THE Stable Family Home Trust does exactly what it says on the tin. Situated in the former stables at Bisterne Manor between Christchurch and Ringwood, it provides a stable family base for 105 adults with learning disabilities, giving them an education, life skills and physical development.

And every one of them loves being there. You can tell from their enthusiasm, the way they greet you and the way they are eager to show you what they are doing.

The trust was set up 30 years ago by Major Mills of Bisterne Manor who had a son with learning disabilities. The major realised there was not a place for people like him to go. So he converted the stable building dating from 1876 and started hosting services, said day services manager David Mowinski.

Now the Stables is a thriving community providing services for eight people who live above the stables, and another two dozen in trust residential accommodation in Southbourne, plus more than 70 who use it as a day centre.

The Stables provides a wide range of activities and sports.

There are two kitchens, one to learn how to prepare home food and the other for mass catering, and which produces a two-course lunch for about 80 service users every day.

Cliff Warne, Sam Dobson and Jim Rees were in the home kitchen cooking up beef curry and jacket potatoes when the Daily Echo called. The food was to be taken home and eaten that evening.

In the adjoining multi-purpose room, art instructor Rose Perry was teaching Joanne Grubb to knit. Joanne was looking forward to the evening when she and 120-or-so others from around the area were going clubbing in Bournemouth.

Craft group leader Wendy Moore said at the moment the service users were making clocks to sell at the summer fair, but mosaics, jewellery, cards and screen printing were also on the agenda.

Lucy Pitman from Lover in Wiltshire was making a papier mâché shark, “Nobby”.

In the main kitchen, Lucy’s mother Pam, a volunteer, had been cooking cakes with Warwick Corrall. “He enjoys mixing it, making it and most of all, handing them around,” she said.

The woodwork shop turns out bird boxes and feeders and items made on the lathe for sale, while in the pottery a range of decorative planters and rhubarb forcers are the mainstay of production.

The gardens are highly productive with a huge range of fruit and veg which is turned into top quality cuisine by chef Dave Brown and his assistants in the kitchen.

He says: “There’s nothing to compare with the response that you get from the people here.”

Many of his assistants have gone on to earn a wage in local pubs.

Mr Mowinski said: “Nobody is made to do anything they don’t want to. That’s what creates the atmosphere. It’s their day service.”

And he says the volunteers go home with a smile on their faces.

“It’s very difficult to capture it in words really. But it’s an amazing place.”