families of disabled children have always had a tough time of it and they soon find that the only people they can rely on are themselves.

But the efforts of a group of Devizes parents back in the 1970s still bears fruit today, through the work of Devizes Opportunity Centre, the charity that prepares children with special educational needs for entry into mainstream primaries.

It all began when a few parents with disabled children decided to set up the Devizes Handicapped Children’s Group.

One of the founders, Liz Smith, said: “A small core of us got together because there was no group for special needs kids in those days.

“We attended a meeting in Marlborough organised by Mencap and, on the basis of that, we put an ad in the Gazette asking for other parents with handicapped children to come forward.”

A meeting was arranged at the Black Swan Hotel in the Market Place and Mrs Smith was delighted with the response. She renewed her acquaintance with an old school chum, Margaret Stanley, who also has a disabled child.

Mrs Smith, from Waiblingen Way, said: “I knew Margaret was just the person I was looking for to be the secretary of the new organisation.”

The group soon linked up with the charity Make Children Happy, which later became Contact a Family.

The local branch is still going strong and their fundraising male majorettes, The Majorwrecks, are still as popular as they were when they first appeared in Devizes Carnival in 1989. Mrs Smith is their choreographer.

But the biggest problem facing the parents was finding a playgroup prepared to take their children, with their range of physical and behavioural problems. This led to the formation of the Devizes Opportunity Group.

Mrs Stanley, who lives in Mayenne Place, said: “The first opportunity group in the country was in Poole, Dorset, and we were the second.

“We first met at Devizes Cricket Club, but we soon got premises at the old maternity hospital in Green Lane. The Bath District Health Authority did it up for us.”

Comedian Leslie Crowther performed the opening ceremony, but the group soon outgrew the premises and a major fundraising campaign was begun for the centre in Belle Vue Road. Mrs Stanley said: “We did a lot of fundraising. I particularly remember the bed push we did.

“We put together a variety show as well, and it went down so well we were invited to perform it in Tooting, London, for the national Contact a Family organisation.”