Abseiling among activities at Cleobury Mortimer centre (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Abseiling among activities at Cleobury Mortimer centre

8:00am Saturday 23rd February 2013 in News By Adrian Kibbler

AN outdoor activities centre in Cleobury Mortimer has revamped its facilities to include an abseiling tower.

And the new development at Pioneer Centre in Cleobury Mortimer has made more activities accessible to people with disabilities.

At the centre of the recent development is the seven metre abseil tower specifically designed to allow access to wheelchair users while other activities have been specially adapted.

This has been supported by individual donations and grant making trusts.

“The whole team at Pioneer is so excited to see this new development go up after 18 months of planning, design and fund-raising,” said Tim Stone, head of the centre.

“We have enjoyed welcoming groups from many disability charities over the years and this latest development is hopefully just the start of a major improvement for these guests.”

A number of local schools and organisations for disabled young people will get the chance to try out the new activities when the new facility is of ficially opened on Wednesday, February 26.

Built in 1991, the Pioneer Centre specialises in outdoor activity residential stays and is a conference venue for groups of 12 to 300 individuals from schools, clubs, community groups, churches and charities.

It offers a range of activities including high ropes, archery, climbing and indoor caving and is run by the organisation Action Centres UK Ltd (ACUK), part of the registered charity Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs (NAYC).

It attracts between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors a year from across the country.

The parent charity, NAYC, supports the work of over 300 affiliated youth groups across Northamptonshire.