A CHARITY which ensures people with learning disabilities can take part in leisure activities, has received a donation which will enable them to reach those living in isolated communities.

Breathing Space was set up in 1994 to enable adults with learning disabilities in Hambleton and Richmondshire to pursue leisure activities on weekends and evenings and join in with community activities.

The charity is based in Northallerton and relies on two mini buses to pick up many of its vulnerable adults from isolated communities and then support them to take part in a wide range of social and leisure activities which they would otherwise be unable to attend.

Now the charity has received a £4,000 donation from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, the national charity of the English and Welsh Freemasons based in London. The charity donated the money after a vote from by the masonic Province of Yorkshire North and East Riding.

A spokesperson from the group said: “The generous donation made on behalf of Masonic Charitable Foundation will be used to support the important work of Breathing Space.”

It has been a good year for the charity, which is based in the Northallerton and the Dales Mencap Society centre on Goosecroft Lane in Northallerton.

An ambitious project to completely overhaul the centre was completed earlier this year, following years of fundraising to renovated and extend the centre, situated just off Northallerton High Street. Building work began in 2016 and it is understood the project cost in the region of half a million pounds and has enabled Breathing Spaces and other groups that use the building to provide more training courses and activities.