ALDAG - Always Learning, Developing And Growing
ALDAG’S vision can be summed up in a few words: the social inclusion of people with learning disabilities; being a part of the community rather than living alongside it.
As our provision grew to encompass a wider geographical area, including Dorking and surrounding areas, we changed our acronym to Always Learning Developing And Growing. This has enabled us to provide more opportunities for a growing number of young people with learning disabilities.
Everyone needs friends and through all our social activities we aim to support our members in maintaining friendships they have developed and to build new ones. Conquerors Club provides a familiar place to meet up with friends and enjoy a variety of activities together, whilst our ‘Out and About’ groups and holiday breaks enable our young people to access leisure activities in the wider community. A new feature this past year has been an overnight trip to a youth hostel, the first time away from home for some of our young people and a significant step for them.
Having a job is important for everyone’s self-esteem and voluntary employment is a key feature of ALDAG. Our gardening team, Robins, worked hard over the year, producing bumper crops of vegetables for our café at the Leatherhead allotment. The team also have paid work tidying up beds at a local housing association in Epsom, as well as work for private individuals. Café ALDAG has provided refreshments and light lunches on Mondays and Tuesdays in St George’s Christian Centre and ensures everyone is made very welcome. The Re-Use It shop in Dorking has had a great first year and 2020 saw our first apprenticeship. The shop sells a wide range of bric-a-brac as well as good quality second time around clothes, all supporting the planet’s need to recycle and reuse our resources.
Parent’s comment: “J's horizons have widened since he started volunteering at the ALDAG shop in Dorking. It has given him the motivation to travel independently a fair distance from home for the first time by train and walking. The regular hours of volunteering (2 days a week) in a retail environment is giving him a taste of what work is really like. Interactions with the shop manager, other volunteers and customers are broadening his social interactions, which he doesn't find that easy.”
2020 has seen the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic and so much had to stop. Following the lifting of lockdown we started to reopen some of our activities with the necessary precautions in place. So much has changed for our members with much reduced opportunities for social interactions. ALDAG’s focus over the coming months will be to maintain and build on those important social interactions until life returns to normal. We would welcome you to be a part of this and if you feel able, please contact Pam on info@aldag.org.uk.