Mayor's award for the Wokingham Friday Night Project
Jeanette Birt, the founder of the Friday Night Project (FNP), will be receiving a special award next week, along with eight co-workers. Each month Wokingham Borough Council’s Mayor Cllr Annette Drake rewards a local person or group that has provided an outstanding service to the community and the FNP, which organises social activities for people with learning disabilities, has been chosen to win the award for February.
The FNP was initiated when people with a learning disability expressed a need to plan and organise their own social activities. It began in February 2005 with 23 members, at St John’s Hall in Woodley. Now based at the St Crispin’s Sports Centre Wokingham, with 300 registered members and rising, the project is again beginning to outgrow its venue. It employs 12 people with learning disabilities – some of them work in the project’s own Café in Bracknell, which helps to supplement the project’s funds. The Café runs specific activities each day to encourage real social interaction - art on a Monday, skittles on a Tuesday, bingo on a Wednesday and live music on a Thursday. The project has a target to employ 20 people with a learning disability by the end of 2008. It has reduced the social isolation that people with a learning disability often experience, and helped many people to build vital friendships.
The FNP was nominated for the Mayor’s award by social enterprise development manager Steve George and executive officer Sonia Lawlor. The presentation will also be attended by Paul Rickson from the Wokingham Learning Disability Partnership Board.
The FNP was initiated when people with a learning disability expressed a need to plan and organise their own social activities. It began in February 2005 with 23 members, at St John’s Hall in Woodley. Now based at the St Crispin’s Sports Centre Wokingham, with 300 registered members and rising, the project is again beginning to outgrow its venue. It employs 12 people with learning disabilities – some of them work in the project’s own Café in Bracknell, which helps to supplement the project’s funds. The Café runs specific activities each day to encourage real social interaction - art on a Monday, skittles on a Tuesday, bingo on a Wednesday and live music on a Thursday. The project has a target to employ 20 people with a learning disability by the end of 2008. It has reduced the social isolation that people with a learning disability often experience, and helped many people to build vital friendships.
The FNP was nominated for the Mayor’s award by social enterprise development manager Steve George and executive officer Sonia Lawlor. The presentation will also be attended by Paul Rickson from the Wokingham Learning Disability Partnership Board.
Wokingham Borough Council
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