CORRESPONDANCE DETAILS

ESCAPE Support Group

3 Discovery House 01823 256841

Cook Way, Bindon Road 07982712608

Taunton

TA2 6BJ

www.escapesupportgroup.com

www.facebook.com/escapesupportgroup

@escapesg

ESCAPE Office Opening Times

As a general rule the office is manned Monday to Thursday from 9.15am-

1pm. If you call after these times then leave a message and we will always

get back to you as soon as possible.

VISITORS - Visitors are welcome at any time, but due to circumstances

beyond our control there may be days where the office is un-manned. If you

want to check before making a special journey, do give us a call first.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS - The office isn’t manned as normal during school

holidays. If you need to get hold of us during these times the best way is via

email. Alternatively call the mobile number above. If the mobile isn’t

answered leave a message and we will get back to you.

November 2014

Issue no. 54

Encouraging Special Children ** Supporting Families ** Unlocking Potential

www.escapesupportgroup.com

Registered Charity No. 1081446

A Short break* in this holiday accommodation has kindly been

donated as a prize in our Christmas Raffle. Massive thanks to

Julia, the owner of this holiday home.

*Subject to Availability and outside of school holiday periods.

FAMILY SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Cathy Mercer

Email - cathy@escapesupportgroup.com

FAMILY LIAISON & SUPPORT OFFICER

Abbey Peebles

Email - help@escapesupportgroup.com

UNDER 12’S PROJECT OFFICER

Sara Farr

sara@escapesupportgroup.com

ADMIN ASSISANT

Angela Farrow

21

Rosemary Cowin

01278 427434

Rosemary.cowin@btinternet.com

Denise Gilbert

01823 333682

dagilbert28@outlook.com

Mandy Lewsey

01460 64817

mandylewsey@aol.com

STAFF

ESCAPE Who’s Who

Chairperson—Tracy Venning

01278 789830

Tracy.venning@southwest.hee.nhs.uk

Secretary - David Harvey

01823 661785

daelha@live.co.uk

Treasurer - Bindi Anstee

01823 338958

bindilucas@hotmail.com

Steve Bidgway

07721461798

bidgers@live.co.uk

Vicki Pearson

01823 327419

vickyp@gmx.co.uk

Bob Collett

01460 221718

bobcollett09@googlemail.com

Maria Anderson

01460 221718

bobcollett09@googlemail.com

Renee Bidgway

07500967089

Renee1_5@live.co.uk

Bonnie Edwards

01278 787559

ryandbon1@aol.com

20

Christmas Raffle

Enclosed with this newsletter are some Raffle tickets for you

to sell to your family and friends. If you would like more

just let us know.

Tickets are £1 each and the raffle will be drawn during our

Christmas Lunch on Monday 15th December

We have secured some great prizes which include;-

A super family short break holiday to Newquay, in a 9 berth

fully accessible holiday home on the Atlantic Reach resort.

Please see the advert opposite for full details.

Tickets to Ascot Races

A Christmas Hamper

A Wine Hamper

Meal for 2 including wine at The Farmers Arms, West Hatch

Afternoon tea at The Mount Somerset

Massage at Buff, Taunton

Days out tickets

Plus lots more

Over 12’s *

Christmas Bowl

Thursday 18th December

6.45pm for a 7pm start

1 Game of Bowling followed by

A Meal and a Mocktail.

(Parent or Carer must stay)

Please reply by 9th December

*See notes overleaf

Under 16’s*

Christmas Party

Please reply by 18th December

*See notes overleaf

Tuesday 30th December

2pm-4pm

Comeytrowe Community

Centre, Taunton, TA1 4TY

Disco, Food

& Maybe a Special guest!

(Parents or carers

should stay and join in

with the fun too)

Christmas Celebrations - Party or Bowling?

We have given you details of our two FREE Christmas Parties

for your youngsters.

As in previous years we are holding a Bowling Party for

our older children and a Traditional Disco Party for the younger

ones. Anyone upto the age of 16 are welcome to our Disco

Party and anyone age 12 and over are welcome to come Bowl-

ing. There is an overlap, but I must stress for those children in

the overlap, you can only choose one, Bowling or Party

The choice must be based on the requirements of your

special needs child, younger or older siblings are welcome to

either choice regardless of their age.

We hope these guidelines will ensure that there is some-

thing suitable for everyone regardless of their age or need.

Once again we are to congratulate Hannah Taunton,

Hannah is our resident Runner and at the

recent Taunton 10K Hannah managed to

smash her personal best by 4 minutes,

coming in at 40m28s. Gill Taunton also

took part in the run, and also broke her

personal best by 10s, coming in in just over

an hour.

Congratulations to you both

More Super Fun PGL Photo’s

Spotlight on New Committee Cont./

made us feel NORMAL, often outside the group we felt

very different especially as we live in a small rural com-

munity. I work part time at our village primary school

as well as play music and breed poultry on our small-

holding, so life’s very busy. I decided to join the com-

mittee as I felt I needed to give something back to this wonderful

charity.

