Stepping Stones District Specialist Centre

Stepping Stones District Specialist Centre Stepping Stones is an Opportunity Group for children with special needs living in West Wiltshire. Ages 0-5 with varying levels of need attend the group.

What is Stepping Stones? Why do we need funds? Stepping Stones is an Opportunity Group for children who have special needs. Children come to us from birth and leave us when they move on to school. We cover the West Wiltshire Area – Trowbridge, Melksham, Westbury, Warminster, Bradford on Avon and all the surrounding villages. All the children who come to the group have been referred to us by a Paed

iatrician, Health Visitor or other professional and have a wide range of different conditions such as Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, or Autism. Many children have a developmental delay, which means that they have had difficulties in learning skills such as walking and talking. Some children have very rare conditions, which mean they have very complex needs. Children who come to Stepping Stones are assessed by our highly trained team and are helped and encouraged to learn through play. They are also given the opportunity to meet health professionals such as the Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Music Therapist. These therapists work with our team to develop a plan, which is specific to each Childs individual needs. The Paediatricians also hold their clinics at Stepping Stones so families and children can be seen in familiar surroundings. Stepping Stones is only partly funded by Wiltshire County Council. Each year we have to raise £40,000 in order to continue to provide our service to the children. We pay for extra therapy sessions for the children and also fully fund both the Music therapy and Hydrotherapy sessions. We rely on the very generous support of the local community to help keep our group running.

Did you know it's Small Charity Week? This year's theme is Small charities. Big impact.We're often so busy with our chil...
24/06/2026

Did you know it's Small Charity Week? This year's theme is Small charities. Big impact.

We're often so busy with our children and families that we forget just how small (and mighty!) we are.

This photograph was taken decades ago when a group of local volunteers were campaigning for children to get the support they needed and the best possible start in life. And, you might have guessed it but those volunteers were us, Stepping Stones.

Half a century later, our mission remains the same.

Today, we're still championing children with additional needs and their families. We're still working to ensure children can access the support they need as early as possible. And we're still committed to giving every child the opportunity to learn, play, communicate and be included.

As a small independent charity, we can only continue this work because of the incredible support of our community. Every donation, fundraiser, volunteer, grant and act of kindness helps us continue making a difference to local children and families.

Small charity. Big impact.

We have another heatwave update! Having reviewed the local and national advice and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of...
23/06/2026

We have another heatwave update!

Having reviewed the local and national advice and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and team attending Stepping Stones we will be closing sessions on Wednesday and Thursday this week and will reopen on Friday.

Many thanks to all our parents and careers who have been supportive of this decision we hope you manage a cool spot over the next few days!

To our families, just in case the email we have sent has ended up in a spam folder or you haven't seen Tapestry, please ...
22/06/2026

To our families, just in case the email we have sent has ended up in a spam folder or you haven't seen Tapestry, please find a heatwave update:

We just wanted to give an update regarding the heatwave we are all experiencing. Our priority is, and always will be, keeping children safe and ensuring their wellbeing.

We recognise that these are unusual weather conditions, and some families may choose to keep their child at home during this week's period of exceptionally hot weather, whether that's due to the heat itself, the journey to Stepping Stones, or personal preference.

If you are planning to keep your child at home for any sessions this week, please let us know as soon as possible. This will enable us to make better-informed decisions about staffing and whether we remain open to support other children and families.

We will be closely monitoring conditions within the nursery over the coming days and the impact of heat on staff and children before making any decisions to close. As we share a building that does not have air conditioning, we have put a number of measures in place to help keep children and staff comfortable and safe, including keeping blinds closed where appropriate, reducing lighting where possible, encouraging regular drinks, offering water play activities, and carefully managing access to outdoor spaces.

We will notify affected families of any planned closure in line with our emergency closure procedure.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,
Your Stepping Stones team

Congratulations to Mike on winning the Trowbridge Town Council Community Award for Charity Fundraiser of the Year!When w...
21/06/2026

Congratulations to Mike on winning the Trowbridge Town Council Community Award for Charity Fundraiser of the Year!

When we first heard that Mike had been nominated, we were absolutely delighted. Finding out that he had won was even more exciting and thoroughly deserved.

Over the years, Mike has helped raise thousands of pounds for Stepping Stones and many other local charities. From weekly quiz nights to charity cricket matches and fundraising events, he has brought people together to make a real difference in our community.

We popped along to the pub quiz on Sunday to congratulate Mike, and in true Mike fashion, he was incredibly humble when talking about the award. Although his name is engraved on the trophy, he said it really belongs to everyone who comes along on a Sunday evening, supports the fundraising events, and helps make them such a success. His fundraising efforts are supported by an incredible team, wonderful customers, and of course the fantastic Anna, whose quiz-mastering skills have become legendary!

