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Artist’s impression of what the new hydrotherapy pool will look like

The Government has announced that the Seashell Trust is set to receive a boost of £250,000 to fund a new hydrotherapy pool at their Cheadle Hulme campus.

The money will be a welcome investment for the Trust who are in the process of trying to raise £45 million to regenerate the campus and bring it up to the standard needed for their children.

Chief Executive of the Seashell Trust Mark Geraghty said: “We are obviously delighted by this award, which will be used to build a much needed, interactive hydrotherapy pool as part of our new school campus but it is important to understand that to build our new school we do need to unlock £45 million of funds.

The £250,000 funding, from the LIBOR fund, will be the perfect complement to the essential modern-day facilities required on site for these profoundly disabled children. Nevertheless, we are still short of a considerable sum; £30 million and that will mean selling off some of our land to raise the crucial funds needed.”

The LIBOR fund was announced in the Autumn Statement as part of the Government’s redistribution of money regained from companies fined for their part in the LIBOR scandal. Charities and local services were invited to apply for the money from the LIBOR fund following Chancellor Philip Hammond’s announcement in the Autumn Statement. Other charities to have benefited from the fund include The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.

The Seashell Trust provides specialist care for children from across the country who have profound and challenging special needs. The new pool uses multi-sensory equipment to help the children interact with their surroundings and improve their psychological wellbeing.

The school submitted the plans for the campus transformation project in February 2016. The plans include the demolition of the dated school buildings, development of a new school, family support services, residential accommodation for students and new sports facilities which will be available for public use.

A decision on the application is expected to be taken by Stockport Council in early 2017.