A WEM woman with a disabled son hopes to turn a barn into holiday accommodation for children, and their families, with cognitive and physical disabilities.

Jacqui Sisson's nine-year old son Jacob was born with a genetic disorder, and she hopes to receive planning permission carry out work on the barn in Horton, near Wem.

The project is to be run as a social enterprise and the family want to help others who are in a similar situation.

Jacqui said she is motivated because she has never found holiday accommodation suitable for her son.

She added: "We have lived the experience of trying to find suitable holiday accommodation and to be honest we have never found it anywhere in England.

"He requires a special bed to sleep in and he has very severe learning disabilities.

"We have got a barn on our premises which we do not use for much.

"Over lockdown we were thinking about it and thought it would be amazing to be able to turn that into the holiday accommodation that is so needed by the thousands of families that have children like Jacob."

The mother of Jacob said she did not feel that holiday accommodation catered well for children with disabilities like autism.

She added: "That is really where the gap is in provision.

"Holiday accommodation in the UK caters for physical disabilities.

"But it does not cater well for children who are neuro-diverse.

"It is really difficult if you have someone with learning disabilities in your family to find self-catering holiday accommodation that is safe.

"We are in a nice tranquil and there is plenty of research around the fact that being in nature is so important for children with cognitive diversity.

"It helps them learn and connect and helps them manage their emotions much better."

Jacqui said she reached out to families with children like her son and has received good feedback.

She explained: "Initially when we came up with the idea, we reached out to the special needs community on social media.

"There were thousands of responses from people, so many that I was quite overwhelmed by it.

"Somebody posted it on the local Wem social media page and there were many families within Wem who said it was incredible and that they needed it."

Jacqui hopes to make this type of accommodation become more common across the country.

She said: "I hope that by doing this we can show it is possible and that we need to more cognisant of the needs of those cognitive disabilities and not just physical.

"I am hoping it will open peoples' eyes and actually help these types of accommodation become more prevalent."