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News
Coverage in 'Whats On’, ‘Forum’ and Radio VerulamYou might want to catch our articles in the most recent ‘Whats On’
and in the March edition of ‘Forum’. Karen Stafford, Director of Services, will also be on Radio Verulam on 1st
Feb at 10am – listen in on 92.6FM.
Sainsbury’s Managers help manage our charity shopWe have arranged with the management team at Sainsbury's that they will, over
a number of days, ‘manage’ our charity shop in Southdown as part of an initiative with the following objectives....
- Raise as much money as possible with a prize for the best
days takings
- Give their management team an insight into working
with people with learning disabilities
- Hopefully providing
some potential employment opportunities in Sainsbury’s/ elsewhere for those with learning disabilities, who are on our
employment experience scheme at the shop
- Getting local business
engagement with us as their local charity
- It may attract
some volunteers from staff/customers to offer their services to the shop.
The days are now 26th Jan. and 1st and 2nd of Feb. 1st and 2nd will see the Regional Manager Nick Smith and potentially the Regional HR Manager Mark Costello working
in the shop. Why not pop down and see how they are getting on?
 St George's School raises
£1,500 for Harpenden MencapSt George's School in Harpenden spent a whole week raising funds during their
lunchtimes for three local charities one of which was Harpenden Mencap! Thanks to their efforts we now have another £1500
towards the building fund on Carlton Road.
When presenting us with the money Head Boy Sam Strain said, ‘I
would just like to say that the week went fantastically well, and that the school seemed to really get behind the series of
events that we ran, especially our musical themed finale!’
Head Girl Sarah Ingram said, ‘We were delighted
with how students responded to the week and we thought this charity was a great incentive for people to get involved’.
Nice one St George's and many thanks.
 Mencap book stall at Sainsbury's goes from strength to strength
Having our book stall in Sainsbury's continues to be a
great success – so much so that we had a cheque presented to us in early October for £1,145, which equated to
12 weeks of book sales. Fantastic stuff!
We need your unwanted books
If
you haven’t already please pay a visit to our book stall and pick yourself up a bargain to read at Christmas!
If you have any unwanted books, please feel free to pop them on the bookstall or hand them into the
Customer Service desk at Sainsbury’s or drop them off at our shop in Southdown – it couldn’t
be easier to de-clutter!
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| The Mayor and Karen Stafford, Director of Services at Harpenden Mencap lend a hand |
Harpenden Mencap is moving to Carlton Road!
Well a bit of it anyway.... The much loved building in Douglas Road is no longer managing to keep up with the
demands of Hertfordshire Adult Care Services and the needs of our adult residents.
So after two years searching
for a local, affordable site, a pair of semi-detached homes sandwiched in a narrow plot between Crosthwaite Court and Carlton
Court in Carlton Road came on the market. We bought it and got planning permission for a block of 11 individual flats!
Every person, disabled or not, should have their
own home complete with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room without having to share. But this can lead to isolation
and loneliness so Harpenden Mencap’s plan is to provide communal rooms where people can, if they wish, meet and socialise.
First steps in the construction came when the Mayor, Councillor Michael
Weaver, Deputy Mayor, Councillor Nicola Linacre, other Councillors, prospective tenants, architects, lawyers, friends and
well-wishers came out to the ceremony of ‘Turning the first sod’ organised by the contractors, Jarvis,
The striking £2m+ project will be built to the latest environmental
and personal standards and completed by September 2012. It will stand as a witness to the understanding, vision and generosity
of the community of Harpenden.
Exciting new partnership with SainsburysHarpenden Mencap and Harpenden Sainsburys are delighted to announce that they will be working in partnership over
the next 12 months to raise funds for the services provided by Harpenden Mencap.
You will be aware of the Mencap book stall that resides in Sainsburys, and plans are afoot to build up this very
successful idea. This is as well as the two organisations are working together as a team on various initiatives such as turning
the Roundabout Charity Shop in Southdown into a retail heaven for customers!
Watch out for the ‘Halloween Cake Stall’ and other exciting activities involving the Sainsburys’
staff. Please also feel free to drop off any books you wish to donate to help these efforts to the Customer Service desk in
store – they will be very gratefully received!
 UPS make donation for sensory gardenUPS have presented Harpenden Mencap with a cheque for £14,263. This will
go towards sensory equipment that will engage young people - using sound, light, colour, vibration and tactile experiences.
And there is also some money that will go towards leisure opportunities, i.e. annual zoo pass, tent and camping equipment.
We were delighted to receive the award. We
were nominated by the Luton branch of UPS after they volunteered to build the sensory garden. It is wonderful to see
a huge, global company give back to the local community - from working hands on in volunteer hours, to providing these awards.
The people in the photo are two young people who access the short
break service; Maria Norman, Senior staff member; Claire Wilson, Manager; Karen Stafford, ; two representatives from UPS head
office.
Christmas Carnival stall raises over £300
27th November saw the Christmas Carnival where we
had a stall selling glow sticks, sweets and hard back books.
With the help of Natalie and Jack
from Sainsburys, the Harpenden reindeer raised over £300!
Patrick's after-dinner speech on Harpenden Mencap: Past, Present
and Future
15th November saw one of our Trustees, Patrick Fisher, give a fascinating talk on the
history and future of Harpenden Mencap to a group of 40 or so avid listeners in The Methodist Church on the High Street.
The supper club raised over £500 through dinner ticket sales and donations on the night.
All the proceeds will go towards our building fund for Pine Court on Carlton Road. Nice one Patrick!
Spooky people raise £300 at scary HalloweenHalloween
saw a multitude of spooky people down at Sainsbury’s in Harpenden.
Our pumpkin carving
raised over £300 for Harpenden Mencap and we all had a scarily great time!
Harpenden Mencap's First Golf Day Harpenden Mencap held their first golf day at Harpenden Common Golf Club on Friday, 15th July 2011.
Harpenden Common Golf Club were tremendous
hosts for Harpenden Mencap’s first golf day. 76 golfers took part in the Stableford competition organised by Anne Hignell
and Natalie Chaston. Club Captain and Harpenden Mencap supporter John Knock teed off the competition in glorious sunshine.
Honours went to The Harpenden Legends team Lester
Ferguson, Keith Roberts, Dave Jacobson & Chris Merrifield. Other winners were Peter Rushbrook for nearest the pin, Steve
Chaston for straightest drive and Ross Caseberry for longest drive.
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| Trustees Anne Hignell and Julie Casebury gave speeches at Golf Day |
After a delicious meal a successful raffle and auction took place. Harpenden
Mencap would like to thank local businesses for their donations and support:- Harpenden Building Society, Allsops, Strutt
& Parker, Rolands Carpets, Ambassador Windows, Threads, Jewsons, Harpenden Interiors, Connells, Ashtons, Artscape, H Smith
Opticians, Frosts, Baby Years, Aecom, Chastons & Landrover.
A massive £4,000 was raised towards the
building project that Harpenden Mencap has started in Carlton Road. They are building 11 individual flats for Learning Disabled
adults to live independently with support from Harpenden Mencap. (For more information, see above.)
Look out for further fund raising events taking place in the town.
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