The public are being invited to participate in a mass walk through Selly Oak on Monday 6th March, by the national disability charity Sense. The walk, which will involve members of the local community, people with disabilities and local business, will raise awareness of a major new community centre set to open in the area in the summer.
The half-hour walk will begin in Selly Oak at the site of the new community centre, and take the participants along a stretch of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, before finishing at a special reception in The Cadbury Club in Bournville. There will be sensory activities along the course of the walk to encourage participants to think about the sensory impairments that many of the people that Sense supports experience.
The walk is being held to raise awareness of TouchBase Pears, the new £14m community centre currently being built in Selly Oak, which will provide specialist services to people with disabilities, as well as services for the whole community – including a café, conference rooms, performance area and community space. Set to open in the summer, it will create over 130 jobs and continue the regeneration of Selly Oak.
Sense Chairman John Crabtree OBE said:
“TouchBase Pears will be a real asset for Birmingham. This pioneering new centre will combine specialist support for people with sensory impairments and complex needs, with services that will benefit the whole community. Over one hundred new jobs will be created as the regeneration of Selly Oak continues.
I hope as many people as possible can join us for the sensory walk in March, as we look to bring the community together and raise awareness of this wonderful project.”
