contact -
Gill McDonald - 01892 834577
Debbie Salt - 01959 533292Newsletter - September 2008
Coffee Mornings
Afasic’s 40th Birthday
Afasic’s Celebrations
Unit and Designation Review
ASD Drop-In Sessions Tonbridge
Our Space – VIP KIDZ
Disability Football – Paddock Wood
Stokers Youth Club
FIREFLYS
Waitrose Grants
Fund Raising
And Finally
The next coffee morning will be from 10am to 12 midday on Tuesday 7th October 2008 at Suzanne’s house in Sevenoaks. The phone number for Suzanne is – 01732 452151 . There is currently no speaker .
Afasic’s 40th Birthday back to top
Having followed the BBC weather forecast all week and watched the weather predictions (of rain and gales) get gradually worse for Sunday; we were delighted that early on Sunday morning the weather was dry and sunny. The bouncy castle was delivered in sunshine at midday but before it could be inflated it began to rain! We then started to erect the marquee next to the bouncy castle so that parents could be in the shade (or by then - that was in the dry!) while they watched their children bounce. By the time we had erected the marquee the protection it gave from the wind and rain was wasted on us (the Salt and McDonald families) because we were now all completely soaked. We then all squelched inside to prepare the hall for the magic show and the birthday tea. As parents arrived they all said ‘what awful weather’ but none were as wet as us! The children, teenagers and adults were all enthralled by the magic show while it rained and the wind blew outside. Eventually we noticed that the marquee while attempting to take off had collapsed. After the magic show we decided to serve tea promptly as there was nothing else to do. After the cutting of the cake and a small speech by the White family, who set up West Kent Afasic over 15 years ago, the rain stopped and all the children were able to go outside. The last hour was spent with the children bouncing and playing in brilliant sunshine. We said we wanted a memorable party, let’s hope everyone remembers the party for the good time they had and not the appalling weather! I would like to thank the White family for their past and present involvement in Afasic, Debbie and Amy for preparing all the food, Sarah for making the cake, Colin for the photos, Mick for blowing up the balloons, Kelly for making the teas and coffees and Colin, Steve, Saeed, Tom and Ben for retrieving the collapsed marquee. Thank you every one.
Afasic’s Celebrations back to top
Afasic Central Office have several exciting events planned for the autumn to celebrate Afasic’s 40th Birthday.
The 40th anniversary is being celebrated by a special reception to be held on Wednesday 26 November 2008 in London. Central Office are currently selling tickets for this event.
They are also organising a sponsored silence and Guinness world record attempt. This will take place during the week commencing 20 October 2008. They'd like to encourage everyone to take part and raise money for Afasic.
Full details about both these events are at www.afasic.org.uk/news.htm
Please join in and support these events - after all, it is Afasic’s 40th anniversary year!
Unit and Designation Review back to top
It currently looks like that there will not be a ‘2nd stage consultation on Phase 2 proposals’ which was due in May 2008.
KCC inform me that ‘Although a second stage consultation was identified in the timetable to the Cabinet report in Feb 2008, there were no further matters on which to consult, in that there were no changes made to the proposals and the one matter that is still outstanding for consultation purposes is the matter of the funding proposals’
I do not understand how a consultation can be identified and then be decided that there is nothing to consult on! I have written to Chris Wells, who is the KCC Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Educational Achievement, and asked for an explanation. I am awaiting his reply.
If anyone else would like to follow this up – please do so. If you would like more information (such as a copy of my letter to Chris Wells in December 2007, his reply in February 2008, KCC’s full reply explaining why there will be no further consultation etc) please contact me and I can ‘fill you in’.
ASD Drop-In Sessions Tonbridge back to top
ASD Drop-In Sessions are ongoing at the Speech and Language Therapy department at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital for parents of children with an ASD Diagnosis who attend school in the Cranbrook, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks clusters, or parents of pre-school children who live in those areas. Future sessions are on Thursday 11th September 2008 and Thursday 6th November 2008 from 1-3pm. Speech and Language Therapists, Specialists Teachers and Educational Psychologist will be there to answer questions. Further details from Liz on 01732 225028
Our Space – VIP KIDZ back to top
Bernadette has sent me details about VIP KIDZ –
The club is called VIP Kidz and takes place on alternate Fridays, starting 13 June, from 6.15pm to 8.15pm. It will be held at Our Space play centre, Unit 3, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells. The club is open to children and young adults with special needs, as well as their siblings. The club will have exclusive use of the centre. Normal entrance fees apply. For more information contact the organiser Donna Dodds on 01732 852426 or Our Space on 01892 616000.
Donna hopes it will enable parents to meet each other, and to relax because the exclusive use means they don't need to worry about people being judgmental about behaviour or staring.
Disability Football – Paddock Wood back to top
Shelley has sent me details of a new ‘disability football team’ which is being set up by Paddock Wood Football Club –
Paddock Wood Football Club are in the process of setting up disability football in Paddock Wood, sessions to be held on a Sunday morning. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind advertising this in maybe the next newsletter as the more people that know about us the better. At the moment we are trying to advertise this as much as possible before setting an actual starting date.
