We are proud to announce that we have been shortlisted for the Visionary Award for Customer Excellence for the work our Activities and Events Coordinator, Megan, does for our Club Wilber group.
Examples given of Megan’s hard work and dedication to Club Wilber include the trip to Magna and Yorkshire Sculpture Park where a massive amount of organisation and communication with both venues was undertaking, with the trips taking months to plan. Both trips included far more than a standard visit would have done, with dedicated staff on hand and extra steps taken to provide inclusive and accessible days out.
The awards are being given on Wednesday 24th September and we have our fingers crossed for a well deserved win.
Club Wilber Lush Party
At the end of May, our Club Wilber families took part in a bath bomb making workshop with the brilliant Lush!
Wilberforce House was filled with the amazing smells from the products and materials that Leona and Alysha brought with them.
The families got to try out lip scrubs, learnt how to make bath bombs and feel all of the materials and then had a chance to win some products during a game of Musical Statues. They were able to feel and smell lots of products and enjoy all of the different textures.
Thank you Leona and Alysha, we loved our morning with you!
Club Wilber & VICTA Young Achievers
Collaborating with the Vision Impairment Education Team at City of York Council, Club Wilber had their second session for the VICTA Young Achievers Award, this time working towards the Nature element.
In the first of two sessions for this part of the award, young people worked hard to turn everyday recycling into what they dubbed ‘apartments’ for our brand-new bug hotel in Wilberforce House’s sensory garden. After stuffing the hotel with their ‘apartments’, leaves, sticks, rocks, and pinecones, we returned inside to vote on the name of our new bug hotel.
The end of April saw the return of our flagship event; our accessible Easter Egg Hunt! This event launched Club Wilber back in 2019 and uses specially made eggs with a sound mechanism inside so they can be found by using hearing rather than sight.
Continuing the success of last year, the event was spread across the inside of Wilberforce House, and the grounds. Inside our community space, families could take part in different, free Easter themed crafts and face painting, with the amazing Alex from Face Paint York, and enjoy treats from Weston’s Café.
Outside, the bleeping eggs, and little eggs containing treats, were hidden in baskets, on little picnic mat stations to draw the children in. At the end of the course, and after eating what was inside, the children were able to exchange the little eggs for a larger chocolate one, and plenty managed more than one go round the course!
Sighted siblings joined in the fun by donning an eye mask, so they too were relying on their hearing to experience this unique, seasonal activity.
The egg hunt is one of the biggest on our Club Wilber calendar and has always been hugely popular. On its first year, the event won the Silver Award in the Charity Event category at the Minster FM People’s Choice Awards.
For both the Club Wilber families and the staff and volunteers, the egg hunt isn’t just a chance for a chocolate haul, but also an opportunity to catch up and spend time with people that share experiences. A huge thank you to our volunteers on the day, some new and some who return to help at this event every year, as they love it so much. And also to our Easter Bunny, who gives his time to us every year!
Club Wilber Halloween Party
Last week we brought our Club Wilber families together to throw a spookily spectacular Halloween Party!
Our Halloween Parties tend to follow a popular routine, with lots of fun and messy crafts and activities, great food and the star of the show every time, a ghoulish pinata! This year our guests were treated to a variety of activities, including biscuit decorating and oobleck making! Keeping on a (disgusting) sensory and tactile theme, there was also a big bowl of zombie brains and a paddling pool full of spider’s webs, and their eight-legged inhabitants, to have a good rummage through, if the children dare!!
A really popular activity, and new this year, was wooden pumpkin decorating, where the families pieced together a wooden pumpkin and then chose how they wanted to decorate it, with lots of tactile and colourful decorations to choose from. These pumpkins could be taken home and put on display, hopefully for years to come.
After a buffet lunch, prepared by our venue, we announced the winners of the best costume competition, this time with a categories for the little ones, bigger ones, parents/ carers and staff! Our winners were all very worthy but special mention has to go to CEO Ellie who wowed not just the kids, but all of us, with her inflatable monster costume!
