A SHAFTON mum is set to open the UK’s first high street store dedicated to neurodivergent individuals and she’s drawing on her own experience to help others.

Georgia Stirland, 28, told the Chronicle that the idea to create ‘The Divergent Den’ originally came about when she was shopping in Barnsley town centre for her neurodivergent child who has ADHD and is on the autistic spectrum.

However she struggled to find the products she needed and her research has found that others were in a similar position.

She said: “I was looking for products suitable for my child but they didn’t have anything at all.

“Everything that neurodivergent parents can buy is usually online but you aren’t able to try it.

“It was clear there was a real need for neurodivergent products to be on the high street.

“It really is massively needed.

“I know first-hand how difficult it is to source the right tools and inclusive environments.

“That’s why this business was born out of personal experience and the recognition that thousands of families in the UK face the same struggles.”

Georgia’s store, which is set to open in Hoyland, will be a first for the UK but it won’t just sell products.

“There’s not one high street store that is doing what we’re doing as of now,” she said.

“The space needed to be perfect.

“It’s going to be next to the Ladbrokes because it’s accessible and there’s an opportunity for us to do what we need to do there.

“There will be a sensory play centre purpose-built for children who cannot comfortably or safely use traditional soft play centres, offering a calm, low-noise, low-light environment.”

Georgia says that the feedback she’s received since she decided to create the space has been overwhelmingly positive and she just wants to help parents who are in a similar position to herself.

She added: “A lot of the feedback that we’ve had is people telling us that they’ve been failed.

“This is going to help them.

“It’s going to be a lot more affordable and people will have support here.

“The feedback we’ve had about what we’re doing has been incredible.

“But the main thing that we’re planning to do is the social impact.

“It’s not just going to be a store.

“There’ll be the play centre and there’s also going to be workshops for parents.

“Being a parent to a neurodivergent child is so different to parenting a non-neurodivergent child.

“And that’s what we’ll be here to do.

“We want there to be so much support on offer.”

The shop will officially open its doors later this month.