An appeal has been launched to build a new sensory room in Aberystwyth in honour of a local Mencap campaigner.

Mencap Cymru is kick starting a summer fundraising appeal in Learning Disability Week 2025 and hopes to raise £25,000 to fund a brand new sensory facility at its Bryn Siriol respite service in Aberystwyth.

Since opening in 2005, Bryn Siriol has supported hundreds of adults with a learning disability and their families from across Ceredigion and West Wales and currently supports 25 people with a learning disability for short breaks and emergency accommodation.

The service provides much needed short term breaks for families by supporting their loved ones at Mencap’s only respite service in Wales.

The new facility will offer sensory support and will be dedicated to Jan Kench a well know and much loved local Mencap campaigner, who sadly passed away earlier this year.

Mencap Cymru is asking the local community to support the campaign in several ways, from taking part in challenge events like the Cardiff 10k, to skydives, or organising their own fundraiser – you can find out more by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/monica-jeff

The appeal is being kick started by West Wales businessman George Parker MBE who this week will present the charity with a cheque for £2,500 to mark Learning Disability Week – a week when the charity encourages the public to celebrate all that people with a learning disability contribute to Welsh society.

Monica Jeff, Mencap Cymru’s Area manager for Ceredigion explained that: “The sensory room is an important therapeutic support for many people who attend Bryn Siriol and others in the local community.

“Sensory rooms can provide a safe space to develop skills such as communication skills, coordination, concentration, cognitive development, socialisation, focus, motor skill development, balance and calming.

“We are so grateful to George Parker for this generous donation that will kick start our fundraising. I am particularly excited that many of our staff will be joining our Director, Wayne Crocker in a parachute jump in September to raise money and would encourage everyone to get involved and give what they can, to support their local community.”

Dylan Kench, whose mother Jan ran Ceredigion Mencap for over 30 years until she sadly passed away in January said the family is honoured that Mencap Cymru has decided to dedicate the sensory facility to Jan.

He said: “My Mother has been at the heart of people with a learning disability and their families in Ceredigion since my sister Bethan was born. It will be a powerful testament to her many years of campaigning in Ceredigion”.

There are around 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK and they face huge inequalities.

They are more likely to be socially isolated and sadly, people with a learning disability will die on average over two decades earlier compared to the general population. Mencap want to change this and campaign tirelessly for the rights of people with a learning disability.