National Child Development Centre

Support our New National Child Development Centre

Transform children’s development in Ireland

The New National Child Development Centre is currently 60% funded. We are nearly there. We really need your help to make this a reality. Your support will ensure that the final funds are raised to complete this Child Development Centre for vulnerable children in need.

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A custom-built National Child Development Centre on a 2.4 acre greenfield site in Kildare Town, strategically located beside the M7 motorway.

Why?

There are 100,000+ children languishing on public waiting lists for essential therapies in Ireland

Our Solution:

A Centre of Excellence and a National HQ for Sensational Kids that is an exemplar in its design as a Centre of Excellence for the provision of therapeutic supports to children with additional needs.

DESIGNED WITH THE NEEDS OF OUR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES AT THE CORE

The design of this new facility is reflective and considerate of the needs of the children and families who will benefit from its services.
Services available for children at this new National Child Development Centre

  • Occupational Therapy Assessments & Intervention
  • Speech & Language Therapy Assessments & Intervention
  • Play Therapy
  • Educational Psychological Assessments & Support

Children availing of services at our new child development centre will include many children with developmental delays and difficulties related to:

  • ADD/ADHD
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (Dyspraxia)
  • Down Syndrome
  • Dyslexia
  • Fragile X Syndrome
  • Intellectual Disability
  • Mental Health Issues
  • Sensory Processing Difficulties
  • Speech & Language Delays & Disorders
  • Along with many other developmental delays and conditions.

This new flagship facility will support children and families with

  • 11 Therapy Rooms
  • 4 Sensory Motor Gyms
  • Sensory Room
  • Therapeutic Kitchen
  • Training Rooms
  • Play, Develop & Learn Store
  • Therapeutic Playground
  • Covered Sensory Gardens

Message from CEO & Founder

15 years ago, I found myself frustrated at the lack of therapy supports for my children. With help from family and friends, we fundraised to set up Sensational Kids to provide subsidised occupational therapy and speech & language therapy so that other families and children did not have to face the difficulties that we did in accessing therapy supports for our children.

Having been in the USA with surgery for one of our children, we were fortunate to have visited some fabulous therapy facilities there and brought this vision of what could be back to Ireland.

Our first child development centre opened 15 years ago in Kildare Town in a leased facility. From there we opened a further three centres around Ireland and have supported over 10,000 children, many of whom have neurodivergent conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, adhd, down syndrome, dyspraxia, and many other development delays.   Having outgrown our Kildare centre and because the landlord was selling the facility, our Kildare centre is currently based in a short-term rental until our fantastic new national child development centre can be built when we raise the funds.

We have always dreamed of a custom-built child-development centre, with both indoor and outdoor playful spaces specifically designed to meet the sensory needs of the children and families that we support. We want to give children the facilities that they deserve to have to help them thrive.

We are now about to make our dreams come true by embarking on our most ambitious project to date. We are building this flagship child development centre so no child in our community is left behind on waiting lists.

If, like us, you want to make a difference to the lives of children in need in our community, please support this much needed project by donating online or getting in touch with me to find out more about you or your company can play your part in bringing this much needed project to children and families who need our help.

 

Karen Leigh

CEO & Founder

To find out more about how you can help please contact Karen Leigh, Founder & CEO of Sensational Kids.

Email: karen@sensationalkids.ie or Phone  045 520900

Support 300 children per week, children like JC, Brody, Fiadh and Hugo

Since Sensational Kids was founded in 2007, we have already changed the lives of more than 10,000 children, saving their families more than €2.5 million in therapy fees. We have seen a dramatic increase in demand for our services, and with the level of demand set to continue to rise in the coming years, we aim to continue to meet the needs of our current and future children and families.  With your help, we can expand the capacity of our therapy supports for children by building this new National Child Development Centre.