Aurora Meldreth Manor and Aurora Orchard Manor – who took the reins a year ago when the Fenny Lane site was threatened with closure – will make a multi-million pound investment over the next two years to transform the current site into a state-of-the-art centre.
The major redevelopment will include facilities that will ‘give the children and adults more opportunities to fulfil their potential’ and eventually create 40 new jobs for local people.
The Aurora Group chief executive Stephen Bradshaw said the investment marked the start of an exciting new chapter for the school.
He said: “These improvements will mean we will be able to help even more children and young people leading challenging lives.
“This upgrade will make Meldreth one of the most impressive specialist education and care centres in the region and we can’t wait to unveil it all.
“The expansion will also mean we will need more dedicated and skilled staff so I would encourage anyone with a passion for making a positive difference to get in touch.”
Aurora state that the new reception area with café will be a place where young people can work on social enterprise activities and host the wider community for regular events.
And improved rehabilitation facilities will also mean more leading edge speech and language therapies with assistive technology.
There will be a new hydrotherapy pool, sensory room and two new recessed trampolines in the activity and recreation centre to provide additional therapy resources – ready for use later this year.
The investment will also see the main buildings being extended to provide additional education space for life skills development, a short breaks unit and the full refurbishment of every residential house and flat over the course of the next 24 months.
Staff accommodation is also being renovated and extended to provide state-of-the-art living quarters for a growing team.
Once completed Meldreth Manor will be able to accommodate 50 children in total and Orchard Manor will be home to 30 young adults, where there will also be a new skills development centre.
For more information see www.the-aurora-group.com.
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