Making Days: day centres in Liverpool for adults with learning disabilities
We’ve got day centres in Liverpool for people with learning disabilities. Making Days supports people to live to the fullest
Our Liverpool-based day centres provide a safe, fun place for people with learning disabilities to live their best life. At Making Days, people can take part in a really wide range of activities. They can learn new things; meet lots of new people; get out and about in the community; and be supported every step of the way as much or as little as wanted or needed by our caring, skilled team.
What are the benefits to people coming to our Liverpool day centres?
- Anyone who attends one of our day centres will be supported to live their life to the fullest, with as much choice as possible – it’s all about them and their goals.
- People are better able to achieve their goals and aspirations, with plenty of support from our experienced, passionate support team.
- People who use our service have reported making lots of new friends and enjoy staying in touch with their local community.
- We have lots of learning experiences on offer: from cooking, Spanish and photography classes through to reading, writing, drama and even journalism groups
- We’ve also got lots of groups to improve people’s wellbeing, with things like yoga, meditation and tai chi.
- At Making Days South, we have Dutch Farm, an allotment that is tended to by the people who use our services. The farm provides a chance for people to get their hands dirty, learn how to grow produce and be in the great outdoors – a great way to improve wellbeing.
- The atmosphere at all of our day centres is second-to-none. A positive, fun and exciting place to be, the centres are uplifting and encouraging, helping people to express themselves and come out of their shells.
- Co-production groups and meetings – we support the people who use our services to have a say in how we do things. That means they can shape how we run the service and make valuable suggestions to make it better.
Where are the Making Days Liverpool day centres?
Making Days South
We’ve got three day centres in Making Days South, we’ve got Bridgechapel on Heath Road, Garston. And we’ve also got two day centres in Speke – Noah’s Ark and All Saints community hall.
Dutch Farm is a large area of lovely green space that forms part of Making Days South. It’s based not far from our day centre, just off Highbank Road in Garston.
Making Days North
Making Days North is our North Liverpool day centre, based in Hetherlow, Walton.
We’ve also got a Making Days centre in our head office, Eleanor Rathbone House.
Success stories
Alfred’s story
Alfred is an older gentleman who uses our Making Days services. He’s got a severe learning disability and presents with some challenging behaviours, as well as frail physical health. Back in 2015, we took over a contract to provide day support at the day centre Alfred went to, and he had a particularly difficult time in managing this change to a new provider. It quickly became evident that Alfred liked to know who was supporting him and these people needed to be consistent and react to him in certain ways.
To help Alfred reduce his anxiety and address his failing mobility and health issues, it was important to get to know him really well. It was also important to ensure that staff understood his needs and how best to manage these, taking an interest in him as a person and as someone who needed to be understood. They always made sure that he had the things around him that made him comfortable, as well as ensuring that he had a healthy breakfast and was well nourished.
Alfred unfortunately became ill and was taken into hospital. When we became aware of this, staff at Making Days stayed in contact with his sister, who let us know that he hadn’t been eating or drinking – and was distressed and dehydrated. Alfred was refusing to wash and was hitting out at the nurses who didn’t have the time to devote to him and weren’t familiar with his behaviours.
Some of our team who knew Alfred were immediately sent to the hospital to make contact with the nurses and offer to support him at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. He was supported on a one-to-one basis during the day, making sure he was able to eat and drink and he was also supported with personal care. The staff also helped to educate the nurses in his methods of communication and his likes and dislikes – even down to how his pillows were arranged.
Following Alfred’s hospital stay, the learning disabilities nurse from the hospital wrote to PSS to thank the team for their contribution to his recovery. Alfred’s sister also came in to our office to offer her thanks for the support provided. The support from Making Days made a hugely important contribution to Alfred’s own health and wellbeing, and to his family in a practical and fundamental way, earning both his trust and that of his sister. That relationship continues today as Alfred has recovered completely and has since returned to Making Days.
How to refer
Anyone can refer to Making Days – all you need to do is contact the centre closest to where the person you want to refer lives:
Making Days South Liverpool:
0151 494 0747
Making Days North, Walton, Liverpool:
0151 525 2545