12
Dec
Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: 'Help more people experience the magic'
The Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal needs your help to raise £5,000 for Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre in Knaresborough.
The centre is a safe, inclusive and fun space for disabled adults to discover the joy of creativity. It helps them express themselves and nurture their talents, it gives them a sense of purpose, and it enables them to make friends and grow in independence.
But it's reaching capacity and is at risk of having to turn people away. Please donate to our appeal which will help Henshaws build two new art workshops so that people on the waiting list can join the centre. Thanks to sponsorship from Raworths Solicitors, every single penny you donate will go towards the project.
A calm space for creativity
Henshaws offers a lifeline to people with sight loss and other disabilities. We've been bringing you stories of how the opportunities and support it provides have transformed the lives not just of the people who attend the centre, but their families too.
For Stefi, who is autistic and has a hip condition, Henshaws was the perfect place to move to after her formal education ended.
Her parents Rob and Belinda had struggled to find somewhere suitable for Stefi, particularly during the pandemic. Thankfully, they had heard about Henshaws through word of mouth and knew as soon as they visited that it was what they had been looking for. They said:
Stefi’s favourite workshops are pottery, paper, jewellery, mosaic, multi-sensory and general life skills. She loves the community at Henshaws, enjoying the social aspect of being with other Artmakers and members of staff. Her parents said:
Stefi needs to go to a place which is calm and happy, and Henshaws is both of these.
It gives her a sense of belonging to something and she gets so much satisfaction from what she does here.
Stefi with some of her Christmas decorations.
During her time at the centre, Stefi has grown in confidence and happiness, and has made lots of friends. And Rob and Belinda have found much-needed support themselves, too. They said the Henshaws community has become like a family to them, and they feel they can talk to them any time. They added:
Our lives have become so much more stable and calmer and we can see a great future for Stefi thanks to the fantastic work Henshaws and its staff are doing.
When you have a member of the family that is disabled you can worry constantly how they are, if they are being treated well. With Henshaws we have no worries.
How you can help
By donating to our Christmas Appeal, you will be helping more disabled people and their families, like Stefi, Rob and Belinda, experience the life-changing impact of Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre.
Please do consider supporting our appeal this Christmas. Any amount, however small, will be hugely appreciated. As Rob and Belinda said:
Let’s expand the Centre and let more people experience the magic.
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