BONNIE EDWARDS - Hi, my name is Bonnie and my

son is 10yr old Harrison, we are the Edwards family

along with my husband Ryan and 9 yr old Elliot.

We joined ESCAPE approximately 5 years ago as we

wanted to be part of a group with a wide range of lovely families all

in the same boat as us! We love going on ESCAPE trips as like the ti-

tle of our wonderful support group we can ‘Escape’ the realities of

life for a day or two. I became a member of the committee as I want

to give something back to the group.

BILL LEWSEY and LYNDA EDEMENSON are also on the committee as

co-opted members.

Another Thank you to Kas and Dave Drewett, they

both worked so hard to organise their Family Fun

Afternoon. Everyone who attended had a

wonderful time and a fantastic £430 profit was

raised which has been split between ESCAPE and

the national Autistic Society. Thank you to

everyone who attended along with grateful thanks

to Kas and Dave.

Reminders and Catch up

Matalan Collecting and Raffle Ticket Selling - 29th & 30th Nov

We could do with some more help during these two days. We only

ask that you offer an hour of your time, children are very welcome

to come along as well, in fact we positively encourage your

youngsters to come, because they are what our charity is all about,

and the public need to see this. Another opportunity to offer your

time is on the reply form. THANK YOU

Christmas Bingo—Saturday 22nd November

Comeytrowe Community hall, Taunton, 6.8pm - Everyone welcome

including families and friends. Bingo books just £1 each, with a

raffle and light refreshments offered. All proceeds to ESCAPE.

Salisbury Christmas Markets - Saturday 6th December

The Closing date for this trip has gone but there are a few empty

seats on our coach, if you would still like to come. Call the office

before replying to make sure there is still space. The trip is £6 each

and coaches will leave Wellington, The Skylark at 8am, Bridgwater

Bus Station at 8.30am and The Taunton Football Ground at 9am.

Expect the journey to take around 2 hrs, getting to Salisbury at

11am. We will leave again at 6pm (weather dependant)

Peter Pan @ West Playhouse - Sunday 21st December

For those of you who have booked, coaches will leave Wellington,

The Skylark at 11am, Taunton Football club at 11.30am and Bridg-

water Bus Station at 12noon, to ensure that we make it in plenty of

time for the 1.30pm start. The panto usually lasts 2-2 1/2 hrs so

expect to return home around 5.30pm

Rebecca & Co

Christmas

Coffee Mornings

Bev and Rebecca are kindly holding two ‘pop in’ coffee

mornings

Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 20th November

Drop in any time from 10am onwards for coffee and cake

Rebecca and her team hand make a beautiful array of

Christmas Decorations and Cards, and all will be available

to purchase at extremely reasonable prices.

All proceeds to ESCAPE

SWIMMING @ ST JAMES STREET, LARGE POOL

Only 50p per person.

HOLIDAY SWIMS: Wednesday 29th October 12.30pm-1.30pm.

AFTER SCHOOL SWIMS: Resume on Wednesday 05th November and con-

tinue each Wednesday during term time, 4.00pm-5.00pm. These sessions

take a break in the run up to Christmas with the final session of 2014

being on 26th Nov.

SUNDAY SWIMMING: Last Sunday of every month with dates coming up

being 30th November. 2.00-3.00pm - There is no session in December.

Numbers have been low for these sessions in recent months, so we will

be looking at the viability of continuing them in 2015. If you have an-

ything to input regarding this please let us know.

DENISE GILBERT - I along with my two sons have been

very fortunate to be part of the ESCAPE family for over

fourteen years. However my sons are children no more,

but the thought of not being involved with all the great

things Escape does was not something I wanted to con-

template. Being part of the committee for me, was the

obvious way I can stay involved and try and give something back to

this great charity.

MANDY LEWSEY - I was looking for something to help

my son Jack, with social skills, when I came across a

poster at Musgrove. That was over 2 years ago and

ESCAPE has helped Jack so much. Jack is 12, he is

autistic and struggles in most social situations, it is a

fight to just get him to leave the house. But since joining ESCAPE he

has enjoyed some great outings and experiences along with his 15

year old sister Charlie. So when Cathy did a shout out for new

committee members, I thought it was my time to give something

back.

BOB COLLETT - Hello, my family joined ESCAPE 4 years

ago, since then the group has given us so many

opportunities and experience and enable our son to feel

he is part of something. Because of this I felt I needed to

give something back, I am a smallholder and musician and

hope some of my knowledge can be useful to the activities the group

offers.

MARIA ANDERSON - Hello ESCAPEe’s, since joining ESCAPE 4 years

ago with our now 13 year old son Ehran, we have met some amaz-

ing families who have offered us advice and support, but most of all

Spotlight on……….Our New

Committee Members

TRACY VENNING, Chairperson - Hello, I live in Burnham

on Sea with my husband Neil and two children,

Cameron 18 and Jarod 15. We are new members to

ESCAPE and we are looking forward to meeting other

families who understand the complexity and challenges

that life throws. We had a lovely time over the summer months

attending some of the trips that were on offer and look forward to

more in the near future.

