As we conclude NACCC Week 2026, we have spent the past five days raising awareness about the importance of child contact services and what it truly means to put children first.
Today’s theme, Every Child Is Different, brings together everything we have explored throughout the week. Because when we truly put children first, we recognise that every child has their own story, their own needs, and their own way of experiencing contact.
When a child attends contact, they are often navigating separation from one or both parents. The emotions they experience can be complex and significant. Some children may feel excited, others anxious, confused, overwhelmed, or uncertain. Every child processes these experiences differently, and there is no single approach that works for everyone.
A baby’s needs are very different from those of a teenager. A child with autism may experience contact differently from a neurotypical child. A child with ADHD, sensory processing differences, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, or other additional needs may require different levels of support, preparation, communication, and environmental adjustments.
At springcare, we understand this because supporting children with diverse needs has been at the heart of what we do for more than a decade.
Working with children and young people with autism, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, behavioural needs, and complex family circumstances has taught us one important lesson: children thrive when they feel safe, understood, and valued.
That understanding shaped every decision we made when creating the springcare Family Support Centre.
A Centre Designed Around Children’s Needs
We wanted to create more than just a contact centre. We wanted to create a welcoming environment where children could feel comfortable, relaxed, and able to enjoy meaningful time with the people whomatter most to them. Every room has been purposefully designed to support different ages, interests, abilities, and needs.
See below illustrations of just the corners of the rooms showing you just how interactive it has been designed.
The Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room has been designed primarily for younger children.
The room is bright, colourful, engaging, and full of opportunities for learning and play. The rainbow theme represents hope and new beginnings. Just as a rainbow appears after a storm, we wanted the room to reflect positivity, comfort, and possibility for children and families who may be experiencing difficult circumstances.
Features include:
- Busy Board: Our custom busy board encourages sensory exploration, fine motor development, problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, and independent play. It provides a calming and engaging activity that can help children settle into the environment and feel comfortable.
- Ball Pit: The ball pit provides sensory input, movement, and opportunities for physical play. For many children, sensory activities can help reduce anxiety, support emotional regulation, and provide a safe outlet for energy.
- Book Corner: Books provide opportunities for connection, communication, learning, and emotional development. Reading together can help children and parents engage naturally, encourage conversation, and create positive shared experiences.
- Comfortable Seating: Soft seating creates a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere where families can spend quality time together in comfort.
The Cedar Room
The Cedar Room has been designed with older children in mind.
The cedar tree is often associated with strength, resilience, stability, and growth. These qualities inspired the calm and grounding design of the room.
The room includes:
- Advanced Busy Board: Designed specifically for older children, encouraging interaction, concentration, problem-solving, and engagement.
- Puppet Theatre: Puppets can help children express thoughts and emotions in a safe and creative way while encouraging communication and interaction between family members. Sometimes children find it easier to communicate through imaginative play than direct conversation.
- Curated Book Collection: Books have been carefully selected to support emotional wellbeing, resilience, understanding feelings, family relationships, and personal growth.
- Calm Environment: The room’s colours, layout, and furnishings have been chosen to create a sense of stability and calm, helping children feel secure and comfortable during their contact sessions.
The Sanctuary Room
Our sensory room is one of the most unique spaces within the centre.
It has been designed to provide a calming, therapeutic, and engaging environment for children who benefit from sensory experiences, including many children with autism, sensory processing differences, learning disabilities, or anxiety.
Features include:
- Bubble Tube: The gentle movement of bubbles and changing colours can promote relaxation, focus, visual tracking, emotional regulation, and a sense of calm.
- Infinity Mirror: The infinity mirror creates a captivating visual effect that encourages curiosity, visual stimulation, and engagement while providing a calming sensory experience.
- Fibre Optic Lighting: Fibre optic strands provide a safe tactile and visual sensory experience that many children find soothing and enjoyable.
- Tactile Tiles: Tactile resources encourage exploration through touch and can support sensory processing, body awareness, and engagement with the environment.
- Projector System: The projector displays calming visuals and sounds that help create a relaxing atmosphere and support emotional regulation and sensory needs.
A Child-Centred Approach
Our commitment to children extends beyond the rooms themselves.
We have developed a toy catalogue containing over 100 carefully selected toys and resources. Families can choose activities that best suit the child’s age, interests, developmental stage, and individual needs.
We have also created a designated eating area to encourage families to enjoy time together around food in a structured and comfortable environment. Sharing a meal or snack can often provide valuable opportunities for conversation, routine, and family bonding.
Our reception area includes a small shop where families can purchase healthy snacks and refreshments during their visit.
Every aspect of the centre has been designed to support positive family experiences and meaningful contact.
Safety, Privacy and Wellbeing
Alongside creating welcoming spaces, we have invested significantly in safety and privacy
The centre includes:
- Sound-reducing insulation
- Toughened safety glass
- Privacy blinds
- Child-friendly safety features
- Secure access arrangements
- Purpose-built contact environments
These measures help ensure that children and families can spend time together safely, comfortably, and with dignity.
Built with Love, Purpose and Passion
The springcare Family Support Centre has been created through careful planning, consultation, experience, and dedication.
Every room, every resource, every toy, every piece of furniture, and every safety feature has been chosen with children in mind.
We are passionate about helping children maintain safe and meaningful family relationships, and we recognise that achieving this requires environments that are welcoming, inclusive, and adaptable to individual needs.
Because every child deserves the opportunity to feel calm, safe, happy, and understood.
Looking Ahead
We are incredibly proud of what has been created and grateful to the team who helped bring this vision to life.
Every decision has been made with children in mind.
Every colour, resource, activity, and room has been chosen with care.
Because every child is different. And every child deserves the opportunity to feel safe, valued, understood, and supported.
Join Us
We are delighted to be officially opening the springcare Family Support Centre on Friday 26 June 2026 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm and are honoured to welcome Councillor Emma Supple, Mayor of Enfield, as our special guest.
We will also be providing complimentary community gift bags as a small token of appreciation to families and members of the local community attending the event.
We look forward to welcoming local families, professionals, partner agencies, and members of the community as we celebrate this exciting new chapter in supporting children and families across Enfield and the surrounding boroughs.
Together, we can continue putting children first and ensuring that every child feels safe, valued, understood, and supported.
By Joanne Chidimma
