FESTIVAL fever came to Walney in celebration of a fantastic community facility.

Walney Community Centre was transformed into an exotic paradise in celebration of a new state-of-the-art kitchen for young disabled people.

Barrow members of YouthAbility Cumbria celebrated the opening of a brand new, fully accessible kitchen which was installed at the centre on Wednesday afternoon.

Members of the youth group gathered together with family, friends and members of the community to enjoy a Brazilian-themed barbecue, complete with a carnival band.

Barrow mayor Councillor Anita Husband was delighted to attend the opening.

She said: “Thank you so much for the invite and many congratulations to you all for the amazing work you have done and are continuing to do.

“It was fabulous to see everyone enjoying themselves, the band was wonderful. The new kitchen is fantastic and is going to be a great asset to so many”.

These fully inclusive kitchen facilities means YouthAbility will be adding cooking classes to their range of activities.

This is latest donation from Howdens Joinery, which has given more than 70 kitchens to Leonard Cheshire Disability group.

Bill Everett, charities manager at Howdens Joinery said: “We’re delighted to have been able to donate these inclusive kitchens to YouthAbility.

"Everyone here has worked so hard to make this an amazing community space and I hope you all get many years of enjoyment from it. I’m looking forward to coming back to see Walney Community Centre when it’s completely finished.”

YouthAbility Cumbria delivers a range of clubs across the county designed to build skills and confidence in young people with disabilities.

As part of the Leonard Cheshire Disability group, YouthAbility Cumbria strives to help young people aged between seven and 25 enjoy an easier transition into adulthood through a wide range of different activities.

Following Britain's recent success at the Paralympic Games, charity bosses organised a series of Brazilian-themed carnivals across the country, with Barrow's coinciding with the unveiling of the new kitchen.

Leslie McLeese, the team leader for YouthAbility Cumbria, believes sport to be a valuable way to boost interaction.

He said: “Sport is one of the easiest activities that can be adapted to the needs of our young people and enables all our young people to take part.

“The general consensus is that taking part in sport will just make you healthier. However we believe that people gain much more, such as learning how to work as a team, understanding how to cope with not winning at everything, setting goals, listening to rules and following them, and socialising in groups.

“These are just a few reasons we feel sport is a great tool to empower young people.

“There has been a lot of focus on the Paralympics since London 2012. Shortly after those games, we delivered a few disability awareness sessions in local schools and we could not believe how many young people knew who Ellie Simmonds was.

"This shows that the growing publicly of these games is working.”