Thank-you!

Thank you to everyone who supported us over the

Christmas period by buying raffle tickets, making

donations or attending our Christmas Grotto. We had

around 60 come along to our Grotto this year, raising

over £400. It was a great day and we couldn’t have

done it without our team of volunteers, most of whom

work for us and gave up their time on day.

Thanks to Max Perrett’s Nan who kindly made this

amazing cake as a raffle prize at the Grotto - it raised

£56 on the day and the winner (Laura Mitchell’s mum)

kindly went on to raffle it at her local (The Plough) and

raised a further £135.

Our Christmas Raffle also raised a record amount of

£795—thanks so much to everyone who bought and

sold tickets for us or donated prizes. Special thanks to

Nancy Simmonds (pictured here drawing tickets with our

Day service). Nancy has been a supporter for many

years and often raises money for us through her table

top sales—she sold 152 raffle tickets—wow!

Michelle Perrett, a trustee and parent supporter decided

to hold a film night at the Brook Café in aid of us at the

end of last year. Armed with popcorn, sweets and raffle

prizes the Perrett family and friends raised over £400 as

they watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with hankies at the

ready. Thank you so much for your support!

Our cookery group meets weekly during term time to try out new recipes and learn

skills that will help them to be more independent in the kitchen. Reports show that

the levels of obesity are higher in adults with a learning disability, often leading to

secondary health conditions. This is often caused by a tendency to rely on

convenience/fast foods due to a lack of knowledge and confidence in the kitchen.

We support individuals and their carers to follow accessible recipes and cover

everything from health and safety to making positive choices about what they eat.

Cookery Group

Group Insight

Wallington Girls School kindly allow us to use their teaching kitchen free of charge

and we have recently been awarded a grant from the Mr & Mrs Mount Trust, which

will enable us to continue these valuable sessions for another year. Many thanks to

both for their support.

If you would like more information on our cookery classes which run on a Tuesday

during term-time please contact Olivia Griffin.

Welcome and thank-you to new funders

The Henry Smith Charity has awarded us a grant to go towards the costs of

our Transition and Community Services Manager for 3 years.

The Sutton Transformation Fund has awarded us a grant for a digital inclu-

sion project which will enable us to make the most of new technology.

The Arts Council England has awarded us a grant to continue our drama pro-

ject this year, which will include a series of pop up theatre performances and pup-

petry.

Bailey Thomas has awarded us a grant to support our Friday evening and

Saturday Breakaways sessions.

Lloyds Community Fund has awarded us a grant of £1000, following a public

vote, to integrate more music activities into our groups.

New Year…New

Challenge?

If your New Year Resolutions included you deciding to get fit, lose weight or

simply take on a challenge why not consider doing something to raise funds for

Sutton Mencap? Whether you want to do something on your own or join a team

there are plenty of opportunities out there.

Nuts Challenge—Sat 5th September

(Dorking)

If you missed out last year and would like

to take on a 7km muddy assault course

whilst having fun why not join the Nuts

team. Find out more about the event

here —www.thenutschallenge.co.uk -

and let us know if you’re nuts enough to

join the team.

Choose your Own Challenge

Whether it’s jumping out of a plane or running a mara-

thon—if you want to tick something off your bucket list

this year we can support you by helping you set up a

justgiving page and providing sponsorship

forms/publicity to help you promote your challenge.

Search the internet, design your own personal challenge

or give us a call for a fundraising pack full of ideas.

Thanks to Martin Toye for deciding to do the London to Brighton Bike Ride for us

this year and best of luck to Mary Larkin (who used to volunteer for us) who is

running in the London Marathon for National Mencap. Check out their justgiving

pages if you would like to support.

For more info please contact Tracey (tracey@suttonmencap.org.uk)

Thanks to Laura Emmerson’s hubby, dad and friend

for coming in to install the new roof on our shelter in

the children’s playground. Thanks also go out to the

YPI team from Overton Grange who raised the mon-

ey that paid for the new permanent roof.

Shelter gets new waterproof roof thanks to volunteers

Our staff team came together at the end of Nov in mismatched clothes for a

Christmas Party with a difference! After a brief period of ‘What are you wearing!’

the group spent an hour discussing our new strategic plan! The team were full of

ideas and suggestions which will really help us moving forward. This was

followed by a more traditional challenge night with games galore and good fun

was had by all.

What a Staff Team!

Places available on Children’s, Youth and Phoenix Rangers

Due to changes in the way funding is provided by the Borough our children and

youth service is now available through direct payments. We also run a youth

group specifically aimed at young people (11-16) with high functioning Aspergers

that can be accessed in this way. If you would like to find out more please contact

Laura (Childrens Service) laura@suttonmencap.org.uk or Olivia (Youth/Phoenix

Rangers) olivia@suttonmencap.org.uk .

