Newsletter
Issue No.1 February 2024.
Welcome to our first newsletter since Covid!
We are back with renewed enthusiasm - Monday Club has been running for almost a year since it reopened. Cohn and his band of helpers organise a fun packed programme of activities every Monday evening at Highview, including discos, karaoke, the ever popular bingo evenings and visits from local groups such as Ellington Morris. Our members love the opportunity to meet their friends every week. Our thanks to everyone involved in making this successful.
We are planning to restart the Wednesday Club, for members with higher needs, in April. Peter (our secretary) and Colin have attended regular meetings with the Learning Disability Partnership Board which brings together representatives of different organisations with an interest in learning disabilities. This is a good opportunity to keep up to date with what is happening locally. With the RBWM budget being under pressure, it will become increasingly important to ensure that current services are not reduced and that the needs of our members and their families are met.
Jeanette, our support worker, has kept in touch with our members, attending our clubs, assisting with hospital visits and supporting where needed. She can be contacted on 01753 866267 or email: maidenheadmencap.jeanette@gmail.com.
Sadly, our chairman of many years, John Foulger, died recently. He was the father of Zöe, who is a keen member of the Monday Club. He was a tireless supporter of Mencap and regular attendee of Wednesday Club. Our thoughts are with his family.
Linda Francis, mother of Eddy, has rejoined the committee now that she has retired. She is hoping that together we can build on the strengths of the society to provide increased support and activities for all people with learning disabilities in the Maidenhead area.
We continue to benefit from using Highview for all our activities. Being an old house there are often maintenance issues that require attention but Valerie as house manager and Nev make sure it is kept safe, clean and warm. We are very grateful for the work they do.
Have any of you been to the cinema to see the film One Life? It's about the amazing story of our former chairman Sir Nicholas Winton who rescued 669 mainly Jewish children from the Nazi's just before the start of World War II. As the film follows his life it includes details of many other organisations he was involved in, mainly in the Maidenhead area, and Mencap is included in this list. We were indeed fortunate to have him as our president until his death in 2015 aged 106.
Our AGM will be on Thursday 21st March at 7.30pm at Highview. We hope that as many people as possible will be able to attend. We have some challenges ahead, but we are keen to find out what people with learning disabilities of all ages, their families and carers need to improve their lives now. Our committee is willing and has a wealth of experience, and now needs new members to help take the society forward.
As an established charity Maidenhead Mencap benefits from support and goodwill from the community. We have premises and some funds to enable new projects to start and are keen to make a difference to people's lives.
In an attempt to cut down on the cost of postage we are aiming in future to send this newsletter out to as many people as possible as an email attachment. If this is an option for you please send your contact details to: peterjost54@gmail.com.
Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM or hearing from you soon.
With best wishes from the Committee.
Copyright Maidenhead Mencap Society (c)2004-2024