Sunderland Charity Grace House extends to help the over-25s

Grace House, the Sunderland charity working with disabled children and their families, is extending its support to include more young adults.

Since opening in 2003, the Southwick-based organisation has helped young people with disabilities and complex needs - and their families.

Now the charity is to extend the age range of people it supports beyond the current limit of 25.

There are services available in the area for disabled people in their later years. However, people in their 20s and 30s tend to prefer to attend lunch clubs and generally interact with people their own age.

This has led to the launch of Grace House Graduates, aimed at those aged 25 or older.

This will involve three main areas: providing more opportunities for social interaction, working to improve the life skills of young adults and providing more opportunities for young adults to gain work experience opportunities.

Grace House CEO Victoria Brown said: “We’ve been listening to what young adults would like to do. Their feedback and that of families will help shape Grace House Graduates.

"We’ve been providing works experience opportunities here at Grace House for instance – and other places such as The Bunker – but we know this is a priority for our young adults so are planning to extend what we do.”

Grace House Graduates has been set up as a separate charity with its own governance.

Existing Grace House trustees Neil Henry, Simon Briton, Vicky Norman and Victoria have been joined by John Longford, a financial adviser who works for Sunderland wealth management company Northern Spire.

John said: “I’m delighted to have joined the board of trustees at Grace House Graduates – I was introduced to the brilliant work Grace House does by Northern Spire MD David Cook, who used to be chair of trustees at the charity.

“I knew the Grace House building as my nana lived nearby, but didn’t know about the services the charity provides.

“What Grace House Graduates aims to do is help young people into adulthood, supporting them to live more independent lives.

"The service we will be providing is much needed and will make a genuine difference to so many lives."

For more information visit www.gracehouse.co.uk.

It comes as Sunderland City Council and Together for Children work to open a replacement for respite care services previously provided by Grace House which came to an end in November. An agreement could not be reached following a rise in rental rates.