BAKE OFF FUNDRAISER: This is another way that you could help raise money for us. The next year or more is going to be tough for all charities and every little bit helps. For example I am making 5 Christmas cakes and asking the people who ordered them to donate to Oxford and District Mencap

Can you find something to do such as make, mend, bake, give expert advice to someone who pays for it by making a donation to Oxford and District Mencap? We quite understand that this will not be possible for all of you so if you are unable to help don’t worry.

Examples of what you could do are:

Knitting

Sewing

Baking – particularly Christmas baking.

Mending/fixing

Advising e.g. architectural or marketing advice

Tutoring

Gardening

Washing cars

Dog walking

Babysitting

No task or donation is too small. The donation can be made by bank transfer or PayPal (via the website)Do contact administrator@oxfordmencap.org.ukif you want to take part in this.

Christmas Raffle: Alice Lowe, one of the team, has organised a Christmas raffle for us follow the link to buy tickets.

Oxford Mencap Raffle 2020! | Oxford & District Mencap (Powered by Donorbox)

To fundraise, Oxford & District Mencap are running a virtual raffle, to be drawn on December 19th, 2020. We have some fabulous prizes, including the following:

– Family/individual photoshoot with Bea Wardlaw

– Dinner for two at The Cherwell Boathouse

– Boat trip for six in Henley-on-Thames

– Voucher for The Trout Inn

– Olympian hockey masterclass and signed t-shirt

– 1 hour French conversation lesson

– £30 Gatineau voucher

– £15 Natural Bread voucher

– Christmas pudding

– Sophie Allport picnic rucksack

More prizes will be announced soon!

Once you have purchased your raffle tickets, we will send you an email with your raffle numbers. If you win a prize, we will then arrange the delivery of the prize with you via email too.

Good luck! 

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK STREAMED ONLINE: We find ourselves in unexpected and forever changing times with our great festive tradition of the family pantomime cancelled in many towns and cities across the land. But riding to the rescue to make sure that panto-loving audiences don’t miss out on this special Christmas experience is ‘Blue Peter’ legend Peter Duncan with his biggest and best “Here’s One I Made Earlier” challenge! Peter, a critically acclaimed Panto Dame, Writer and Director, has decided to use his own ‘Giant’ back garden to film JACK AND THE BEANSTALK – an interactive socially distanced pantomime complete with ingenious sets, fabulous costumes, special effects… and even a real beanstalk!

This Christmas Panto Online will stream JACK AND THE BEANSTALK directly into homes for the perfect family treat. We promise you boos, cheers, ‘he’s behind yous’… oh no he isn’t!, a sing-a- long song sheet plus all the classic pantomime antics that we love. 

To find out more, please contact Katie Hollier by e mail at katie.hollier@yahoo.co.uk.

Like so many other things that have had to be cancelled since the start of the pandemic our usual Hill End Holiday residential camps loved by many are not possible this year but our holiday coordinators Katie and Matt have come up with the idea of ‘HILL End Private Park’.

Over the past few weeks we have been contacting our campers to see how they are. Many have been having a difficult time with all their usual activities shut down and some were keen that we offer something. After waiting to see if restrictions were to be lifted we have now decided to go ahead. We are all allowed to go to a park so long as we social distance so Hill End will be our private park open to our campers from 1.30-6.30 on the dates below. Everyone will have their own space and their own loo! Our leaders have been thinking up some great activities and entertainment.
Each guest needs to come with a parent or carer but the volunteers that they know will be there – just at the required distance. If you would like to come as a guest with a parent or carer or just want to know more do contact administrator@oxfordmencap.org.uk If you would like to volunteer it is the same email address.

The dates will be as follows:

Week 1 and Top Camp Tuesday 21st July – Saturday 25th July
Week 2 Tuesday 28th July – Saturday 4th August
Week 3 Tuesday 4th August – Saturday 8th August

How we plan to keep everyone safe:

Drama Workshop: One of our wonderful volunteers, Chloe Taylor, is running a weekly drama workshop on Zoom every Monday at 4.30pm. The disco is also organised by Chloe with help from our Vice Chair Scott Ellis and starts at 6pm. Please contact our coordinator Matt Follows on matthew.follows@oxfordmencap.org.uk to get the link each week. 

Zoom Disco: It’s time to get your dancing shoes on for a weekly Zoom meet of boogieing, rocking and singing, every Friday 6pm-7pm! All guests, carers, families and volunteers (past and present) are invited to join this disco extravaganzas, to dance the night away! 🕺💃

The discos take place over ZOOM, the virtual meeting platform so that we can maintain social distance but still have a great time together. If you want to join us  please email administrator@oxfordmencap.org.uk, who will send you an invite link and password to the disco. You need to set up ZOOM on your PC iPad or smartphone If you are unsure how to download or use Zoom, please let us know and we will guide you through the process!
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We would LOVE your song requests! Therefore, at the end of your RSVP email please include at least one song that gets you moving or reminds you of Hill End Camp 🎶🎵
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Please email or DM us if you have any questions or concerns. We want as many people as possible to join so please spread the word

Molly recommends putting it on gallery so you can see everyone dancing You can do this by putting it on full screen and clicking on the little grid square in the left hand corner.

Here is the link to the collaborative Spotify playlist which lists all the music that will be played so far: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7xYXNiA4hBPvjbYP9K4515?si=JpFrqOjfTr-72N_BBYTvEA 

Please do let Molly know any music requests. Her email address is molly.fleming@outlook.com

Also dressing up and disco lights very much encouraged if you would like to! xx

Have fun see you there!!!

This is a very worrying time for us all and we know that some of our families are concerned about how their children/relatives with a learning disability would cope if they needed hospital admission, especially as patients do not seem to be allowed to have family members with them.

Copied below is some useful information from Oxford University Hospitals which ‘Down’s Syndrome Oxford’ are very happy to share with you. If you scroll to the bottom of this page, there is also a link to a hospital passport to fill in, which would be very helpful to hospital staff who might be caring for a child or adult with a learning disability.

There is also information available on the Royal National Mencap website: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health/coronavirus-covid-19

COVID HOSPITAL PASSPORT PDF FILE

It is with regret that we have decided that the 7 o clock club will be suspended for the time being due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

We know that many people will be disappointed but the alternative could put vulnerable people at risk. We hope to be up and running as soon as possible. Please check the website for updates.

If you would like to come to this wonderful evening of song and support Oxford and District Mencap, please go onto the Old Fire station website to buy tickets. All money from the ticket sales is going to Oxford and District Mencap as the hire of the venue has been generously paid for by donors. Thank you so much for all your support!

A group of our holiday volunteers are going to attempt the Three Peaks 24hr Challenge from Saturday 2nd May 2nd – Sunday 4th May 2020. 

The Three Peaks 24hr Challenge involves 23 miles of walking up Snowden, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis. We would love as many people involved as possible. If you fancy joining us on this exciting expedition, please contact administrator@oxfordmencap.org.uk.

If you would like to sponsor the people taking part, please click on the following link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/oxfordmencap3peaks 

A big thank you to the Scottish Medical Students who took part in a fund raising sports tournament. A special thanks to Izzie Dighero who chose Oxford and District Mencap as one of the charities.