With the pinata well and truly bashed to the floor our families left after, what we hope was, a brilliant party! Next stop… Christmas!
A big thank you to New Earswick Folk Hall, a new venue for our parties and one that really made us feel welcome!
Next stop… Christmas!
Club Wilber does Alton Towers!
Last week, our Club Wilber families took a day trip to the ever-exciting Alton Towers! The coach set off at 8am from Wilberforce House with a pick-up along the way, and then families explored the park at their own pace!
Some of our families enjoyed meeting the characters and getting involved in CBeebies land for their 10th anniversary, and some were thrill-seekers, taking on the biggest rides with brave faces- and even braver parents, who took on the rides with them! Some even took on the water rides, getting thoroughly soaked and drying off in the beautiful August sunshine.
After a late coach journey back with some well-needed naps and a snack break, we arrived back in York to go home, after an exhilarating and satisfying grand day out. A massive thank you to Happy Days, who funded the transport and tickets for this trip!
Club Wilber go wild at Forest School!
Last weekend we took some of our Club Wilber families back to Wild Things Forest School where we explored and played to our heart’s content. The brilliant facilitator, Emma, provided woodland crafts, which were tactile and scented, alongside the favourite activities like mud kitchens and water and sand play.
Having free reign in an environment like this isn’t available to every child and for those families with a child with a visual impairment, it might seem a more daunting activity. Emma makes everyone feel so welcome and provides a safe but authentic woodland experience to be adventurous in. All of the children were able to try something new, whether that be a playing on a rope swing, or lighting the campfire.
If you, or someone you know has a child or young person, 0-25, with a visual impairment and who might like to join Club Wilber then get in touch with us!
Our accessible Easter Egg Hunt returns!
On Easter Saturday we held our annual, accessible Easter Egg Hunt, the event that launched Club Wilber back in 2019, here at Wilberforce House. Our amazing hunt uses specially made eggs with a sound mechanism inside so they can be found by using hearing rather than sight! These bleeping eggs are hidden along the way in baskets and hay on little picnic mat stations to draw the children in, where they then found smaller eggs full of treats. At the end of the course the children get to exchange these eggs for a chocolate one, and plenty managed more than one go round the course! Sighted siblings joined in the fun by donning an eye mask, so they too were relying on their hearing to experience this unique, seasonal activity. The egg hunt is one of the biggest on our Club Wilber calendar and has always been hugely popular. On its first year, the event won the Silver Award in the Charity Event category at the Minster FM People’s Choice Awards.
This year the event was bigger and better than ever with craft activities and face painting inside Wilberforce House, alongside Weston’s Café serving up hot drinks and bacon butties.
For both the Club Wilber families, and the residents, the egg hunt isn’t just a chance for a chocolate haul, but also an opportunity to socialise and spend time with people that share experiences. This year was our most attended with twenty families across the day.
Club Wilber provides a supportive environment and an opportunity to get together for families in Yorkshire who have a child or young person aged 0-25 with a visual impairment, including those with other disabilities. Our activities and events are designed for the whole family to enjoy together, and offer a chance to spend time with people that can share your experiences and gain support and advice.
Club Wilber went on Safari!
Club Wilber had fun on Safari last week!
Helen and Ava from Sam’s Safaris came to tell us all about the animals in their care. We learnt some cool facts and enjoyed having a feel of all the animals; running our fingers along lizard scales, feeling sticky snail feet and patting the blanket soft fur of a chinchilla. We even had a noisy duck piping up to greet us. Afterwards, we had a game of hungry hippos, played with some rain sticks, had a go on the African drum, and enjoyed some safari themed refreshments!
Thank you to the Sylvia and Colin Shepherd Charitable Trust and LNER who helped fund this activity.
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Introducing Wilber’s Garden Guesthouse- bespoke sign coming soon!
