Club Wilber’s 7th Birthday Party
Last week we celebrated Club Wilber’s 7th Birthday at New Earswick Folk Hall, with a space themed party.
Our annual birthday party is the perfect excuse to get our Club Wilber families together to catch up, and enjoy activities and party food. This year we had a space theme, and were excited to welcome University of York’s Tactile Universe, with some of their activities. The children loved the dark pop up tent with the VR headsets and creating their own solar systems with Playdoh. We were also treated to video call from Dr Dr Nicolas Bonne, a visually impaired astronomer from the University of Portsmouth, who started the Tactile Universe initiative.
A young boy stands in front of an inflatable sun crafting at a table.
Crafting and getting messy with things to can take home is always popular, so we had a table to make and decorate a wooden rocket, and a home-made bubble bath table too. Alex from Face Paint York also joined us again, providing the young people (and a lot of the adults!) with beautifully painted faces and arms.
A teenage girl gets her face painted around her forehead.
The Folk Hall put on a yummy party buffet for lunch and afterwards we sang Happy Birthday. Everyone took home a slice of the delicious traybake, along with a with a space themed party bag!
This birthday party was extra special, as it was Activities Coordinator, Megan’s, last one. And she really pulled out all the stops for this party, ensuring it was one to remember. A huge thank you to Megan for another fantastic party, and to the Folk Hall, for always welcoming us and helping us provide an accessible space to celebrate in.
tWO ADULTS STAND AT A TABLE WHERE PEOPLE ARE FRAFTING AT A PARTY. tHEY ARE BOTH WEARING SPACE THEMED COSTUMES.
Club Wilber started in 2019, as a way of creating a club for children and young people with a visual impairment, and their families. We arrange accessible activities and events that the whole family can enjoy, regardless of vision or disability, and its a welcoming place for children and parents to bond over common experiences.
InSight Magazine- Spring 2026

Our latest edition of InSight is out now.

This edition includes:

You can read the latest issue of InSight here or by clicking the image below-

Front page of Spring InSight.

You can listen to InSight here-

Letter from the CEO-

Welcome Emily and Chidinma-

Welcome to our new Trustees-

Club Wilber Easter Egg Hunt-

Weston’s Cafe-

International Women’s Day-

Charity Cook-off and Thank Yous-

InSight Magazine- Winter 2025

Our latest edition of InSight is out now.

This edition includes:

You can read the latest issue of InSight here or by clicking the image below-

The front cover of InSight's winter edition.

You can listen to InSight here-

Introduction

Letter from the CEO

Christmas at Wilberforce Trust

Club Wilber

Values, Christmas fundraising and thank yous

Annual Report 2024-2025

We are proud to present our new style Annual Report to the year ending 31st March 2025.

There’s lots of extra information in the report that truly showcases who we are and how we work. We hope you enjoy it!

You can read the Annual Report here.

The Christmas Raffle is back!
Our popular raffle, in aid of our children’s group Club Wilber, is back, with an amazing list of prizes to be won.
Top of the list is a fantastic Sharp 43-inch Ultra HD Smart LED TV, York City tickets, Askham Bryan Wildlife Park tickets, a variety of hampers, family swim passes, and much much more!
Tickets are £2 each and available to buy from Wilberforce House reception or by emailing a.parkinson@wilberforcetrust.org.uk
Club Wilber is our group for children and young people, 0-25, with a visual impairment. Its for children across Yorkshire and is inclusive for families too, so no one needs to be left out. Proceeds raised from this raffle will help us put on more fun activities for our families in 2026.
A poster for a christmas raffle with a list of prizes.
InSight Magazine- Autumn 2025

Our latest edition of InSight is out now.

This edition includes:

You can read the latest issue of InSight here or by clicking the image below-

The front cover of autumn InSight magazine

You can listen to InSight here-

Letter from the CEO

Connecting with the sector- YorSensory

Judi Dench

Club Wilber’s summer adventures

Club Wilber turns 6

Tenant’s Bridlington trip

Tinnitus Support Group

YOPA Fair

Visionary Award nomination

Stronger Starts fundraiser

Vote for Club Wilber with Tesco blue tokens!
Our Tesco Stronger Starts blue token appeal is now LIVE!!
Every time you shop at one of the participating Tesco stores you can collect a blue token which you can use to cast a vote. There will be well- signed boxes to the store entrance/ exit where you will see our name! The participating Tesco stores in our area are Tesco Extra Askham Bar, Acomb Wood Tesco Express, York Piccadilly Tesco Express and York Ouse Bridge Tesco Express.
The Stronger Starts scheme is a fundraiser for charities, groups and organisations to collect votes via blue tokens to be in with a chance of a grant for up to £1500. The causes are usually related to young people and we will be collecting tokens for our children’s group, Club Wilber.
Please share with family and friends as we would love to raise as much money as we can for Club Wilber!
Visionary Award shortlist!
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.
Introducing Wilber’s Garden Guesthouse- bespoke sign coming soon!