Mencap Liverpool & Sefton - empowering learning disabilities

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Sunday 27th July 2025

Heritage Walk Highlights – Formby Edition! On A recent outing with Tony's Walking Group explored the history of Formby on a brilliant Heritage Walk! We were lucky to have Helen Duerden, Sefton’s Heritage Officer, open up the Formby Heritage Centre just for us to look around before we set off. Big thanks also to Rev Lilly Nelson, Deacon of the beautiful St Peter’s Church, who welcomed us in and shared stories about the church’s fascinating past Despite the humid heat, the group clocked nearly 10,000 steps – a fantastic achievement! Well done to everyone who took part. More walks will be coming soon, including the Formby “B” Walk (beach route!) and a Netherton Heritage Walk later in the year – watch this space! #HeritageWalk #MencapLiverpool #SeftonHistory #FormbyWalk #InclusionInAction #LearningDisabilities #AccessibleAdventures #CommunityConnection #WalkAndTalk #LocalHistory #GetOutside #FormbyHeritage #StPetersChurch #VolunteeringTogether

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Sunday 27th July 2025

OnTuesday our gardeners were lucky with the weather and had a great turnout for the Garden Drop-In 🌦️🌻 ⭐ Star of the day was Paul H, who helped harvest our first batch of new potatoes with Emily’s support (see pic!) Our delicious Mencap Organic Spuds are on sale soon in the Coffee Shop! ✅️ Ken collected a big bowl of poppy seeds from our plants – we’ll be selling these too. ✅️ Steve worked on clearing the front garden for a new gravel patch. ✅️Paul T and James tackled a tricky shelf removal (and won!) so we could finish painting the big room. ✅️ Simon took on the weeds, while Andy gave the front lawn a much-needed mow after all that rain. ✅️ Matty, Emily, and Carol, with support, lifted our tree saplings and arranged them ready for planting in autumn – we now have around 20 beautiful Rowan, Birch and Wild Cherry trees! And a big shout-out to Carol for a brilliant job sorting the garden shed – it’s never been easier to find what we need! A great day all round 💚 #CommunityGardening #InclusionInAction #MencapLiverpool #LearningDisabilities #GreenSpace #GetOutside #GardenDropIn #UrbanGrowing #VolunteeringMatters

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Sunday 27th July 2025

Our Outreach Champions met today to discuss the Liverpool City Council Consultation on Non-Residential Social Care Charging Policy Proposals We asked for the consultation in easy read format, which really helped us understand it better and made sure everyone could get involved. The consultation covers 4 proposals: 🔹️Paying a fee to set up care 🔹️Paying the real cost of care 🔹️Paying for two carers 🔹️Paying for pet care and storage It sparked a really thoughtful and lively discussion—full of questions, opinions and important conversations. A special shout-out to our member Katie, who came along for the first time today with her mum who observed. Their feedback? "I loved the way everyone was involved and had their say." "I'll definitely be back next week!" Our Outreach Champions are amazing advocates—raising awareness of learning disabilities, promoting Mencap Liverpool & Sefton, learning new things and trying new things. To be an Outreach Champion members need to be reliable, committed, good at speaking up, good at listening and a role model. Our members are an amazing team who help and support each other. The consultation deadline is 17 August 2025 – Have your say here: https://liverpool.gov.uk/council/consultation-and-engagement/consultation/consultation-on-the-non-residential-social-care-charging-policy Amazing work, team! #MencapLiverpoolAndSefton #OutreachChampions #LearningDisabilities #HaveYourSay #LiverpoolConsultation #SocialCare #EasyRead #InclusionMatters #AdvocacyInAction #DisabilityVoices #Teamwork #SpeakingUp #AccessibleConsultation #LDInclusion #GetInvolved #WeAreMencap #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs

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Sunday 27th July 2025

On Thursday, Mencap Liverpool & Sefton member Kyle Wallace delivered his first ever Oliver McGowan Level 2 Training session as an Expert with Lived Experience, alongside lead trainer Tom at Shakespeare North Playhouse Kyle and Tom met online ahead of the session to run through the slides, get to know each other, and discuss any adjustments needed on the day. Kyle shared: “I was nervous, but I think I did really well.” And we couldn’t agree more! The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is vital for health and social care staff. It was developed after Oliver’s tragic death and is now a legal requirement under the Health and Care Act 2022 for all CQC-registered providers. Kyle led the morning session with confidence, and the feedback from staff was fantastic—a real confidence boost and a brilliant example of lived experience at the heart of training Well done Kyle—keep raising awareness and speaking up! #MencapLiverpoolAndSefton #OliverMcGowanTraining #LearningDisabilityAwareness #ExpertWithLivedExperience #InclusionMatters #LDandAutismTraining #ShakespeareNorth #CQC #ConfidenceBoost #DisabilityVoices #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #LDChampion #GreatJobKyle #SpeakUpForChange

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Sunday 27th July 2025

Our amazing core team of presenters absolutely smashed it today working together as a team! We’re gearing up to record on Friday 8th August after 2pm – so the countdown is on! Lewis has confirmed that Louise, who runs our FREE community Zumba every Wednesday at 1:30pm at Mencap Community Cottage, is already drafting a brilliant script. Tony will be chatting with Becca from In Another Place, who’s worked with our members on the History of Mencap Community Cottage play (part of the Seeds for Change project) and also with our Thursday Club. So much to talk about! Rachel is busy writing questions for PC Geoff Graham who we are hoping will be available to come on for our August show. Sue will be interviewing our member Katie to find out more about her life. Looking ahead to our September show and Kevin has lined up Ronnie from the GMB to speak about what the union does Everyone is working SO hard to raise awareness of learning disabilities and celebrate the voices of Mencap Liverpool & Sefton and we are really grateful to Steve and the team @LCR_106.7fm for supporting us to do this. Amazing work, team! #MencapLiverpoolAndSefton #LCR_106.7fm #LearningDisabilityAwareness #CommunityRadio #InclusionMatters #DisabilityVoices #RadioPrep #Teamwork #SeedsForChange #InAnotherPlace #GMBUnion #ZumbaForAll #ThursdayClub #CommunityCottage #AmplifyingVoices #LDWeek #MakingADifference

