Home News Ability Options host a Get Together for The Kirkwood

26 Sep 2021 Community

Ability Options host a Get Together for The Kirkwood

On Friday 3rd September, Ability Options kickstarted The Kirkwood Get Together by hosting their event for friends and family to raise vital funds for families affected by a life limiting illness in Kirklees.

Ability Options, a day service for adults with learning difficulties and additional needs, was first set up by local woman, Lynn Barber, only three years ago.

Since then, the service, to help adults learn new skills and take part in meaningful activities, has gone from strength to strength in the local community. Lynn is now hoping to open a second centre based in Crosland Moor which will aim at helping adults to gain life skills that will enable them to be more independent.

Ability Options’ first centre, based in Wooldale, Holmfirth, offers a Day Service for adults to attend and take part in arts, crafts and gardening activities with one another. Lynn is always on the lookout for new activities for the group to get involved in and decided to host a Get Together to raise vital funds for The Kirkwood after first hosting back when the campaign first launched in 2019.

On Friday 3rd September, the Wooldale based centre opened its doors to friends and family of the service users, along with service users from other local groups.

A stall of trinkets made by service users were on sale for guests to purchase along with a cake sale, which included a delicious chocolate cake very kindly donated by Old Bridge Bakery in Holmfirth, to boost funds on the day.

Throughout the day, everyone got involved in lots of fun activities and games together for the first time in over 18-months.

Speaking of why the Ability Options team are so dedicated to supporting The Kirkwood, Lynne said: “Here at Ability Options, we want to invite people in our community to visit us and understand more about what we’re about.

“Supporting local charities like The Kirkwood is a great opportunity for others to get to know us as well as raising money.

“Holding events like this one gives our service users a sense of achievement. They know they’ve done something to help others and it makes them feel like they’ve achieved that themselves.

“It’s also a nice way for our service users to invite their families to visit us, they get to see everyone in person and meet new people too.”

Julia Owen, Community Fundraiser with The Kirkwood, was delighted to attend the event on the day and meet the group a few weeks later for a very special cheque presentation.

Julia added: “Its amazing to see local groups such as Ability Options raise funds for The Kirkwood, it really shows how thoughtful our community is to different causes. The group’s Get Together was brilliant, thank you all so much for hosting for us and raising a wonderful £75 for patient care.”

Need clinical advice?
Call our advice line on:

01484 557910

24 hrs a day