DR Sabine Maguire, formerly a consultant paediatrican at the Royal Gwent Hospital, spent years dealing with some of area's most disabled youngsters. A trustee of the South Gwent Children's Foundation, the charity behind the Sparkle Appeal project, here she explains the need for a new children's centre.

THERE are more than 1,200 children at present in south Gwent who are either temporarily, or permanently, disabled and needing specialist support from medical, social and educational psychology staff.

If you were unfortunate enough to be told tomorrow that the child you hold in your arms suffers from a severe disability, which will be with them for life, you would undoubtedly feel devastated.

None of us who have not experienced this can truly relate to how it must feel - but we all know that the next thing we would want to hear is that everything possible will be done to enable our child to reach their full potential.

Despite having a dedicated team of highly-skilled professionals in Gwent, they cannot offer their best to these children, because they are working from outdated, inadequate premises spread all over the county.

The reality for the families of these children is that they have to struggle from Newport's Eveswell clinic on Monday, to a social services office on Tuesday, an appointment in the Royal Gwent Hospital on Thursday, and an audiology clinic in Cwmbran on Friday.

At each appointment it is clear that information from the other appointments has not yet been passed between professionals, leaving parents frustrated and worn down. It does not have to be like this.

The new children's centre will have all professionals working together in a building designed to cater for all the complex needs of these children. The centre will cost £6 million to build. Many people say that the government should be providing this facility.

Of course, the staff will be employed by health, social services and other departments.

If this centre was built by Gwent Healthcare Trust, it would only have a health agenda.

This children's centre will be run by an independent manager. Parents of children using the centre are among the trustees of the centre. They will be key to the appointment of the manager, and they will have a long-term role in the running of the centre.

Everybody who has had children will remember the difficulties of trying to get out of the house with your new baby and all the kit they seem to require - buggies, changing bags, feeds, wet wipes.

A simple trip to town becomes a major expedition. You even wonder if it is worth the effort.

For most of us, however, this is a passing phase. Soon the children can walk with us and need no extra belongings, maybe they can carry some of the shopping.

But if your child is severely disabled, it does not get any easier. Five years, ten years later you still need bags of feed, nappies, heavy wheelchairs and a variety of equipment.

Meeting a friend downtown for coffee is extremely difficult. Taking your children to see a film or for a swim is virtually impossible as there are no facilities in this area that can cater for your child.

The centre will not only provide skilled professional help, but, out of hours, it will be a leisure venue. It will have a purpose-built Medicinema, receiving each new film release for free, with every seat designed to cater for any level of disability.

The hydrotherapy treatment pool will be available for families to use. For once, families will not be isolated in their own homes.

We have all been in town or at a playground and seen parents struggling with a severely disabled child.

At that moment our hearts go out to them, and then we turn away and carry on with our own lives.

Momentary sympathy is not enough. That is not going to change anything or make the burden any easier. But you can do something to help.

By contributing to the building of this children's centre, donating your time or your money, you will change those children's lives, and many more in the future. The choice is yours.