A former bank vault has been transformed by a Scottish agency into a sensory room to support families with children who are neurodivergent or require special assistance.
Cowdenbeath-based Moorelands Travel has created a space equipped with hearing loops, sensory toys and lights, bean bags, and a projector which can play sensory sounds, graphics, films and can be used with games consoles.
It is located adjacent to a private travel appointment room to allow parents to sit with a consultant and plan their holiday while keeping an eye on their children.
Scott Paterson, managing director of the Brilliant Travel member agency, decided to transform the space, which was an old Royal Bank of Scotland vault, to help meet the needs of some of his regular clients.
He said: “I’d been wondering for a while how I could best make use of the dormant vault which sat beside one of our offices. The idea came to me after noticing that we were getting more enquiries and bookings with special assistance requests, particularly from families with hidden disabilities.
“Coming into a busy retail store can be challenging for parents with neurodivergent children, so I started thinking about how we could create a safe, welcoming and calmer atmosphere within our branch.
“Everyone should be able to enjoy the holiday booking experience and that is what we are trying to achieve with the opening of the sensory room. Hopefully we can make a little bit of a difference.”
Paterson shared his vision with one of his regular clients who has two non-verbal autistic children who agreed that the room would be transformational for families like his.
He added: “The vault was the perfect area to transform because it is right next to one of our private appointment offices. This means we can book out the space for families who need additional time in a calm environment. We’ll only offer one or two appointments per day – so there will be no rush and families can take as long as they need to book their holiday.”
The sensory room soft-launched to existing clients at the Managed Service Travel Partner (MSTP) of Barrhead Travel Group in January.
Barry Adamson, who gave Paterson positive feedback at the inception stage, was the first family to use the space.
He said: “Having neurodivergent children makes simple things like sitting in a travel agency an impossible task and something we would never have dreamed of doing previously.
“However, having the dedicated safe and secure sensory space for the kids to have fun and relax, along with friendly, understanding and accommodating staff, meant we could focus on all things holidays.”