The Shaw Centre’s First Open Day at Redbank House
The Shaw Centre held its first Open Day at our Redbank House premises, marking 28 years since their very first Open Day in 1990. Guests were welcomed by the Chairman of the charity, Dave Williams. The first speaker, John Rouse, Chief Executive at Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, came along and presented a speech. He started with, “It’s an exciting day of the year – the first day of The World Cup!”
Service users played the drums, which is one of their weekly activities at the learning disability day centre. The room was filled with people and everybody smiled as they saw the service users having fun.
A life-enhancing journey
Dave had the following to say about our venue:
It’s a very different place – it’s a delight to us all to have such a lovely space. Thanks to all of those who have supported us. We aim to continue to provide a quality of provision.
John expressed that Greater Manchester Health and Social Care aim to help on a Greater Manchester perspective supporting voluntarily led organisations. He expressed how life-enhancing The Shaw Centre’s journey has been – “Who could ask for more than that?”
Next, Mary Shaw’s daughter, Susan Samson, who is a Trustee at The Shaw Centre gave her speech. It was nice to have a moment of remembrance for Mary Shaw – the inspiration behind the name of the organisation. She explained that:
Small beginnings have lead to where we are today… This light and airy building has lifted our spirits.
Learning about self defence
Nicola, manager of The Shaw Centre welcomed members of staff from Evade – a martial arts and performance centre in Manchester. They had 5 service users who volunteered to take part in self defence demos to show us all what they had learnt. An area they focused on was a ‘drill of sensitivity’. Melissa, Paul, Charlene, David and Laura participated. The Evade team were excellent at keeping the activity as interactive as possible and keeping the service users focused.
A poem by Gwen, a service user at The Shaw Centre, ended the speeches. This was followed by lunch and the opportunity to away to service users and people involved with the charity over the years.
Thank you to Nicola and the team for inviting us. We think you’re doing an amazing job!
Visit The Shaw Centre website to learn more about the learning disability day centre.
