Mencap is awarded funding of £2.5m
The charity Mencap has been given £2.5m in funding by the Northern Ireland executive.
The money will go towards a new centre offering support services to children and young people with learning disabilities and their families.
Director of Mencap in NI, Maureen Piggot, said she was "overwhelmed" by the announcement.
However, she added that the charity still needed to raise more money to realise its dream.
She said Mencap had outgrown its premises at Segal House in Belfast "ages ago".
"We don't own it yet, but we are hoping to buy Newtownbreda Primary School in the future," she added.
"We hope that our new building will not just be for us, but will be something that other people in the community will use.
"Our playrooms are really becoming very limited for the equipment that we need to work with children with more complex disability and also children with autism who need structure in their day."