Meadowhall, Sheffield: ‘I found a hidden room in a huge Yorkshire shopping centre that I wish I’d known about sooner’
Shopping in the January sales can feel overwhelming for many people - but for those with additional needs it can prove too much.
Yorkshire’s largest shopping centre, Meadowhall, may have a solution.
Our reporter Sophie Mei Lan went to find out more.
When I think back to Meadowhall as a child, I have fond memories of a birthday party at Burger King, being allowed to shop for half an hour on my own at New Look before meeting my parents by the steelmen statues, and saving my money for a Millies Cookie and hot chocolate deal.
I also have not-so-fond memories of getting lost several times and having to nervously wait for my parents by the steelmen statues on Market Street, as well as the overwhelming flurry of shoppers swarming around me when I needed some time to zone out.
Nowadays I often head to Meadowhall with my own family, including my children and my younger brother who also has additional needs like myself.
It’s great because over the 35 years since it opened it has become an indoor and outdoor multi-entertainment and shopping complex - which means regardless of the weather I can entertain the kids.
There’s a free riverside adventure playground outside, picnic benches in the Oasis courtyard, and they hold events nearby in the orange car park.
Meadowhall is handy for us to access either by train, bus, supertram, bike or car. It’s the only shopping centre in the UK to have its own travel interchange.
It feels much more like a compact Trafford Centre nowadays with its grand malls, large cafes and the Oasis dining quarter.
On a recent festive outing after grabbing some food and heading outside to Meadowhall’s Magical Winterland, we stumbled on a new area - the customer service hub.
Located in the management suite between KFC and Pizza Hut Express, the new customer hub brings together everything from customer services and personal styling to baby changing and sensory rooms.
There’s a new customer services desk, where shoppers can purchase Meadowhall gift cards and pick up click and collect and collect+ orders. There's also a cloakroom for customers to store coats, luggage and bags for free while shopping or dining.
For me as a stressed out mum with kids of all ages, I was more keen to make the most of the nursing room and baby changing facilities, as well as the two interactive sensory rooms.
You don’t have to book any of the rooms - it’s on a first come first served basis.
We wandered through and fortunately staff said that one of the sensory rooms was available as my brother had felt fatigued from the stress of the busy Oasis.
Each room has its own theme – one inspired by space complete with astronauts and calming lights, with the other inspired by the underwater world with seascapes.
My brother, children and I settled down on the bean bags in one of the sensory rooms. You get the space for 30 minutes.
This gave him enough time to relax while watching some of the lava lamps in the dimly lit room.
There are also a range of quiet rooms for people who want ‘a quiet and respectful environment for personal reflection and spiritual practice, complete with ablution facilities,’ according to Meadowhall.
Darren Pearce, centre director at Meadowhall said: “Our customer hub brings together our important services into one easy-to-access location for shoppers, making visits to Meadowhall even more enjoyable and stress-free.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming all our visitors to explore everything it has to offer.”
Once my brother had time to relax we then were able to venture outside. On a sunny day the Riverside Adventure Playground is great with a splash area, sand pit, slides and a climbing zone.
It was a cold winter’s night so we were only going outside to explore Meadowhall’s Magical Winterland in the Orange car park.
We have since returned for the January sales, and we made sure to have a pitstop in the sensory room.