A paralympic hero and TV presenter returned to Kingsbury to spend time at the council’s short breaks centre.

Wheelchair basketball champion Ade Adepitan, visited the Ade Adepitan Short Break Centre in Grove Park, to see the children and check the centre was still operating well.

Opened in 2013, the centre is for local children and young people aged five to 18 with profound and multiple learning difficulties, complex health needs, physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders.

The children, who voted for the centre to be named after the sportsman, have opportunities to enjoy new experiences while their parents, in turn, also get a valuable short break.

Mr Adepitan is a member of the Great Britain team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and the gold medal at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

He has also presented CBBC’s ‘Xchange’, Channel 4 Dispatches programme, ‘Britain on Benefits’ and the BBC series ‘The Travel Show’.

Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray, Brent Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “My visit to the Ade Adepitan Short Breaks Centre this week reminded me why I became a councillor; to provide young people like those who use the centre with fantastic facilities to spend time and be given the tools to reach their full potential.

“The staff at the centre love what they do and it made me proud to be part of a Council that is committed to protecting services such as these. I was delighted that Ade was able to visit and spend the evening with the children.”

The Ade Adepitan Short Break Centre was rated as ‘Outstanding’ centre in its most recent Ofsted inspection.