We are in the progress of setting up PAN Disability football within Paddock Wood FC. We are supported by the Kent County Football Association. We are the West Kent Hub.
Join Paddock Wood Panthers!
All coaches are CRB checked, 1st aid trained and FA qualified coaches.
If you know anybody who is interested in playing or you would like to help out or coach.
Please register your interest to; Lorraine Humm Head of Disability Football PWFC Panthers on 07880 907188 or 01892 836736
Stokers Youth Club back to top
Jo Blamires has sent me the following about Stokers Youth Club –
Stokers is a youth club for 11- 18 year olds who have a social communication disorder or just find it hard to make friends. We meet every other Friday evening in Tonbridge from 7.30-9.30 and subs are £2. It is most suitable for high functioning young people. It is run by parents, and member's parents are expected to take a turn on a rota about once a term, to support the two of us who are there every time. We try to arrange activities about once a month, a light hearted pool tournament, a circus skills workshop, a trip to the bowling alley, and most recently we took over Knockhatch adventure centre for an evening, so our members and their siblings could have a go on climbing wall, go-karts etc in a safe and quiet environment. In between, they meet at the Old Fire Station in Tonbridge and hang out, chat, play cards and pool and enjoy each others company. For many it is the only social time they have. Although we do accept from 11, we have found that Y8 is a better time to start, when they are a bit more used to older teenagers. Anyone interested can ring Susan 01892 510294 or Rosemary 01892 822787. As usual we are a bit light on girls - so they would be particularly welcome as ours are getting a bit lonely!
And if you wondered what happened at the Old Fire Station on the alternate Fridays that Stokers does not meet … well John Franklin has sent me the following from Chris -
Hi. My name is Chris. I’m 24yrs old. I’m a HUGE car fanatic, and I like reading car magazines and going to see race meetings at my local race track, Brands Hatch. I also enjoy doing digital photography and using computers.
I was diagnosed with ‘mild level’ Aspergers’ Syndrome at the age of 12, at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
After being a member of a local youth club in Tonbridge, for 8 years, and finding it hard to interact with the other, much younger children in the group (and being the only remaining original member left), I thought it would be a great idea to set up a new club, specifically aimed towards people, both my age and older, and with Aspergers’ and mild Autism, like myself.
Thus was the creation of…FIREFLYS.
Are you aged over 18? Are you Male or Female? Have you been diagnosed with Aspergers’ or high functioning Autism? Do you live near Tonbridge or Sevenoaks? Do you have a free Friday evening, twice a month? Would you like to meet like-minded people, fellow ‘Aspies’, and make new friends? If you’ve answered YES to most or all of these, then you’ll be interested in a BRAND NEW club, which is due to start in September, that’s specifically for adults and young adults with Aspergers’ and Autism.
The club, known as FIREFLYS, is the first of its kind in the region. Its aim, is to let adults, both young and old, who have Aspergers’ Syndrome and high functioning Autism, meet other fellow ‘Aspies’, and to make new friends, with people who they probably, wouldn’t have been able to…until now. The club meetings will take place every fortnightly Friday, between 7:30pm and 9:30pm, starting on Friday 19th September 2008. If you think this club is for you, then either come along to the clubs’ opening night on Friday 19th September 2008 @ 7:30pm @ The Old Fire Station, Castle Street, Tonbridge, Kent (behind NatWest). Or contact Chris, by e-mail: chrisbeaven@hotmail.com for more info.
Bernadette recently passed me the following from the Benchley and Matfield Parish Council Newsletter –
In the past, we at Brenchley Parish Council have been the beneficiaries of grants from Waitrose in Paddock Wood. They have often been very generous to both the PC and individual organisations within the Parish……... I was aware that Waitrose were formalising their otherwise reasonably ad hoc distribution of grant aid but now I have learned that each branch will be given a budget of £1000 per month with which to support community projects. ……. Here is a quote recently received relating to these new arrangement –
Dear All, Waitrose is rolling out a pilot local grant scheme to all its stores to support community organisations and similar local groups. Each month, each store will have £1,000 to share between three local organisations; this can include community groups, schools or local branches of national organisations. The scheme should be available in all Waitrose stores by 9 September. More details should be available from your local Waitrose store. I hope this advance information helps you to obtain any financial help you may be seeking in the near future. Remember, always ask – they can only say no!!
This is certainly worth thinking about – any grant that we might receive would not be sufficient to finance another Young Person’s Day but may be sufficient for a Family Party, or anything else you think we might need or would like to do. Does anyone want to take this on board?
We have not been involved in any fundraising in 2008 so it is something we need to think about for 2009. Last year we raised almost £400 from our stall at the HAHA Show. So we are planning to have a toy stall at the HAHA Show in September 2009. It is something that we can all get involved with – donating and collecting toys, pricing toys and of course selling the toys. We have almost a year to collect toys –so when you have your pre-Christmas clear out of old toys please remember West Kent Afasic, contact me and I will arrange to collect the toys
Any articles for newsletter gratefully accepted
Any speaker gratefully accepted
Any new coffee morning hostesses and any email addresses even more gratefully accepted!
Gill McDonald
01892 834577
Gill-2008@west-kent-afasic.fsnet.co.uk
