What's On
Upcoming events in conjunction with Guide Dogs and Berkshire Vision
Save the dates
Berkshire Vision are running a full list of activites over the summer months. They ask for a contribution of £5 per event for each family wherever possible. Some events have funding and are shown as free on the list below. If you do require a lift, please let Carol at Berkshire Vision know when you book.
DATE | EVENT |
4th Thursdays: 25th July 10.00-12.00 Ages 0-4 FREE | Preschool group, Penn Road Children’s Centre, Slough - Come and join in the fun with other families – for the children there will be toys, story time and a chance to make new friends; for parents there is the opportunity to chat to others. BV member must be under 5 but siblings are welcome to come along too. |
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SUMMER |
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Saturday 20th or Sunday 21st July | Event to be confirmed |
Wednesday 24th July All ages | Donkey Sanctuary - come and meet the donkeys. There is also a play area and small café. |
Friday 26th July All ages | Outdoor swimming pool, Polehampton |
Monday 29th July All ages | Thames Valley Adventure Park We will again have exclusive use of this safe, self-contained family friendly adventure park with plenty of parking on site. There is Crazy golf, accessible play area with a zip wire, a fort, outdoor table tennis, and bikes to ride on in an allotted area. We will also run craft sessions inside |
Tuesday 30th July Secondary school | Skill up course – run jointly with Guide Dogs and Berkshire Sensory Consortium staff. This is for secondary school age members. More details to follow. |
Thursday 1st August Age 7+ | Tandem cycling with Newbury Velo: come and have a go at cycling on tandem bikes with trained pilots. Cycling will be around an athletics racing track and not on the roads. All you have to do is pedal! No previous experience necessary. |
Monday 5th or Wednesday 7th August | Date and Event to be confirmed |
Thursday 8th August All ages | Smelly Wellies – following our visit last summer, Smelly Wellies have received funding to run an event for us. During this fun, hands on session, you will get the chance to meet, feed, groom and cuddle some of the animals. There are goats, donkeys, sheep, llamas, rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens. |
Friday 9th August All ages | Building bricks and craft session |
Wednesday 14th August All ages | Camp Mohawk - is a multi-functional day centre for children with special needs and their families, set in 5 acres of beautiful countryside, just outside Wargrave, Berkshire. The swimming pool should be open for our summer visit! |
Thursday 15th August All ages | Outdoor swimming pool, Polehampton |
Friday 16th August Age 7+ | Tandem cycling with Newbury Velo: come and have a go at cycling on tandem bikes with trained pilots. Cycling will be around an athletics racing track and not on the roads. All you have to do is pedal! No previous experience necessary. |
Monday 19th August All ages | Thames Valley Adventure Park We will again have exclusive use of this safe, self-contained family friendly adventure park with plenty of parking on site. There is Crazy golf, accessible play area with a zip wire, a fort, outdoor table tennis, and bikes to ride on in an allotted area. We will also run craft sessions inside |
Wednesday 21st August All ages | Cook and craft session – join us for cooking and craft sessions at Walford Hall, Reading. |
Thursday 22nd August All ages | Picnic in the park – venue to be confirmed. Bring your picnic and join us for fun and games. |
Date to be confirmed. | Science and nature. We will be spending time in the Exploration Zone at Science Oxford Centre. You can also explore outside in the woods and near the ponds. There will be a craft activity to do as well. Fully accessible and suitable for under 12s. |
Carol is still finalising the programme particularly for the teen socials and residential.
To book, please email: children@berkshirevision.org.uk or telephone the office. Some events have a limited number of spaces and some are age specific. Please also remember, Berkshire now have over 100 children and young people members. Do book as soon as you can!
TRANSPORT
We are very proud to be one of the only Sight Loss charities in the UK offering transport to our activities and we are committed to continue to provide this wherever possible. However, the cost of delivering transport has increased considerably over recent years and we have not increased contributions members make since 2019.
We understand that everyone is struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, but the real cost of each return journey to the charity is £42.50, so unfortunately we now need to increase the contribution for our transport from £7.50 to £10 per family. (For comparison, our adult members now have to pay £5 per person each way).
Please remember to book transport as early as possible and at least 5 working days before the event as we cannot guarantee this for any late bookings and some events do not have transport available. For some events where possible, transport from the nearest train station to the event can be arranged with a £2 contribution each way.
If this cost would stop your family from being able to attend, please come back to me. We don’t want anyone to miss out!
