The Maltings day and community service provides a safe, relaxed and friendly place for local people with learning disabilities to meet new friends. We encourage our members to get out into the local community, do the things they love and to live the life they choose.
Maggie Hazelwood, The Maltings Session Leader helped organise volunteering at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse museum at the beginning of 2018.
Maggie said:
“We were given day passes to explore the museum garden and farm and James and Tom took an instant interest in the museum and the machinery. Tim was keen on the garden and Lisa and Chris loved the animals. We had a good feeling that Gressenhall was going to be a fabulous setting for us, as they’re already a proud supporter of the autism charter and have many volunteers with varying abilities. We knew they would offer a great volunteering experience for the people we support.
“When we first started, we were given the responsibility of caring for the Laundry Yard, where the work included weeding, ivy clearing and path sweeping. We had to work as a team, and initially, James found this particularly hard. But we’ve since seen a huge improvement in the way he works alongside the others. He offers support and encouragement and we are so proud of how much he has progressed.”
James told us:
It gets me out and keeps me busy. I enjoy the session and working with Maggie and Chris the session leaders.
Maggie said:
“Following their success in the yard, the group have proved that they are capable and willing and we have been given lots of different tasks throughout the year. Everyone has worked really hard. We were recently involved with a major exhibition at the museum, where other members of The Maltings got involved, painting rocks with different story characters on. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the museum and are very excited for future projects.”