Mike told us that whilst he and the team were incredibly proud to receive the award, it is really everyone's award.

Mike, thank you for everything you do for Stepping Stones and for so many other good causes across our community. We are so pleased to see your dedication, kindness, and hard work recognised by Trowbridge Town Council.

A very worthy winner indeed.

The Kings Arms Trowbridge Town Council

Well… today is the day!The wonderfuk Stacey is taking on the Bowood 10K for Stepping Stones today.We’ve had the privileg...
21/06/2026

Well… today is the day!

The wonderfuk Stacey is taking on the Bowood 10K for Stepping Stones today.

We’ve had the privilege of watching lovely Lacey grow before waving her off to school, so it means such a lot that Stacey has chosen to support us.

10K is impressive enough, but taking on 10K in this heat deserves some extra admiration!

Good luck, Stacey! We’ll all be cheering you on today!!!

If you’d like to support Stacey’s fundraising, you can donate here: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/bowood-running-festival-10k

19/06/2026

Did you know that this week is Learning Disability Week, and this year’s theme is “Do You See Me?”

It’s a theme that feels particularly meaningful to us during our Sensory Scramble week.

Throughout the week, our children have be exploring, discovering, creating, moving, and engaging in ways that are unique to them. While the activities may be the same, every child experiences them differently, and that’s exactly what makes the week so special.

At Stepping Stones, we believe in seeing each child as an individual. We take time to understand their interests, strengths, preferences, and the ways they communicate and engage with the world around them.

We celebrate all the different ways children participate, explore, and learn.

Because every child deserves to be seen for who they are.

17/06/2026

Wow, day three of our Sensory Scramble was a blast and we even added a new sensory experience… paint! (Sorry to our parents and carers, but the children absolutely loved it...so did Chrissy!)

You may have noticed the addition of a new sensory station… the bubble machine! 🫧

Now, didn’t we have a little panic on Monday morning when our beloved (and VERY well-used) bubble machine decided it wasn’t really feeling up to this year’s Sensory Scramble! We swear cries from the team could be heard throughout the building!

Luckily, we have friends in bubbly places and gave Light Fantastic - Event & Entertainment lighting a quick call to ask if we could borrow one of their bubble machines. Paul said “No, let’s do one better!” and on Tuesday, not one, but TWO bubble machines, alongside 18 litres of bubble mixture, were delivered to our door!!

We think the bubble mixture might last until the end of term, but our thanks will last much longer.

A HUGE thank you to Lights Fantastic for filling our garden with bubbles once again. As you can see, it’s already brought so many smiles to our little scramblers’ faces. ☺️

We can’t believe we’re already halfway through the week and we hope everyone is enjoying seeing what we’ve been getting up to!

17/06/2026

Due to a technical glitch, our second day of Sensory Scramble didn’t get posted! Never fear though, here’s a little peek at the fun we had yesterday.

The team reset and were ready and raring to go for another day of scrambling!

We even had an exciting parcel arrive after our bubble machine decided it wasn’t going to participate in this year’s Scramble… but more about that later!

The children had so much fun and everyone had the opportunity to join in. The team were just as enthusiastic as they were on day one (possibly even more so!).

Another fantastic day of Sensory Scramble fun!

15/06/2026

We had a fantastic first day of our Sensory Scramble!! 🎉

The playrooms smelt amazing, the children had so much fun and we think they were nearly as excited as the team were!

There was such a buzz around the place today and we’ve officially declared Sensory Scramble week to be one of our favourite weeks of the year!

Well done to all of our spectacular scramblers today. We can’t wait to reset, refill and do it all again tomorrow!

We’re so excited! Our Sponsored Sensory Scramble starts today and we know the children are going to have a fantastic wee...
15/06/2026

We’re so excited! Our Sponsored Sensory Scramble starts today and we know the children are going to have a fantastic week with all of the wonderful activities we have lined up for them.

This is just a little post of appreciation for our wonderful team of practitioners. Their day doesn’t always end when the children go home and we close the Stepping Stones doors until the next day.

Our team have spent their ever fleeting free time at home making sure the children experience an amazing Sensory Scramble. From sensory tunnels and coloured rice, to the infamous sensory ball hoop (revamped and refreshed this year!) and so much more, these activities have been thoughtfully created at home, ready to be brought in and enjoyed by the children.

We never expect extra curricular activities from our wonderful team, however they choose to do it for the children and for the love of Stepping Stones.

We are proud of our team every day and honestly appreciate the time, effort and passion they put into everything they do. The Sensory Scramble is no different.

We also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored our scramble. Your support means so much to us.

Be sure to keep an eye out this week to see what we’ve all been up to and, once again, thank you to our wonderful team for all of their time and effort!

Address

Longfield Children's Centre, Broadcloth Lane
Trowbridge
BA147HE

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+441225350004

Website

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