West Norfolk Mencap

West Norfolk Mencap was formed in 1964 to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers.

We are affiliated to the Royal Mencap Society and we share their vision of promoting equal choice, opportunity and respect for everyone who has a learning disability.

Our charity is run on an entirely voluntary basis and we are responsible for raising all our own finances as we receive NO funding from Royal Mencap or from statutory bodies. We always welcome new volunteers to support our activities and any donations or help with fundraising.

We run two Gateway Clubs - one for adults and one for youngsters. Both aim to provide a safe, enjoyable environment in which members can have fun but also develop their social skills at the same time.

Members range from 5-18 years for Junior Gateway and 18 upwards for the Senior club. They have a broad range of needs including severe and mild Learning Disabilities, Down's Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Challenging Behaviour and Attention Deficit Disorder.

Our Befriender Scheme runs both one to one and group activities and trips. Its aim is to organise events to help our members enjoy a full social life and reduce the risk of social isolation.

We also have a large Beach Hut located at Old Hunstanton which we make available to our members and to other learning disability organisations and individuals. We make no charge for its use but donations are always welcome.

We are always available to give Help and Support to our members. We work closely with local social services departments, with Royal Mencap and with other bodies so if we don't know we can always find someone who does! In addition we provide Independent Advocacy support if any our members need help in dealing with whole variety of problems including benefits matters, problems with care etc.