Kingfisher Day Centre

Kingfisher Day Centre is a group for adults who have:
• physical disabilities
• mental health issues
• cognitive impairment through injuries/conditions and/or
• learning disabilities. We accommodate a range of disabilities and are flexible in our approach and methods. We have 5 members of staff and the groups generally have 10 - 20 members. We have two centres which run 3 days/week in Bedford and

4 days a week in Gamlingay. We are based on the border of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire at the Eco Hub, Gamlingay SG19 3JR and in Bedford town Centre, MK41 8QA. We undertake a variety of activities at the centres, for example:
- cooking
- personal projects
- crocheting/needlework
- Outside garden ornaments
- making seasonal gifts e.g. Christmas/Easter
- arts and crafts
- games/quizzes/debates
- fundraising coffee mornings
- Christmas party/Summer ball
- making bags/clothes/scarves etc
- some just like to come and have a natter with friends they have made at the
group
- and many more! It is encouraging to see that people that meet at Kingfisher, begin to form such good relationships with others that they start meeting outside of the group as well and improve their social situations. The majority of our members are with us because their condition has led them to become socially isolated, to different levels, and thus their confidence and self-esteem have been affected. Although the activities we arrange do help with development for some injuries, such as memory games etc, as a whole we are a social inclusion group with the aim to give people the opportunity to get out of their own environments, form relationships, become socially more confident and experience new things with our support. Our members are encouraged to tell us what they would like to do. It is their day centre, we only assist in helping organise things. All members choose day trips/outings, usually when it is their birthday. We try to take them any where they ask if it is logistically viable! Some of the outings we go on are listed below:
- Garden centres
- Walks in the park
- Bowling
- Pub lunches
- Picnics
- Cinema
- Galleries/Museums
- Local places of interest
- Shopping
- BBQs
- Zoo
- Concerts & musicals

We currently operate a place by place contract so each member is funded for their place. We have some people that attend one day up to all three days depending on their needs. Please contact Alison Marriott for more details. The number is 07803 621564.