Chrysalis now support over sixty people who have a learning disability from Wigton, Carlisle, Penrith and the surrounding area.
The focus of Chrysalis is on the provision of a tailored support service for the individual. Our timetable of weekly activities is all that's needed to prove the point. Up to ten different activities on offer every day. Cooking, homeopathy, fell walking, sailing, horticulture, jewellery making, computing, photography...the list goes on.
Chrysalis promote further activities within the community and provide support for people running the Chrysalis Health Food Shop in Wigton.
A focus on Independent living skills, creative arts, horticulture, sport and health, leisure and user involvement are all part of the service provided by Chrysalis. Outreach facilities are offered and tailored on an individual basis for members of the group; Supporting people to use community facilities on a one to one or group basis.
As part of a small community, word of mouth and reputation have always been key to the groups success and an undiminished enthusiasm to develop new services is likely to enhance their reputation still further.
Claire Hetherington, Service Manager:
"We have good links with schools and want to work on making the handover from children to adult services smoother. One of the big aims for the group will be to develop better support structures for those in transition from Child to Adult services. Thanks to local fundraising efforts, the group is also employing an enterprise officer to support and develop the Health Food shop business. It's very important that we continue to evolve as an organisation."
The ambition of the group has not distracted us from our key aims and the driving force behind the success of the group remains the same as it did it 1984 when the group was established.
"Above all the resource centre is a fun and a safe environment for people to come and experience. Everybody who uses our services will need varying degrees of help and support . It is important to remember that people, whatever their communication problems all share the same life experiences and emotions and should be treated by everybody with that thought in mind."
"We will take on people provided that we are the best place to provide support. We have twenty five to thirty clients in each day and we do our best to tailor the service we provide and promote an individual approach. It's important that we engage with our clients on an equal level. We get everyone involved with the organisation of the centre, right down to helping with the decisions on staff recruitment."
Chrysalis now employs sixty staff who are the driving force behind the success of the group.
"Staff retention here is brilliant which tells its own story. Every individual here is committed to the work we're doing. We are extremely lucky to have found such a great team of local people."