Sense, the national deafblind charity, has won planning permission to build a £14m community centre in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham.

Birmingham Council’s planning committee last week unanimously approved the TouchBase Centre which Sense says will be used for service provision, but will also offer community facilities with full disabled access, including art and fitness classes, a nursery, café and family services.

The centre will also support Birmingham council’s social care department, offering services for a range of disabilities.

The project received £2.1m funding from the government’s regional growth fund in 2014. Sense itself has contributed £2m, with approximately £5m being raised through fundraising and roughly another £5m from social bonds and loans.

Construction is due to start towards the end of this year, with plans to open the centre in late 2016. Sense say the centre will bring another 130 jobs to Birmingham, with another 100 Sense employees being relocated in the city from around the Midlands. 

Gillian Morbey, chief executive of Sense, said: “The centre will provide integrated services for people with disabilities and the wider community and in time we hope it will become an exemplar model of care.

“We are also bringing considerable investment and substantial social and economic value, supporting the area’s regeneration and creating 130 jobs."

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