By Katherine Gale | PIP Service Coordinator
The past few months at PIP have been hectic, as we knew they would be. We are coming to the end of our exciting expansion project, and almost have our new space up and running. The expansion means we are doubling our delivery space, so we can deliver a wider variety of sessions to more students. We want to make every minute of their time at PIP as meaningful for each student as possible!
We have also been busy delivering 2 big fundraising events so far this Autumn. On 21st September the wonderful R Band put on a fantastic concert for us in central London. The venue was packed full, the atmosphere was fantastic, and the event raised us £3000!
Then came our biggest fundraising event of 2013- PIP’s second annual Mountain Bike Challenge. Following the success of last year’s event, the pressure was on to make the 2013 Mountain Bike Challenge even bigger and better, and we certainly delivered. 40 sponsored riders took on a gruelling (and extremely muddy) 18 mile course through the beautiful Chiltern Valley and along the River Thames. Despite a week of nervous weather-watching from the PIP office, it was a beautiful warm day with only a couple of rain showers to slow the riders down! The day finished up with an excellent BBQ (our thanks go to Bosley Patch farm for putting together the amazing food), and a few beers at our host site Lovibonds Brewery in Henley-on-Thames. So far we have raised an incredible £11,000 from the Mountain Bike Challenge 2013- thank you to all of the staff, volunteers, riders and donors who made this event possible. The money that we have raised from these events will go directly into supporting our students with learning disabilities.
Back in London at W9 we have been getting to grips with our new timetable, and lots of new sessions. The students’ favourite is Action Hour every Friday, where they learn lots of practical life skills. In the past few weeks we have had a very clean and tidy PIP! We also have a Transition Group for the very first time, which has been helping students to work together to take their first steps into the world of work. The group has been practising their interview skills, finding out what it is like to work in an office, and have even learned about the importance of dressing smartly when you are looking for a job. The group has committed to dress smartly for every Transition Group each Wednesday, so we are seeing lots of dapper students in suits and ties!
Looking forward, we will very soon be taking PIP’s students on a working holiday to Paddington Farm in Somerset. Last year’s working holiday was excellent fun, and this year promises to be even better. We will be posting plenty of photos in our next report, so keep your eyes peeled!
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