Contact if you have any queries Carol Barnfather,
Children, Young People and Families Officer
carol.barnfather@berkshirevision.org.uk or children@berkshirevision.org.uk
Telephone: 0118 987 2803 Mobile: 0778 8256760
Berkshire Vision also run pre-school groups
To book, please email: children@berkshirevision.org.uk or telephone the office 0118 9872803.
CSSEF have lined up some amazing for Deaf children in Berkshire, London, Surrey and Hampshire. They do also have a few more things in the planning stage. They do not operate a first come, first served system. They allow everyone to place their booking and then work out a fair system for all.
Please complete the form by Sunday 14th July and CSSEF shall respond with confirmation of places allocated by 6pm on Wednesday 17th July 2024.
To book your space, please use the link to select the activities your child would like to attend: https://forms.office.com/e/cyEGSZSSu8
Please note these spaces are allocated only to families in Hampshire, London, Berkshire and Surrey that have a Deaf child in their family household. Siblings and CODAs are welcome to apply, however please note, Deaf children are prioritised.
CSSEF Summer Activities Programme 2024
Saturday 27th July 6pm -7pm Inflatables Swim Fun, Places Leisure, Camberley, Surrey.
Tuesday 30th July 1:30pm - 2:30pm Laser Quest at Runabout, Farnborough, Hampshire. Ages 6+ Price £5 per child
Tuesday 30th July 12:15pm - 2:30pm Soft Play at Runabout, Farnborough, Hampshire. Ages 0 - 10. Price £5 per child and £2.50 per adult.
Thursday 1st August 12pm - 3pm Picnic at Manor Park, Aldershot, Hampshire. Open to all.
Wednesday 7th August - 10am Go-karting at Absolute Karting, Maidenhead, Berkshire. Minimum age is 8 years old and 130cm tall.
Friday 9th August - Wellington Country Park, Reading, Berkshire. Price £5 per person.
Tuesday 13th August - 1pm - 3pm Mance Chance for Blossom children only
Wednesday 14th August - 1pm - 3pm Mane Chance for Blossom children only
Thursday 15th August - 7:30pm The Lion King BSL Interpreted Performance, Lyceum Theatre, London. Price £15 per person.
Friday 16th August - 1pm - 3pm Mane Chance
Friday 23rd August - 11am - 12pm Ski Taster session at Aldershot Ski Slope. Age 6+
To book your space, please use the link to select the activities your child would like to attend: https://forms.office.com/e/cyEGSZSSu8
Voluntears arrange trips to Costa Rica, Peru, India, Montenegro, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Morocco. All trips are designed to be fully inclusive for D/deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing people. Enjoy travelling to exciting destinations with the support of friendly VoluntEars staff and a BSL interpreter on every trip. Help at local deaf school and visit all the must-see sights! Open to all ages. Join as an individual, or with family or friends. Contact VoluntEars for more information: www.voluntears.info Email: contact@voluntears.info SMS/Whatsapp: +447713752124
Did you know Goalball is a sport especially designed for the visually-impaired? Would you like to have a go to see what it is like?
Winchester Goalball Club is a fun and friendly club open to players of all abilities from age 8 upwards. Our members come from across Hampshire and the adjoining counties.
They are hosting UK's Goalball Academy Aspire Day at Peter Symonds College, Winchester on Saturday 17th August, 10.45am - 4.30pm for 11-18 year olds and VICTA have provided a travel offer
See Flyers below for more information
Based at Bisham Abbey, just outside Marlow, Accessible Boating Thames is a charity dedicated to opening up the river to those that might, for whatever reason, find it difficult to gain access to it. For more information click here
Berkshire Deaf Children's Society often have lots of events coming up for all ages-
to find out more about all their events click here Contact BDCS for more information
As we hope the sun will make its way to us soon we have been actively planning our summer events for our children. We hope to bring you a varied and jam packed events list where our children can make friends and have peer-to-peer interactions, take part in new opportunities and allow time for siblings and parents to connect also.
Sun 16th June - Fathers day Adventure Park and crafts, Taplow
Mon 19th August - High Score arcade, Newbury
Thurs 29th Aug - Bushcraft, laser tag and BBQ, Pangbourne
In planning: Nets and high ropes, family fun day, Go-Karting
Thomas Pocklington Trust’s vision is a society where blind and partially sighted people can participate fully. Our mission is to support blind and partially sighted people of all ages to live the life they want to lead and we do this with the help and support of blind and partially sighted volunteers.
