Day Centres for people with a learning disability often conjure up a grim picture. People gazing blankly at the wall, heating on too high, the TV blaring in the background.
MacIntyre doesn’t work like that!
My Time in Bedfordshire
Our Learning Centre in central Bedfordshire is called My Time, and it’s well named, because people there do what they want with their own time.
At My Time, we support adults who have a learning disability. Each person spends time with us one or more days a week. Some people live with their families, some at shared residential homes.
A warm welcome
When you arrive at My Time, you’ll receive a warm welcome. You'll find folk keen to show you around. The colour scheme is soft, and there are bright paintings on the walls.
You'll find a range of people engaged in a range of activities.
People doing what they want
In one corner a man is intently focused on a huge, intricate jigsaw puzzle.
Someone else is learning to paint.
A couple of people are chatting animatedly nearby and there’s music playing softly in the background.
There’s a cooking game that helps people understand what they’re eating. People guess the names of various pieces of fruit and vegetables from a basket; the names get written on a whiteboard. Once all the veg are named, everyone agrees what they’re going to cook with them for lunch.
If the social interaction gets a bit much, there’s a quiet room to withdraw into.
Looking to the future
We’re already happy with the way things are at My Time. So are the people we support there and their families. But we’re not content yet: we are hoping to get some sensory equipment for the quiet room, to make it even more welcoming and calming.
So there’s no doubt we’ll have more news on My Time in the future.
