Instagram Post
Thursday 24th April 2025
Yesterday, we said goodbye to Marianne Manson, our amazing Volunteering and Community Co-ordinator. Over the past two and a half years, Marianne has been a driving force behind so many of our successes. From tirelessly writing grant and trust applications to securing vital funding, her work has helped us continue to grow as an inclusive, welcoming hub for our community. She’s led inspiring projects with a lasting impact—like Seeds of Change, which explored the history of Mencap Cottage and saw our members collaborate on a play with @_inanotherplace and co-write a wonderful book (still available to buy!) with our volunteer Paul Tandy. She also brought creativity to life with the vibrant @coffeeatmencap Upcycle event alongside @gemma_longworth_diy , local artists and a team of volunteers turning old furniture into unique, colourful pieces and equipping our members with the skills to do it themselves. Marianne truly lived our values of “creating a world where everyone is valued equally.” She found funding to make our beloved Cottage fully accessible (building work is underway!) and supported projects like our weekly gardening group and helping members take part in the Crosby Park Run. The good news? Marianne isn’t leaving us completely—she’ll still be volunteering at Thursday Club because, in her words, “I just love working with our members.” Thank you, Marianne, for everything. We’ll miss you around the office, but we’re so excited for what’s next in your journey. Wishing you all the very best in your new role!
Published by ig on 2025-04-24T09:07:45+0000
Instagram Post
Thursday 17th April 2025
Our @mencapliverpool member Sue has been preparing for the next recording of our Radio Show 'Reach Out'which is broadcast on @lcr_106.7fm On the next show Sue will be interviewing Paul Tandy one of our volunteers and Marianne Manson Volunteering and Community Co-ordinator about the history of Mencap Cottage. As part of the @heritagefunduk 'Seeds of Change' project Paul and Marianne researched the history of our cottage and also Mencap and wrote a book. Sue was looking through the book they wrote and preparing questions for them both - it was really interesting but one thing in particular caught her eye and she read the passage out loud. Sue was the matron in the play about the cottage - the matron was an important figure for many years when it was a convalescent home and a place where the poor children of Liverpool came for fresh air, wholesome food and kindness. Sue has worked really hard and he next edition of 'Reach Out 'promises to be as good as the last!
Published by ig on 2025-04-17T16:28:57+0000
Instagram Post
Thursday 17th April 2025
This week was our 5th week of the @firstpersonprojectcic FundaMENTALLY Healthy Course and we talked about Goal Setting and Motivation. The atmosphere of openess, honesty and trust that the staff at First Person Project have created has truly benefitted our members to speak up and express how we feel, ask questions and share stories. We talked about our dreams and how sometimes dreams are fictional - like winning the jackpot on the lottery and how sometimes dreams can come true if we make a plan and set goals. We talked about motivation and people said that the thing that makes the most impact Is when we receive praise or a compliment on the work that we have done - we need to be aware of the ripples we make on the people and world around us and the lives we touch. We also talked about self motivation when things get tough - our members do have more strategies in place than we realise - like booking tickets ahead of time so that we have to go and not cancel last minute was a great example of this. Next week is our last session and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at First Person Project CIC - thank you particularly to Tom, Alice and Shannon and thank you to our members for engaging and getting fully involved to get the most from this brilliant opportunity we've been given. See you all next week!
Published by ig on 2025-04-17T16:07:28+0000
Instagram Post
Thursday 17th April 2025
There were lots of fantastic organisations that were present to speak with staff @whisc_liv @andysmanclubuk @unisontheunion @nhspensionhelp @enterprisecreditunion @firstpersonprojectcic @gemma_longworth_diy @cottageofdreamsuk @emmaswildgarden @the_lodge_wellness_centre @thebraincharity @royalbritishlegion @firstpersonprojectcic Thank you to Natasha @alderhey for including us at your Staff Wellness day
Published by ig on 2025-04-17T15:32:17+0000
Instagram Post
Thursday 17th April 2025
Also at the @alderhey Staff Wellbeing Day we had a lovely catch up with Laura from the @thebraincharity It was a brilliant event and a great opportunity for @mencapliverpool Outreach Champions to promote what we do - great work team!
Published by ig on 2025-04-17T15:20:56+0000
Instagram Post
Monday 14th April 2025
We have also had a catch up with @gemma_longworth_diy who revamped the furniture @coffeeatmencap in May 2023 and spent a gorgeous 3 days with members teaching us all how to sugar soap, paint and prime our furniture - and it is all going strong today! She was also very impressed with our mini chairs decorated by one of our chair artists Lorraine Hughes - they are funky! We use these at events to promote @coffeeatmencap
Published by ig on 2025-04-14T11:30:55+0000
EasyFundraising for Mencap Liverpool & Sefton!
30th January 2025
Can’t afford to donate but like to shop? Please support us by signing up to EasyFundraising! It only takes a minute and won’t cost you a penny!
EasyFundraising partners with over 7,000 brands who will donate part of what you spend on your shopping to a cause of your choice. It won't cost you any extra. The cost is covered by the brand.
Brands pay us a commission because when you start your shop from the EasyFundraising website or app, they can see we sent you to them. If you make a purchase, a commission is generated, and we turn that into a donation - magic!
You can sign up to support Mencap Liverpool and Sefton, via Easyfundraising here: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/mencap-liverpool/
Published by tom on Thu Jan 30 2025 18:34:41 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Thursday Club with the SoSo Choir
Thursday 9th May 2024
Thursday Club has been meeting for 61 years at Mencap Community Cottage and are very much a part of the fabric of the local area in Crosby.
Thursday Club members are a fantastic group of friends - some of our members went to school together, or day services and this is the only place where people get to meet up with friends.
Each quarter our Outreach Manager plans a program of sessions which has been informed by our members at the yearly review.
Members get to get involved with a wide range of things - art, zumba, accessible bikes, silent discos, Boos Zoo visits, coach trips and more.
Every session is supported by a member of our staff team either our Outreach Manager, Progressions Coordinator or Fundraising and Communities Coordinator who work as a team to support our members and team of volunteers to have a fantastic evening each week!
This week we welcomed Su Grainger and some members of her SoSo (Singing Our Socks Off) Choir and it was an absolutely incredible evening!
Su and her team sing with our members and also sing requests and invite our members to sing and dance.
As well as the Choir we had an artistic corner where people got creative and it was a lovely evening.
Big thank you to Su and her Choir and our fantastic team of volunteers who make our Thursday Club possible.
Published by Jo on Fri May 10 2024 12:41:52 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Open Afternoon at Mencap Community Cottage
Wednesday 17th April 2024
On Wednesday 17th April we held an Open Afternoon at Mencap Community Cottage - everyone was welcome to drop in and find out more about:
⭐️ becoming a member
⭐️ or a volunteer
⭐️ the sessions organised for our members
⭐️ the improvements we have made to our building
⭐️ our future plans to make the building even better
⭐️our community sessions
⭐️our superb Coffee at Mencap
The day was a real success and our members worked incredibly hard showing people around, meeting and greeting people, talking about Mencap Liverpool and Sefton, manning information tables, serving tea and coffee and selling some of the indoor plants we have grown. Thank you to our members for your hardwork.
We were really lucky to have photographer June Poston LRPS come along for the afternoon and take these brilliant photos. Halton Day Service Samba Band opened our event and our members had an impromptu Sumba session supported by our Zumba Instructor Louise Rooney - the photos taken by June truly capture the happiness and confidence people felt.
We are so thankful to the people who volunteer their time to help in such a huge range of ways - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Published by Jo on Thu May 09 2024 17:15:42 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)