Voice of the Child: Designing a Centre Around Children’s Needs
This week marks National Child Contact Centre Week 2026, and today’s theme is Voice of the Child.
At springcare, this theme is particularly important to us because children’s voices have influenced every aspect of our new Family Support Centre.
For over 15 years we have been supporting children and families through supervised contact in a variety of settings, including family homes, community venues, contact centres and our own contact facilities. During this time, we have worked with hundreds of children, each with their own personality, communication style and individual needs.
One thing we have learnt over the years is that children experience contact differently.
Some children communicate through conversation. Some communicate through play. Some need opportunities to move around and explore. Others benefit from calmer environments that help them feel safe and settled.
As we prepared to open our new Family Support Centre, we reflected on everything children have taught us over the years and asked ourselves one simple question:
“What would a contact centre look like if it was designed around children’s needs?”
The answer became the foundation for our new purpose-designed centre.
Listening Beyond Words
When people hear the phrase Voice of the Child, they often think about listening to what a child says.
Whilst this is important, we believe listening to children goes much further than words.
Listening to children means observing how they engage with their surroundings. It means recognising when a child feels comfortable and when they feel overwhelmed. It means understanding that every child communicates differently.
Most importantly, it means creating environments where children can express themselves in ways that feel natural to them.
The Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room has been designed primarily for younger children and focuses on creating a welcoming, engaging and nurturing environment.
For many younger children, play is their language. Through play they communicate their thoughts, emotions and experiences. With this in mind, we wanted the room to offer a variety of opportunities for exploration and interaction.
The room includes a carefully selected range of toys, books and activities designed to encourage positive engagement between children and their family members. There is a dedicated reading area where parents and children can share stories together, helping to build connections and create meaningful moments during contact sessions.
The room also includes a custom busy board which encourages exploration, problem-solving and sensory engagement. Alongside this, we have created a calming zone containing resources and techniques that can be used to help children regulate their emotions if they are feeling anxious, overwhelmed or unsettled.
Our aim was to create a space where younger children feel comfortable, safe and excited to spend time with their family.
The Cedar Room
The Cedar Room has been designed with older children in mind.
As children grow, their needs and interests change. Whilst play remains important, older children often benefit from environments that encourage meaningful conversation, shared activities and relationship-building.
The room has therefore been designed to feel comfortable, relaxed and age-appropriate. It includes comfortable seating, books suitable for older children, a custom magnetic activity wall and a bespoke busy board designed to encourage interaction and engagement.
We wanted to create a space where older children would not feel they were entering a room designed for younger children, but rather a space where they could spend quality time with their family, participate in activities together and build positive memories.
The Cedar Room reflects our belief that contact should not simply be about supervision; it should be about creating opportunities for children and families to reconnect and strengthen relationships.
The Sensory Room
The Sensory Room is one of the areas we are most proud of within our new centre.
Too often, when services are designed for children, those with additional needs can unintentionally be overlooked. We wanted to ensure that children who benefit from sensory experiences would feel equally welcomed, included and supported.
The room has been designed as a calming and engaging sensory environment where children can explore at their own pace.
It includes a large bubble tube, an LED sensory tunnel, interactive light features, sensory equipment and multiple activity boards designed to support communication, exploration and engagement. The room also contains a range of sensory resources that encourage children to interact with their surroundings in a way that feels comfortable and enjoyable to them.
For some children, sensory experiences can support communication, emotional regulation and engagement. For others, it simply provides an enjoyable and memorable experience during family time.
Our goal was to create a space that recognises and celebrates the fact that every child is unique.
Creating Meaningful Experiences
When designing the centre, our focus was not simply on creating rooms.
Our focus was on creating experiences.
Every colour, activity, resource and piece of equipment was chosen with children in mind. We wanted children entering the centre to feel welcomed, valued and excited about spending time with their family.
The result is a centre that reflects what we have learnt from supporting children and families since 2011 and a centre that has been shaped by the needs of the children we serve.
Looking Ahead
As we celebrate National Child Contact Centre Week, we are reminded that children should always remain at the heart of the services we provide.
Their voices, experiences and needs have shaped our journey and continue to guide the way we work.
Over the coming days, we will be sharing more behind-the-scenes insights into the creation of our new Family Support Centre as we count down to our official opening on 26 June 2026.
Because when we truly listen to children, we create environments where they can feel safe, valued, understood and heard
Grand Opening – 26 June 2026
We are excited to officially open the springcare Family Support Centre on Friday 26 June 2026.
📍 211 Fore Street, Edmonton, London N18 2TZ
🕧 12:30pm – 2:30pm
We are honoured that the new Mayor of Enfield will be joining us to mark this important milestone for springcare and the local community.
Members of the local community, partner agencies and professionals are invited to visit the centre, meet the team and learn more about our services.
🎁 Complimentary gift bags will be available for members of the local community between 1:00pm and 2:00pm while stocks last.
We look forward to welcoming guests as we celebrate the opening of a purpose-designed Family Support Centre that has been created with children and families at its heart.
