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News of our site

Channel 4 comes to Style Acre! – June 2016

A  volunteer group from Channel 4 ran a special activities day at T2, themed around TV and Channel 4. During the day, Channel 4 helped our guys create a video, costumes, a menu and took part in a scavenger hunt. The activities were focused on topics we encourage the people we support to look at such as healthy eating, fitness, recycling and technology.

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News Update: Our charity shop has a revamp! – June 2016

Wallingford Mayor Ros Lester officially opened our refurbished Style Acre charity shop  to the applaud of people supported by Style Acre, volunteers, shoppers and staff.

The shop first opened its doors in 1998 and is the longest-standing independent charity shop in Wallingford. It is unique in that it is provides work experience for people with learning disabilities.

Style Acre has supported people with learning disabilities in the area for over 20 years and the charity shop was its first social enterprise, a calm safe environment where people could gain skills and independence. The charity shop has been embraced by the local community, who support the work of Style Acre by donating and buying goods, and volunteering at the shop.

Cutting the ribbon, Ros Lester said: “Style Acre supports many of our community members – in their home or out and about –  and it is always a pleasure to support the charity, which does amazing work. The shop also provides volunteering opportunities for local people – it is a an asset to the community in so many ways, supporting carers and clients.”

 Style Acre was fortunate to be awarded £545 from Waitrose in Wallingford’s Community Matters initiative earlier this year in support of the shop’s development.

Come along and visit us – we’re at 74 High Street, Wallingford OBX and open Monday to Saturday. We sell clothes, shoes, accessories, bric-a-brac, books, games and DVD’s. For enquiries, please contact the Manager, Tammy Wetherall, on 01491 824627

This story was featured in the Wallingford Herald, Oxford Times and Witney Gazette

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Style Acre community events January – June 2016

If you would like to be involved in our community fundraising events, please contact Chris Burrows  01491 827593

News update: Style Acre appeals to companies to give people with learning disabilities work experience – April 2016

Style Acre is committed to finding work opportunities for people with learning disabilities. Through the recent funding of a Job Coach, Style Acre has a small team who support people into the world of work.  Many people supported by Style Acre are keen to work, but need a helping hand to gain the confidence and skills to do so.

Styel Acre is appealing to companies in Oxfordshire to consider providing some work experience for someone we support.  Companies might at first find the idea daunting, but Style Acre ask companies to consider job carving – that is, thinking of bite size opportunities for people.  For example, Dan goes to work for an hour every Friday to scan the bar-codes of direct mail returns, so that the details are supressed for future mailings –  a job which no-one really had time to do, but one which has made Dan feel really valued. He never imagined being included in the world of work and the company have done so much for his self-esteem – they even give him a pay packet!

Our Job Coach supports and accompanies people supported to work, until they are confident enough to go to work alone. Some work experience opportunities have led to permanent jobs.

Hawkins Group in Banbury provide on-going work experience opportunities for people supported by Style Acre. They say: “Hawkins Group is delighted to support Style Acre.  For us, it’s not just about writing cheques, it is about helping Glenn & Ollie learn and develop workplace skills by becoming part of our team and seeing their confidence and independence grow every week.”

Hawkins Group Newsletter

Work development appeal featured in Round and About and Parklife (page 4)

Watch That’s Oxfordshire TV

 

News update: Style Acre’s Little Bookshop opens – January 2016

John Craven OBE officially opened the Style Acre second-hand bookshop on Monday January 11th. The shop – called ‘The Little Bookshop’ – is a social enterprise set up by local charity Style Acre and provides work experience for people with learning disabilities.

Enabling people with learning disabilities to gain work experience is very important and Style Acre proactively seeks work development opportunities for people they support.  One established Banbury company, Hawkins Group has committed to on-going work experience opportunities for people supported by Style Acre. They say: “Hawkins Group is delighted to support Style Acre.  For us, it’s not just about writing cheques, it is about helping Glenn & Ollie learn and develop workplace skills by becoming part of our team and seeing their confidence and independence grow every week.”

The Style Acre Banbury Resource (SABRe) opened last May and is a much-needed community hub in central Banbury, supporting adults with learning disabilities. SABRe is managed by Hannah Wolstenholme, who has worked for Style Acre for 4 years.  Hannah says:“Work experience is massively important to the people we support at SABRe. It has real value and gives the people we support not only the opportunity to develop work-based skills, but also essential skills including team work, time keeping and interpersonal skills. This in turn promotes a sense of achievement, self-confidence and self-worth among the people we support.”

Marianne who comes regularly to SABRe says:“I like being with people. Work experience makes me happy, I like the buzz of the workplace, it makes me feel warm inside. I get more confident as I learn new things.”

Listen to Hannah’s BBC Radio Oxford interview

Watch BBC South Today feature and That’s Oxfordshire TV

Read The Banbury Guardian and Oxford Times feature.

 

 

News update: Chris Ingram joins Style Acre – October 2015

Chris-IngramI am delighted to have finally arrived at Style Acre and started as the new Chief Executive.

