A pilot scheme from Newlife The Charity for Disabled Children is enabling more local children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities to access specialist, inclusive play through Lichfield‑based Liberty Jamboree.
Liberty Jamboree, founded in 2015 by Maggi Huckfield and based at Collins Hill, supports 18–35‑year‑olds with structured volunteering opportunities, paid roles, social outings and supported holidays. The charity also provides 8–18-year-olds with fun and creative activities to build growth, social and emotional development and wellbeing.
Launched in spring 2025, Newlife’s Community Play pilot scheme was created to help grassroots organisations deliver accessible, inclusive play at a time when Liberty Jamboree was seeing children with increasingly complex needs, making the partnership a perfect fit.
Maggi said: “The pilot with Newlife was perfect timing and it was great for us to be able to buy sensory toys we’d normally have to save a long time for.
“We were able to get lots of things we needed, including tactile mitts for sensory massage when children are distressed, a sensory tunnel for wheelchairs to go through, a vibrating floor bed and ball pits, floor mats with colourful liquid running through, sensory tubes and bubbles you can connect music through and much more.
“It’s allowed us to have more equipment and offer more to children and young people with SEND, which in turn opens more doors for them too. It also means families can access equipment they may have not seen before.”
Alongside funding for specialist toys and other equipment, a key element of the pilot was specialist training for staff and volunteers. Now Newlife will be rolling out the Community Play scheme nationwide starting in the East and West Midlands, supported by a transformative £650,000 grant from the Dorothy Pamela Smith CIO, which also funded the pilot scheme.
The initiative aims to ensure children with disabilities can access sensory-rich, inclusive play experiences that boost development and unlock their full potential. Families and staff report huge benefits — from new friendships and communication through sensory play, to accessing activities previously out of reach, particularly for wheelchair users and children with complex needs.
Liberty Jamboree is also developing a bespoke youth club, which will include a sensory room named after Newlife, in recognition of the impact the pilot scheme has had.
Maggi added: “Without this new equipment we wouldn’t have been able to offer a sensory suite, a safe, calming space for children. Everything we can now provide means children, young people with SEND and their families have meaningful respite that truly meets their needs.”
For more information visit www.libertyjamboree.co.uk
Photos: Ruby (top) and Lyra (bottom) enjoy sensory play with Liberty Jamboree
