A CHARITY in South Belfast helping children and their guardians with autism and additional needs celebrated their fifteenth birthday with big plans for a new state-of-the-art building.

Sólás are a community focused charity based on the Ormeau Road who began in 2008 with one employee, founder Joan Henderson. The charity now have 50 members of staff and operate at ten sites across South Belfast with their main base on the Ormeau Road beside Rosario FC.

Last week political representatives in South Belfast from all parties were invited to attend their fifteenth birthday celebrations and to also see the charity’s plans to develop a three storey state-of-the-art facility at their current site which would better accommodate the charity’s growth and goals and have features such as autism sensory rooms.

SÓLÁS: Political representatives from parties in South Belfast attended the 15 birthday to hear about Sólás' new plans
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SÓLÁS: Political representatives from parties in South Belfast attended the 15 birthday to hear about Sólás' new plans

Joan Henderson, CEO of Sólás, said: “In fifteen years we’ve established ourselves across South Belfast in ten locations and provided a lot of support for young people and children with disabilities right up into adulthood and we’re now looking to expand into helping adults as well. We need to develop our site so we can have a proper building instead of the current mobiles we have. We’re hoping for a three storey building with harnesses, ramps and sensory rooms on every floor.”

Joan continued: “Our aim is to really get disability out in the communities and to show that people with disabilities are an integral part of the community and develop better systems to integrate people and a new centre here could really help those with additional needs and also keep them centred in the communities in which they live.”