Month: April 2017

Following months of preparation, hard work and dedication from staff and supporters of Oak Trees, £1,108.14 was raised at the Oak Trees Jumble Sale, which took place in Attleborough on Saturday 22 April.

The jumble sale, which was the brainchild of Community Support Worker, Marie Marsh, was one of the projects currently being worked on to raise money for a much needed, second-hand people-carrier so that adults with a learning difficulty using the Oak Trees Respite and Supported Living Services can enjoy trips out.

Marie worked tirelessly in the lead-up to the event to ensure it was well publicised and that stalls were fully stocked. Lots of staff and families of service users contributed clothing, bric-a-brac and soft furnishings to ensure the sale was a success.

Final preparations and setting up started early on Saturday morning, and it was a pleasure to see guests and tenants working alongside staff, parents and family members on the various stalls.

A huge thank you goes to Marie for organising the event so well, and to everyone who played a part in making the day such a success, from those who donated and bought goods, to the cake-bakers, refreshment providers and stallholders, as well as the organisations and individuals who gave financial donations. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Our minds are now focussed on the Oak Trees disco, which is being held at the Attleborough Town Hall on 13 May. If you’d like to support us by donating a raffle prize, or would like to purchase tickets for the event, please give us a call on 01953 457360. We would love to hear from you.

The amount raised at the Jumble Sale brings our fundraising total so far, to £4,796.66, taking us a few steps closer to buying a vehicle for those using our learning difficulty services to enjoy – brilliant!

Event photo gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally Hanlin and Ben Hughes attended an insightful and motivating evening with John Bird, a peer in the House of Lords and founder of The Big Issue, who came to Norwich to share his story of setting up the publication, the more recent Big Issue Invest programme and his ongoing fight for a better deal for vulnerable people.

The event, which was organised by Your Own Place CIC and hosted by Rebecca White, Director and Founder of this social enterprise, and also an Empanda Board Member, took place at St Giles House Hotel in Norwich last week.

Follow this link for full coverage in the Eastern Daily Press.

We were delighted to be presented with a cheque to the value of £250 from the Wymondham Golf Society, as a contribution towards a vehicle for adults with a learning difficulty using the Oak Trees Respite and Supported Living Services in Attleborough.

Outings and trips out, including going to the cinema, swimming, bowling, going to restaurants/pubs and out of town supermarkets, are thoroughly enjoyed by our guests and service users and create happy memories of their time with us.

Formed in 1974, The Wymondham Golf Society has some 60 members and holds five matches a year at different courses and three inter-club matches. John Barnard, Hon Secretary, has devised a clever way in which to raise money for charity at these events through giving out fines to members for minor ‘misdemeanours’!

Oak Trees holds a special place in the hearts of Committee Member Roger Morgan and his wife Jane. Their son James, who has Asperger’s, spends three weeks a year at the Respite Service.

A big thank you to John, Roger, Jane and the members of  the Wymondham Golf Society for their kind donation which brings our vehicle fundraising total to £3,688.52.

1 April marked Empanda’s first Anniversary and we celebrated this milestone in style with a ‘cup cake and cuppa ’ tour around all of our projects, meeting with customers and staff for a chat and a well-deserved thanks for their hard work during our first year.

We started our day in Suffolk, where we met with customers, staff and one of our board members at the Brandon Day Centre, who enjoyed their cupcakes with an early morning cuppa.

Next stop was Attleborough, where we spent some time chatting with a customer and staff at the Oak Trees Respite Service, before driving up to North Norfolk to Cromer, Sheringham and Stalham for afternoon tea with some of our staff and young people.

We were delighted to be joined by our HR consultant, Flic Henry, who drove up from London to spend the whole day with us, getting to know our staff and customers.

It’s hard to believe that Empanda is now one year old! In some ways, it seems like only yesterday that we were planning it’s creation and in other ways, it seems like a like a lifetime ago. Our first year has been a real roller coaster ride with, at times, tough roads to navigate, but we are pleased that we go into our second year feeling positive and excited of what’s to come.

Credit must go to the wonderful group of people we work alongside, who have helped make our dream a reality. Our staff team, have proved to be caring, dedicated and great ambassadors for Empanda. Our commissioners and colleagues in local government have been loyal, supportive and great advocates. Our board, who volunteer their time and expertise, are creative, innovative and encouraging of all that we do and our partners help us by providing excellent services to support the work of Empanda. We are extremely fortunate to have this backing and know that we have only made it this far because of the combined efforts of our colleagues, commissioners, board and partners.

As we enter our second year, we are excited about exploring new ways to improve all the services we provide and to forge ahead with our plans to raise sufficient funding to purchase a vehicle for Oak Trees and to transform the Brandon Day Centre into a vibrant community hub that can be enjoyed by the people who use the day care service, as well as the wider community.