YOUNG people with disabilities and special educational needs can now learn vital basic life skills thanks to the opening of Stourbridge College’s new Independent Living Centre.

The centre will teach pupil’s skills including how to change a bed, clean, cook meals and maintain a home, such as doing their washing and ironing.

Sarah Norman, chief executive of Dudley Council, yesterday (October 21) opened the new centre, based at the college’s Brierley Hill Art and Design campus, where a time capsule was buried to mark the occasion.

The new £615,000 facilities consist of a living unit, similar to a flat, and contains kitchen, dining and bedroom areas, as well as classrooms and an IT area.

These will enable students to gain a range of skills including budgeting, planning menus for a healthy lifestyle and carrying out home maintenance.

Wendy Stevens, head of Stourbridge College, said: “I think it is a fabulous resource for our current and future students, especially those with special needs.

“It’s going to have a massive impact on the students learning. We have an intimate area where we can help them with toileting, and all our equipment is adjustable, such as the cookers which can move up or down, to suit their needs.

“The whole ethos behind it is to teach the students independent living skills, which are something that all teenagers should be learning.

“As well as being used by our students, we are also making it available to the local community and for schools across the borough to come and use.”

The build was mostly funded by a Dudley Council grant of £540,000 after the authority offered organisations across Dudley the opportunity to invest in special needs provision.

Mrs Norman, who spoke to a number of guests at yesterday’s special opening ceremony alongside college principal Andrew Cleaves, said she was delighted with the facilities.

She added: “Every young person should have the basic skills in life and these facilities will encourage learners to develop greater confidence in themselves and their abilities.

“The learners deserve to be in the best possible environment for success and they are sure to thrive in these exceptional surroundings.”