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History

Newbury Mencap started at an office upstairs in Brook House, Northbrook Street. Over the years we have grown, offered more services and developed across different sites in the Newbury area to become the Charity we are today, offering services to families, adults and children with complex learning needs.

ROYAL VISITORS TO MENCAP OVER THE YEARS

Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex
Visiting Link Up

Duke of Kent
Visiting Growing 4 all

(now renamed The Mulberry Garden)

The Queen
Visiting Link Up

We offer a full range of services for children and adults with a learning disability plus support and advice for families and carers locally

West Berkshire Mencap started off as Newbury Mencap in 1954 at a time when people with learning disabilities had few rights or resources. As a result of the scheme set up in a church hall locally by the founder members Social Services established a Day Centre for people with learning disabilities in Newbury. The first office for Newbury Mencap was in Northbrook Street and in 1996 we moved to our purpose built Centre at Enborne Gate as a result of a Section 106 agreement with the local authority. The Centre was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in October 1996. A couple of years later we changed our name to West Berkshire Mencap when the local authority became West Berkshire.

Having the Mencap Centre enabled us to deliver many more services based in the building. We were able to bring Bubble club, our mother and toddler group, back in house and start leisure activities for adults as well as run playschemes and eventually our after school club, all based at this purpose built Centre. Over the years it has had two major extensions and we run our Family Advisor Service from the Mencap Centre.

The charity was instrumental in founding a number of homes for adults with learning disabilities, the first of which opened in Lambourn in 1986, followed by another five, these were all managed by Royal Mencap. In 2010 Greenham Common Trust renovated a building in St Johns Road which became Heffernan House, named after our Presidents Arthur and Jean Heffernan. This is now a supported living unit providing high quality flats to seven tenants who all receive care from Your Choice Services, West Berkshire Mencap’s Domiciliary Care Service.

In 2013 Link Up, our supported work skills service, moved from Greenham Common to Bone Lane and took with it the name Slater Centre. This is a very popular service that works with about 25 people daily to work on mail shots, light assembly and learn new skills. This move has released a lot of space at the Mencap Centre as Leisure Plus has now moved to the Slater Centre and has its own dedicated space.

Our newly built horticultural and social inclusion facility, adjacent to the main Mencap Centre, currently provides opportunities for members to enjoy growing flowers and vegetables as well as learning woodworking skills.  Over the summer of 2023 the site will complete the pottery unit and crafting facilities.  This brand new site will offer so much more than our previous horticultural project at Cottesmore, we continue to fundraise to reach completion and to further develop these exciting opportunities for our members. We would be delighted if you could support this project with a donation, simply click the ‘donate’ button.  We look forward to seeing you at our ‘open days’ as the year progresses when we welcome our neighbours and wider community to explore, shop and enjoy this facility with us.

“I love it here, it is really, really great. I love the people. I feel I really matter now” – Paul Carter talking about his work placement at Trindledown (animal sanctuary)