Building For A Better Future

Capital appeal for the redevelopment of The Caldecotte Xperience

We need your support

Help support the redevelopment of the main building and infrastructure at The Caldecotte Xperience which will significantly enhance accessibility and functionality to create a vibrant, exciting and adventurous platform for fully-inclusive activities for young people.

Construction companies are invited to quote for the cost of the renovation of the George Amey Centre at The Caldecotte Xperience.

To discuss the renovation, bespoke corporate partnerships or major individual or charitable trust gifts, please email [email protected] or donate now.

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Outstanding Adventure Activities and Outdoor Education

The Caldecotte Xperience (TCX) in Milton Keynes, delivers outstanding, accessible outdoor learning and adventure activities which benefit around 12,000 young people from the local community each year, including schools, clubs and charities.

TCX is the leading centre for fully-inclusive activities for young people who have SEND and other complex needs, offering adapted accommodation, equipment and trained staff so that groups of young people who have mixed abilities can participate with dignity and comfort.

“The Caldecotte Xperience is an invaluable local resource to us at The Redway School. We have a superb relationship with their staff who share a similar ethos to us, in facilitating our special children’s access to a wide range of activities, particularly those on the water.”

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Message from the Chair

“I am delighted to have been asked to Chair the Capital Appeal for the redevelopment of Action4Youth’s Caldecotte Xperience in Milton Keynes. I have been a Trustee of A4Y for the last five years and am proud of the excellent work they are doing to deliver programmes and services that make a material difference to the lives of young people. This new appeal is seeking to raise £1.4million through investment in our main building and infrastructure which will significantly enhance accessibility and practical functionality to create a vibrant, exciting and adventurous platform for our activities.”

"We need your support in reaching our fundraising target and can assure you that every penny raised will be diligently invested in this exciting new project."

graeme shankland trustee
capital appeal for redevelopment of caldecotte xperience

Changing Lives

For many young people with SEND, their time at TCX can be life changing.

The freedom and exhilaration for a wheelchair user to be able to abseil is a triumph in itself, but we’ve also found that activities at the centre lead to a long-term positive change in their self belief and future aspirations. Seeing the sheer joy on the face of a young wheelchair user who is driving a powerboat is genuinely inspiring. TCX has a noticeably positive effect on the lives and mindset of all users, especially those with SEND.

Special equipment for special usersat TCX includes

  • A fully-accessible Wheelyboat (for wheelchair users and those with high dependency needs)
  • Accessible sailboats so everyone can easily and safely participate in all water activities
  • Harnesses for adventure sports such as wheelchair abseiling
The freedom and exhilaration for a wheelchair user to be able to abseil is a triumph in itself
The Caldecotte Xperience - Action4Youth
TCX is hugely important to the local community in Milton Keynes, and also to Bucks, Beds and the South East.
The centre provides vital extra-curricular activity and is used for residential programmes run by Action4Youth

Our Commitment to Increasing Accessibility For All

TCX is hugely important to the local community in Milton Keynes, and also to Bucks, Beds and the South East.

Over 200 groups use the facilities across the year, including most primary schools in Milton Keynes. Visitors are happy to travel to the attraction from outside the area, with the customer breakdown being: 67% Bucks and Milton Keynes, 23% Bedfordshire and 10% other areas. TCX welcomes a mixture of primary, secondary, and SEND schools, special needs charities, colleges and youth clubs.

The centre provides vital extra-curricular activity and is used for residential programmes run by Action4Youth, The Duke of Edinburgh Award and the National Citizen Service. The value of our work is defined by our repeat customers (over 80%) and the overwhelmingly positive feedback received from the young people and schools who use our facilities.

“The Caldecotte Xperience team are experts in providing accessible, inclusive and enjoyable opportunities for individuals with disabilities. More importantly, the team understands that beyond the physical challenge, sport promotes socialisation, friendship and emotional reasoning as well as instilling important values such as respect and sportsmanship. Life learning at its best.”

Chiltern Way Academy Partnership

“The school carefully crafts vocational and practical programmes to ensure our core purpose remains centre stage ‘providing our young people with knowledge, resilience and skills to enable them to have purposeful and lasting employment.” We’ve been coming for over 4 years because outdoor education complements what we do. Outdoor education is a vehicle for supporting self-esteem, communication and teamwork. It’s more than having fun, it’s the challenge and range of skills that are developing. Our young people have very specific needs and TCX helped us develop a bespoke programme”

Supporting students from 4–19yrs with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs

The Renovation Project

Now 30 years old the building is no longer fit for purpose, it has:

  • Narrow corridors
  • Cramped bedrooms
  • Cramped office space
  • No reception area
  • Limited accessibility
  • Nowhere to socialise during colder months
  • Poor insulation and inefficient heating systems
  • Inadequate space for groups to eat together

Over 1,700 young people with SEND and complex needs use the facilities annually. Part of the longer-term strategy is to increase TCX’s attractiveness to SEND clients, encouraging more SEND residential bookings so that more young people with complex needs have the opportunity to access physical and mental health benefits from attending and participating at TCX.

Rather than knock down the existing building, we propose radically remodeling it into a sustainable and fully-accessible centre, essential for increasing our offer to all young people, but especially for SEND groups.

Rather than knock down the existing building, we propose radically remodeling it into a sustainable and fully-accessible centre, essential for increasing our offer to all young people, but especially for SEND groups.

The Next Phase

Many young people manage, and even enjoy, ‘outdoor living’ in all weathers, but vulnerable young people are at risk in cold or damp conditions. Comfortable, functional accommodation must be available at the beginning and end of each exciting day of outdoor activities, so that vulnerable people can warm up and dry off.

By making these changes, ALL young people will be able to enjoy and benefit from experiences at TCX ALL year round, not just during the summer months.

As well as providing vastly improved conditions for visitors, the renovations would significantly impact the organisation. Improving TCX’s attractiveness all year round improves the business model and will lead to an increase in footfall during offseason months. We anticipate user numbers increasing by 25% post-renovation (from 12,000 to 15,000).

Proposed Plans

The Caldecotte Xperience - Action4Youth Capital Appeal
proposed plans for redevelopment of caldecotte xperience

Proposed Features

Planned Timescales

As these are internal works and Action4Youth owns the freehold, no planning consent is required and the project can proceed swiftly once the funding target has been reached.

Works would begin in autumn 2024 and be completed spring 2025, ready for the busy summer months, with minimum disruption to operation.

actives for all young people
improving-accessibility-for-all
As these are internal works and Action4Youth owns the freehold, no planning consent is required and the project can proceed swiftly once the funding target has been reached.
Works would begin in autumn 2024
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