About the Ark
The Ark Respite Centre was a project talked about for many years by a group of friends who volunteered their time to provide summer holidays for children with disabilities. We asked… we wondered, could this be done full-time? And if so how many families could this help?
Covid-19 came along, we all had some time on our hands so we decided to get on with it! – With the guidance and support of Redcar & Cleveland council.
We stumbled on the former St. William’s Church in Dormanstown that was closing from being a foodbank and the group of friends suddenly became builders (plus some very helpful professionals!).
The Centre finally opened in September 2023 and we have been steadily growing the team and adapting the centre to meet needs. We currently have 4 beds operating and are working to expand to 7.
Running the centre is akin to combining a children’s home with a hotel while keeping decisions personalised to meet the needs of many different children that we provide overnight stays to.
We are building a versitile staff team and working responsibly with local councils to deliver our aims of helping families to continue to look after their children at home. We are registered with Ofsted for Short-Breaks with a rating of Good and serve 6 local councils around the North East.