I know you were all sad to see Kate go after so many years of friendship, inspiration and committment to the charity, and rightly so. I have been really impressed with everything I have seen in my first couple of weeks; friendly people, great support and fantastic values, all the things that made me decide to come to Style Acre in the first place. It is great to come to work and see so many happy smiling faces every day!

I have already met many people connected to Style Acre and hope to meet many more of you in the coming weeks to hear your views on what makes it such a great place to work and be supported. I plan to spend a day working in the Tea Room and the shop in Wallingford, and time at both Turnstyle and T2. I will be spending time with each Support Manager and looking for opportunities to shadow some support workers (feel free to volunteer).

Style Acre has achieved a huge amount in its 20 year history, providing opportunities for people with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire. This will continue because I am passionate about giving people choice and control, supporting people to play an active part in their community and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to develop friendships and get a job. I am keen to continue and enhance the work we do with families and look forward to attending my first Parents and Carers meeting at the end of the month. I look forward to building upon the connections and relationships we have with the local communities, businesses, trusts and Oxfordshire County Council because it is these partnerships which will help us achieve our goals.

I won’t go into great detail about myself right now but thought you would like to know a bit about my background. I have 21 years of experience in the social care sector, starting off as a support worker and working my way up through the various levels to my current position. I spent the last 8 years as Operations Director for a ‘not for profit’ organisation called Dimensions who also work with people with learning disabilities and autism, so am very familiar with the environment that Style Acre operates in and the challenges we face.

Please feel free to pop into my office or get in touch if there is anything you want to ask – you can contact me at cingram@styleacre.org.uk

‘Getting To Know You’ with Dame Stephanie Shirley and John Craven OBE – September 2015

Dame Stephanie Shirley and Sir John Craven

Dame Stephanie & John Craven - Getting to Know You (7.9.15)Style Acre hosted a superb event with Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley and our vice-patron John Craven OBE, entitled ‘Getting to Know You’. A unique occasion, Steve and John, who had never met before, learnt about each other’s lives in the beautiful setting of Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

Blessed with the last of our fine weather, guests enjoyed drinks in the college Quad and an opportunity to meet Steve and John, before moving into the chapel, where our speakers chatted about their lives.

Much is chronicled about Steve – a true pioneer. Poignant to today’s refugee crises, was her experience of arriving in the UK as an unaccompanied, cold, hungry and bewildered 5 year old refugee on the “Kindertransport” In promoting our event on BBC Radio Oxford, she spoke of this time and you can listen here.

John revealed that his father had been a POW in Japan and talked of his father’s absence and then presence during his early childhood. Steve said that she has been driven to make her life one that was worth saving.

An early IT professional, Steve found it hard to find employment as a new mum in the early 1960’s and responded by setting-up her own software business, offering home-based employment to professional women in similar situations (ironically falling foul of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975!). John’s first question during an hour of compelling conversation was “Why ‘Steve’?”. When she was requesting bank loans and signing her letter as ‘Stephanie Shirley’, banks would not respond to her letter: a few years later, she and her employees were writing software for the likes of Supersonic Concorde! Her company became immensely successful and Steve became wealthy, but she chose a modest lifestyle, given away £60m to establish and support charities – especially in the field of autism.

Steve spoke emotionally of her beautiful baby son Giles who at two, lost what little speech he had and became an unmanageable autistic toddler. Bringing Giles up at a time when little was known of the condition and how best to support someone with autism, was incredibly difficult.  So Steve set up Kingwood, initially a place for Giles to live and thrive – now a charity providing supported living and support for 100 people with autism.

No matter how successful we are, we will all experience challenge, success, tragedy, joy and sacrifice. John felt the biggest sacrifice to his success has been his privacy, although he has thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of his career – starting off as a journalist on the Harrogate Advertiser (cutting his teeth in Obituaries, where an obit of his was erroneously posted to the very much alive subject!), to switching to Saturday morning children’s TV, Newsround and Countryfile.

We are most grateful to Steve and John, for donating their time and proceeds from the sale of their books at the event, to Style Acre. Thanks to Harris Manchester for hosting our event and providing a delicious and much complimented lunch. We would also like to thank Kingerlee and Thomas Merrifield for providing corporate sponsorship towards the event.

 

In the News: Wantage Market Garden – August 2015

They spent two years transforming a dull corner of their town into a lush, green paradise.

Last Friday the volunteers behind Wantage Market Garden flung open its gate to turn their little secret into a treat for the whole town.

The project at Charlton Day Centre for adults with learning disabilities is a joint venture with low carbon group Sustainable Wantage and disability support charity Style Acre.

When they started work in October 2013, project co-ordinator Dr Olwen Barlow said: “Over the past two years we have been bringing it back to life.”

The group is providing gardening opportunities for the community and invites people to help out on Fridays and Sundays.

On Friday, about 40 members of the public visited the garden and admired the tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflowers and beautiful flowers.

Dr Barlow, who lives in Charlton, said: “We had a steady stream of people coming through who seemed to enjoy themselves.”

To find out more about volunteering call Dr Barlow on 07527201559 or go to sustainablewantage.org.uk