Member Article

Heroic fundraising at Heathcotes’ summer fete in Leeds

Some heroic fundraising took place at Heathcotes’ residential care services in Leeds when staff and residents held a super-powered summer fete in support of Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

Featuring a heroes and princesses fancy dress theme, the event was hosted at Heathcotes Morley, a specialist service that supports adults with learning disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome, mental Illness, Down Syndrome, sensory impairments and challenging behaviour. It was open to the local community and also welcomed visitors from Heathcotes’ other three residential services in the city.

All four services worked together to organise a wide range of attractions and refreshments, including a mocktail bar, rodeo bull, DJ and karaoke, bouncy castle, hog roast, ice cream van, charity stalls, various party games and a prize draw for signed Barcelona and Castleford Tigers shirts. Two male staff subjected themselves to a painful new experience with some live leg waxing and two senior managers entered the stocks to be thoroughly drenched by wet sponge throwing. Their suffering was endured in the noble cause of fundraising and attracted a large gathering of amused spectators.

Lynsey Clark, Service Manager at Heathcotes Morley, said:

“Our four Leeds services decided that we would do a little bit of a summer fete this year- it initially started off quite small and low-key, but as things progressed it became bigger and bigger with every new idea and suggestion. The service users wanted to do something for children so they chose Forget Me Not as the nominated charity. The whole event took a great deal of organisation and the service users really got involved in the planning and decision making. The day was very well attended - many of the service users’ families came along and we also welcomed lots of people from the local area. We received some fantastic support from the community, including a nearby bridal wear store which provided some beautiful dresses for some of our princesses.”

Head of Heathcotes Services Northern, Gemma Hollingsworth, said:

“Congratulations to everyone involved in making the summer fete such a great success. These kinds of events are encouraged at Heathcotes services nationwide as they are very much in keeping with the core aims of our approach to care – they engage the people we support, involve them in activities and promote greater social inclusion and community integration. They also enable our service users to develop their skills and confidence, assisting the transition from a care environment to a more independent life which is the ultimate goal for many of our residents.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Jones .