Young Voices will make a difference by working to improve experiences within education, employment and engagement whilst focusing in on health and wellbeing in the VI community, making sure communities are inclusive and helping VI young people to develop life and employment skills.
Please see the attached leaflets for more information about Young Voices.
Supporting visually impaired young people to thrive. Look provide online Parent Support Groups to expert-led webinars, Youth Forums and Music Groups - , get your diaries out and make a note of these fab events from LOOK!
Watermill Theatre in Newbury have some opportunities for watching and making theatre that you might enjoy and have provided this information:
Deaf/hearing loss
Duologue is our weekly youth theatre group for young people aged 11-16, held at Arlington Arts in Newbury. Deaf, hard of hearing, hearing, CODA, all are welcome. We always have an interpreter at the sessions. We’d love to welcome some of your young people! www.watermill.org.uk/duologue
Vision impairment
All of our youth theatre activities can be made accessible to support needs. Visit our webpages for more information about what’s on offer.
Blind in Business have some fantastic opportunities coming up this term with employers. Alongside this, they still provide the following:
- 1:1 mentoring
- School and county in person and virtual careers workshops
- Technology advice
To sign up for any of the below events or for more details, email. info@blindinbusiness.org.uk
More information about Blind in Business events
Wokingham Children with Additional needs (CAN) Network is an information and support service for children and young people with additional needs and their families. The PDF gives some ideas of what is on in Wokingham and the surrounding areas this Summer
Our house is a unique accessible play centre where families can meet and all children are celebrated. It is a safe haven where disabled children can relax, have fun and be truly valued and accepted for who they are.
Soundabout have unveiled a brand new timetable for their online music provision. We have a variety of fun, interactive and educational sessions on Facebook, YouTube and Zoom.Sessions are free to access except for those held on Zoom. Please view their website for more details.
Please visit the RNIB website for more details.
British Blind Sport have designed an innovative pack to provide children with all the tools they need to take their first steps to leading a more active life. In addition to receiving the First Steps Pack, our First Steps families will receive ongoing support and will be invited to Family Days organised by BBS which not only bring young people together but also introduce them to new activities and inclusive clubs in their local community. For more information, please visit our website.
New College Worcester have lots of great events happening throughout the year. See their event directory for more details.
Learn how young people can manage low mood and depression during COVID-19. On this course, young people, parents, carers, teachers, and other professionals can learn helpful, practical techniques to cope with low mood and depression during the lockdown period and beyond. You’ll examine how to help young people structure their day and improve sleep and diet. For more information please click here.
We are a national charity getting more children with disabilities learning how to swim. We have recently launched a new programme in Slough in partnership with Everyone Active at The Centre and are offering lessons immediately.
We fund lessons for children: aged 4-11, who cannot currently swim 10 metres, with a physical disability or sensory impairment. For more information, please email contact@levelwater.org or visit our website.
We want to introduce to you a research project called the READY study (Recording Emerging Adulthood in Deaf Youth) and offer your child the opportunity to take part if they wish. The READY study is a 6 year research project about deaf young people between the ages of 16 and 23 years old. It is interested in the changes in deaf young people’s lives from their point of view as they move between childhood and adulthood. The project is being conducted by the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh. For further information, please see the following documents:
The University of Birmingham is undertaking a research project regarding the experiences of students with VI applying for Higher Education. In particular they are interested in how useful, or not, parents, students and teachers have found the information available on the RNIB’s website regarding applying for university and life at university, and the 'Supporting the achievement of learners with vision impairment in Higher Education' available on the NatSIP website. These documents can be accessed here:RNIB and Supporting the achievements of learners
If you would like further information about the project or would like to complete an online questionnaire based on your experiences of using them, then please contact Rachel Hewett, Birmingham University at R.G.Hewett@bham.ac.uk
Speech and Language Therapy details of how to make contact with the team can be found here.
The Ear Foundation have a team of clinical and educational practitioner who run a variety of interesting and relevant programmes. Please see their website for more details.
The NDCS hold many events and these can be found here: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/our-services/our-events
Wokingham Parents - There is a new local offer link for parents looking for what’s on which should make it easier to find activities:
https://directory.wokingham.gov.uk/kb5/wokingham/directory/lo_whats_on.page
Subtitled/Captioned Accessible Cinema! 1,500+ shows nationwide! Clifford the Big red dog, Spiderman West Side Story, Captain Underpants, Despicable Me 3, The Beguiled, Baby Driver, Transformers, Wonder Woman & more! All cinemas can show all the films listed above with English-language subtitles. Click the link for more details: http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/films.html