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Wednesday 23rd July 2025

📢📢THIS FRIDAY 25TH JULY 1PM 📢📢 Presenting.....The Cinnamon Roll of Happiness, a fun and thought provoking play featuring local talent from Company Of Friends, Company B and our very own Mencap Members 🤩🎭🙌 🕐1pm 🗓️ Friday 25th July 📍Mencap Community Cottage 🏷️FREE Free & Open to all, come along and support, celebrate and enjoy and why not treat yourself to a delicious drink or snack at @coffeeatmencap while you're at it! ☕🧋🍘🥪😋 To find out more, get in touch with Nadine on 07435755140 📱 #Cinnamonrollofhappiness #localtheatre #localtalent #freeevent #inclusionmatters #community

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Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Last month for our Monthly Mindfulness Matters session, we took a walk to St John Gardens and headed on a Rainbow Walk, taking time to step and take notice of all the colours of the rainbow around us 🌈 The rainbow is a great reminder of inclusivity and love, very apt for Pride Month 🌈❤️ Then we headed to the World Museum where we found both Nemo and Dory, it was a great morning exploring our city! #inclusivitymatters #mindfulness #pridemonth🌈

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Monday 14th July 2025

We had a full house at The Croissant this week! We were coming up with ideas for future interviews on our show "Reach Out" on LCR 106.7fm – and people came up with some exciting suggestions. Our next task is to approach people and ask then if they would like to get involved. Lewis wants to interview our amazing Zumba instructor Louise, who delivers free Zumba every Wednesday at 1:30pm at the Cottage, plus fitness sessions at Thursday Club 💃 He’s also hoping to chat with one of his artist friends from Blue Room Ste Leigh wants to highlight the Easy Read campaign Rachel is keen to speak about our upcoming work with The Womens, and hopes to interview PC Geoff Graham about important issues like cuckooing in more depth Tony, our fantastic volunteer, hopes to chat with Becca from In Another Place about the Qwerkies and some of the other creative sessions we have been working with her and the team from IAP on. We also want to hear from our members – sharing their stories and experiences Last month, with support from LCR 106.7fm supported us to shout about equality, inclusion and learning disability rights 💪 We’re proud, we’re passionate, and we’re just getting started. Let’s keep pushing for a world that hears ALL our voices 🎙️❤️ #ReachOutRadio #LearningDisabilityVoices #CommunityMedia #DisabilityInclusion #LCR_106.7fm #MencapLiverpoolAndSefton #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #LearningDisabilityAwareness #RadioForChange #ZumbaForAll #InAnotherPlace #QwerkiesTrail #SupportNotStigma #CongenitalHeartNetwork #InclusionMatters #WeHaveAVoice #EqualityForAll

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Monday 14th July 2025

Last Thursday Mencap Liverpool and Sefton attended the Health & Social Care Forum on Zoom – and it was great to be present. We heard some really useful updates on: - The Shaping Care Together NHS consultation - The Sefton Place Neighbourhood Model - The CQC inspection of Sefton’s Adult Social Care earlier this year It’s always good to hear about what’s happening locally and how organisations are working together to improve services for our community. We came away feeling informed – thank you to everyone who made the session so useful #HealthAndSocialCare #SeftonSupport #ShapingCareTogether #SeftonPlace #CQCInspection #LearningTogether #InclusionMatters #CommunityHealth #WorkingTogether #DisabilityInclusion #MencapLiverpoolandSefton

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Monday 14th July 2025

📚 Lunch & Learn with SWACA 💬 Last week, our Outreach Manager Jo and Progression Lead Hannah joined a brilliant Lunch and Learn session run by SWACA – Sefton Women’s and Children’s Aid ❤️ The focus was on a really important but often overlooked topic: domestic abuse affecting older people. The session helped us learn more about the unique challenges older adults face when experiencing abuse – and what we as professionals and community organisations can do to help. It was a powerful reminder that abuse can affect anyone, at any age, and that awareness, support and compassion are key in helping people feel safe and heard. Thank you SWACA for your amazing work and for helping us all be better informed and more aware 🙌 #SWACA #LunchAndLearn #DomesticAbuseAwareness #SafeguardingMatters #OlderPeopleMatter #InclusionForAll #SupportNotStigma #CommunityLearning #MencapLiverpoolSefton #SafeguardingAdults #DisabilityInclusion #AgeingWithDignity #SeftonSupport #KeepLearning #CommunityAwareness

Our Strategic Objectives

May 2025

Our Team have thought about the ways that we can improve everything that we do.

So we have created 4 strategic objectives that will guide all of our work. These are

1. Maximising out income to ensure financial stability of the charity - increasing our % of unrestricted income year on year
2. Supporting our members to grow and thrive by providing a safe space for members to explore, grow and get help during difficult times.
3. Creating a community environment where everyone is welcome -providing a community space that promotes inclusivity and broadens our reach.
4. Promoting Mencap Liverpool & Sefton across a wide range of partners and stakeholders.

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/

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.

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.

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This is our timeline page, where we you can scroll through our social media and other posts!

Posts and Articles Timeline👋

This is our timeline page, where we you can scroll through our social media and other posts!

Posts and Articles Timeline
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