Mencap

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at Mencap, the charity I mentioned in my first post. It was my first time volunteering there, and despite the fact that I'd felt a bit worried and unsure of what to expect before I got there, I felt welcomed in by the staff.
Being with the children was so rewarding; I was given a child to play with, and we spent most of the time in the fantastic soft play room, running around and building towers out of the soft play equipment there. My child was quite outgoing, and made sure I did everything he asked, from holding the tower steady as he jumped on, to pushing it over so he could 'fly' into the ball pit. He was so happy and polite, and this showed me what an amazing job the centre does. It really makes you feel good when you give a child a smile, and they come over to hug you. After he had gone home, I spent the last ten minutes or so with a few other children. By spending time with children who didn't speak very much, I felt I could communicate better using gestures alongside talking, as well as being more able to understand what they wanted. I'm definitely not an expert, but I felt I learned a lot in those three hours, and I will definitely be going back next week!


The charity Mencap supports people of all ages who have learning disabilities. The West Berkshire branch after school club focuses on disabled children and allows them to "play, have fun and socially interact". The link to the website shows just how far it does this: http://www.westberkshiremencap.org/index.htm.




I also found out yesterday that I have been given a language mentee. I will help him to learn his French vocab, and go through the topics he is studying in class. On Monday I plan to introduce myself to him, and organise a weekly lunch time that we can work in. Hopefully this will give me skills in both communication and leadership, but more importantly will give me the feeling that I'm helping someone with such an valuable part of their life, their education.