Council Leader, Councillor Ian Brookfield, officially opened the City of Wolverhampton’s first community aquarium and sensory activity centre on Saturday at HugglePets in the Community.

The project is the brainwave of HugglePets in the Community, who successfully raised more than £96,000 from 72 Crowdfund Wolves backers to fund it, including over £7,500 from City of Wolverhampton Council.

The community aquarium and sensory activity centre is designed to utilise Animal Assisted Therapy to improve mental health and wellbeing among children and adults in the city - and is based at HugglePets’ PGO Building in Cooper Street (WV2 2JL).

It will benefit children and adults that live with autism, stress & anxiety, depression, loneliness, and sensory disabilities (visual impairment). The Sensory Activity Centre has high quality sensory technology that will help all children learn, play and build their emotional, physical and social skills. 

The Community Aquarium is a therapeutic environment open seven days’ a week to the local community and families. The Sensory Activity Centre will be based on bookings and availability. 

City of Wolverhampton Council Leader, Councillor Ian Brookfield, said: “It was an honour to officially open this fantastic facility that will make such a huge difference to children and families across Wolverhampton.

“HugglePets in the Community should be congratulated for their vision and drive in delivering this and I’d also like to say a big thank you to the Crowdfund backers that made this wonderful project happen.

“It shows what a powerful platform Crowdfund Wolves is - helping connect people, ideas and support to enable city residents to turn ideas into reality and shape City of Wolverhampton’s future.

“These projects are also providing valuable support to families across the city and helping them thrive.”

 

Hannah Dixon, HugglePets in the Community Community Project Manager, added: “We are thrilled to be able to deliver this project for the community, this new facility will allow us to expand our activities in animal-related therapies for those that want to look after their mental health and that of their children.”

Crowdfund Wolves has so far helped 14 worthy causes hit their targets, with more than £160,542 raised between them from a total of 640 backers.

The latest Crowdfund Wolves projects can be viewed at www.crowdfundwolves.co.uk.