Good luck to Lois who leaves us at the end

of the month to travel the world for a year!

She is a familiar face on a number of our

services (pictured bottom left) and will be

sadly missed! But she will be coming back!!

Other news from around the Borough

QEF Kids day—6th March

The Queen Elizabeth Foundation Mobility Centre in Carshalton, Surrey SM5 4AW, is running a special event from 10:00 – 15:00 on the 6

th March. The day will include

an exhibition of children’s equipment including but not limited to: Mobility – including buggies and wheelchairs, Assistive technology, Car seats for disabled children, Sleep systems, Accessible vehicles. For more information please Email: mobility@qef.org.uk; Phone: 020 8770 1151 or check out their fa-cebookpage /website.

CMG Family Conference—Saturday 14th March—10.30 am –4pm

CMG would like to invite relatives of people with learning disabilities to their family conference. They will have the opportunity to learn about and discuss recent developments in Learning Disability care, meet the people who lead CMG and share experiences.

There will be presentations from key note speakers including Viv Cooper, Founder of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care. In addition there will be workshops on: Positive Behaviour Support - promoting positive coping skills and reducing challenging behaviour; Supporting people on the autistic spectrum; The Mental Capacity Act and transparency & quality in CMG.

A hot lunch is provided and the day is free of charge. Please contact Sue Pym on

sue.pym@cmg.co.uk or 01372 364000 by 31 Jan to reserve your place.

Would you like to help us raise awareness in the

community and generate more support? Do you

have a bit of spare time and enjoy getting out?

We would love to build up a group of volunteers

who can help us occasionally, be it distributing

flyers, meeting local community groups or helping

us manage our collection boxes. Please get in

touch with Tracey to find out more about ways you

could help if interested.

Could you be a community champion/ambassador?

Upcoming Events

Masquerade Ball—Thursday 12th Feb— 7.00 pm

Join us for our Adult Services masquerade Ball at Carshalton Social

Club and dance the night away—dress to impress! Tickets £5 £5

Connect 2 Parents Forum

11th March 1.30 to 3.00pm, Wallington Library

Do you struggle to find activities for the person you care for? Maybe you’d like some company on days out/trips or would like to extend your social/support network?

Connect 2 (our friendship project) will be holding a meeting for parent/carers to chat about ways you can link up with each other, share resources and make new friends.

This worked well for a couple of parents who carried on meeting up when our Friday bowling group ended. A small group now meet in Valley Park on Friday’s at 1.15pm (£3.15/game) and would welcome more to join their informal group. If interested please contact Jade who will put you in touch with them.

For more information and to book a place contact jade@suttonmencap.org.uk or phone 020 8647 8600.

Quiz Night—Saturday 21st March — 7.00 for 7.30pm

Join us at our popular Quiz Night at Crew Manor School and help

us raise funds whilst giving your brain cells a workout! Please

complete and return booking form enclosed.

SUTTON MENCAP 8 Stanley Park Road

Wallington

Surrey SM6 0EU

Tel: 020 8647 8600

Fax: 020 8647 8311 info@suttonmencap.org.uk

www.suttonmencap.org.uk

Director - David Hobday

Transition and Community Services Manager

- Olivia Griffin

Children’s Services and Inclusion Manager

- Laura Emmerson

Fundraiser - Tracey Hickey

Connect2 Project Manager - Jade Ogden Office Manager - Emma O'Connell

Finance Officer - Lynn Mason

Clerical & General Assistant - Rosemary Frost

Chairman: Mavis Peart 5 Stanley Square Carshalton SM5 4LX 020 8647 3382 Treasurer: Paul Solomon 30 South Drive Cheam SM2 7PN 020 8642 0496 paul.solomon@blueyonder.co.uk Charity No: 1080514

Build a Chinese Dragon Art Event—Tuesday 17th Feb—1-3pm

Riverside Centre—contact Olivia for more info.

Saturday 21st March 2015

7.00pm for 7.30pm prompt start

Carew Academy

Church Road

Wallington

Tickets £10

Includes fish and chips - bring your own drinks!

(Please make a note of the meal you have ordered to avoid confusion on

the night)

Please complete the tear off slip below and return with your

payment in advance before 14th March (if possible) :-

(Cheques made payable to Sutton Mencap)

Mavis Peart, 5 Stanley Square, Carshalton, SM5 4LX

Tel: 020 8647 3382

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Name_________________________________________________

Address_______________________________________________

Number of tickets required:______ Telephone Number:____________

SUTTON MENCAP

QUIZ NIGHT