Jamie Carragher & Tony Bellow help officially open Rainbow Hub School in Lancashire
A very special school has officially opened in Lancashire, at a ceremony attended by stars Jamie Carragher and Tony Bellow.
This week, Rainbow Hub School was officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Mrs Amanda Parker JP, former Liverpool footballer and Sky pundit, Jamie Carragher and boxer Tony Bellew.
The idea for the school started with parents who said they could not find suitable education for their children and at last Rainbow Hut, a charity that supports young people with physical and neurological disabilities, has taken that idea and made it a reality.
The opening event took place on Monday, March 23 and distinguished guests included the Mayor and Mayoress of Chorley, Councillor Alisatair Morwood and Mrs Jane Morwood; Rainbow Hub President Bill Ainscough; CEO Chorley Borough Council, Chris Sinnott; comedian Steve Royle andsinging sensation and supporter, Lucy Thomas.
What is the Rainbow Hub School?
Work started in Summer 2023 on the purpose-built school in Mawdesley for children with special educational needs due to physical and neurological disabilities – the only one of its kind in Lancashire.
Although it was able to open its doors for a small number of children in 2024 it needed OFSTED inspections and approval to offer places for children from 4 years up to 16 years and it has subsequently been judged “Outstanding in all areas by OFSTED.
With the growing number of children needing places in a specialist setting, local authority schools are not always able to meet specific needs of children with physical disabilities who deserve the same access to an education as any other child.
Rainbow Hub School offers a combined education and health approach with small classes, specialised teaching and personalised curriculums to meet therapeutic and educational needs.
The aim is to provide pupils with a wonderful journey enabling them to be as active and independent as possible and reach their own full potential in an environment created specifically for them.
The school has four classrooms: a multi-purpose hall; two additional therapy rooms; accessible life skills kitchen; ground level rebound trampoline; outdoor classroom, new meeting spaces and a dedicated parent/carers room.
It has been developed for children with physical/neurologicaldisabilities whose families struggle to find an environment that can meet their physical, social and learning needs.
It has solar panels and air source heat pumps with mechanical heating to ensure a constant temperature.
Designed in neutral colours for a calming effect, all education and therapy rooms have an H track ceiling hoist and classrooms contain both education and therapy equipment making them multi-purpose.
What was said at the opening?
Jamie Carragher said: “It was a privilege to be here. What an organisation, what a facility. The help that is given to the kids and families is fantastic. Well done to everybody.”
Tony Bellew added: “I am honoured to be here. It’s a brilliant thing that has been done here. Rainbow Hub is going help the community and bring the kids on massively. There is nowhere else like this in the country. Happy to help wherever possible.”
Lyndsay Fahey, CEO, Rainbow Hub said: "We started with a dream and to make this dream a reality we secured funding of £5 million from Wain Foundation which was a remarkable act of kindness for which we will be forever grateful. This development will allow us to extend the good work we already do in conductive education and our specialist nursery. It will allow us to provide support to children who may sometimes be over-looked but deserve every opportunity to become as independent as possible.
”Groundworks have also begun for a hydrotherapy pool for which we were delighted to receive a grant of £100K from Chorley Council as part of the Rural Prosperity Grant Scheme. We hope this will be completed by December 2026. However, these wonderful donations are restricted to the building projects and we will still need to raise £500K each year to keep our core therapy services running so the support of all the other wonderful people who help us is vitally important.”
“We are very proud of everything we have achieved over the last 25 years. Winning the Not for Profitcategory at the Red Rose Awards 2026 recently was incredibly special for us and a true testament to our amazing team and the work they do every day. We were in a very strong category of finalists so it was a real honour. We thank all the people and companies who have helped us get where we are today and look forward to our continuing journey.”
For more information on the work of Rainbow Hub or to support them, please visitwww.rainbowhub.org or follow them on social media @rainbowhubnw