BINDI ANSTEE, Treasurer - I was born and educated in

Wellington and then spent six years in London before

returning to Somerset. Before having a family my back-

ground was inclusive education and within the voluntary

and care sectors. For the last few years I have been studying account-

ancy and now run my own accounting business. I am also a governor

for a local primary school with a particular remit for SEN and Equality.

ROSEMARY COWIN - I am a busy working mum with two

young boys who both have autism. My oldest attends

mainstream school, whereas my younger son has severe

autism and cannot communicate his needs at all. We are

going through the statementing process to get him into

appropriate education. I have joined the committee as I

believe that ESCAPE has a very important role in supporting families

and I hope that I can help to ensure that it continues to cater for all.

Ho Ho Ho, Here we go! Can you believe its THAT time of year again?

It clearly wouldn’t be Christmas without an

Escape Christmas Lunch so come and join us at : The White Willow Pub, Junction 24, North Petherton.

We shall be meeting at 12noon on Monday 15th December for a festive

catch up with friends and enjoy a tasty lunch before the madness begins.

We shall also be drawing our Christmas Raffle so do make sure you have your best ticket picking fingers with you and you have bought your tickets

by then to be in with a chance of winning the goodies. Good Luck!

Home Visits

Just a quick reminder to all of our families, not just our new members, that home visits from Abbey are available on re-quest.

Home visits are for those seeking support and encouragement to join in with our activities or for more detailed information about Escape, how we work and what we do.

Abbey is available for an informal chat, either in the comfort of your own home, or maybe in town for a coffee. Appointments and visits to the office are also welcome, should you feel more at ease.

Visits can be made Monday-Thursday 10:00-15:00. Please call or email the office to book your appointment.

We are very excited to announce a fun afternoon for all FROZEN fans.

Saturday 14th February, 3pm at The Trident Club in Galmington,

Taunton

Sing-a-long

Exact details will follow in our January newsletter, but get the date in

your diaries now.

**********

Fresh from the West End and based

on the smash hit film, we have

tickets reserved to see…..

With leading lady, X Factor winner Alexandra Burke

At Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

Monday 22nd June 2015

Tickets will cost £35 each, which includes coach travel

Reserve your seats with a £5 per person deposit.

Leaving times will be sorted much nearer the time but please bear in

mind before booking your tickets, that it is likely we will leave

Taunton/Bridgwater before the end of the school day, therefore this

may cause you childcare issues, so please bear this in mind before

booking.

LOOKING AHEAD Thank you to the following fundraisers who have donated amounts

both big and small to ESCAPE over the past couple of months, they

are;-

Justin Hollebon—Justin a member of ESCAPE, undertook a cycle

challenge taking him through France and Spain, Justin raised

£168.41 for ESCAPE, thank you Justin for thinking of us with this

challenge.

£137.40 has been donated following the now famous Ice Bucket

Challenge with several ESCAPee’s and Friends of ESCAPE taking

part and choosing ESCAPE as their charity to benefit.

Sharon Perryman has taken advantage of another craze and

made and sold loads of Loom bands in ESCAPE colours, Sharon

has raised £60!

Robert Nation has donated £10 and David Harvey has donated

£4.

Linda Fisher spoke at a recent Ladies event and £30 was given

to her to donate to a charity of her choice!

Several ESCAPE families have been collecting their pennies, The

Hayes Family have donated £30.05, the Parsons family £6.99

and the Bidgway Family £5.44. Look how quickly that adds up!!!

Our collection in Matalan at the end of June raised £83.51

A Collecting Pot in Julies Café has generated £32.93

FUNDRAISING THANK YOU’S

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

Enormous thanks to those of you who joined our 100 club this year,

unfortunately though there weren’t enough of you to justify running

this scheme for this 12 month period. Therefore the committee

agreed that all current entrants would get put into a hat to win their

share of the 50% profit from the scheme. As a result prizes were

awarded as follows:

1st Prize £50 to Anna & Luke Futcher

2nd Prize £35 to Tracy Venning

3rd Prize £ 30 to Geraldine Parker

4th Prize £20 to Melanie Hedgecock-Reeves

Melanie and Geraldine have subsequently donated the money back

to ESCAPE so thank you again. In total this venture has raised £175.

**********

We also had to take the disappointing decision to cancel our Grease

Sing-A-Long event, this wasn’t supported as we had hoped and it

needed a minimum attendance for the event to be a success.

**********

Unfortunately without your support with our fundraising ventures

we will experience a shortfall in funds which will impact on the

subsidies we are able to offer against trips in the future. Grants are

becoming harder and harder to source and providers expect us to do

our own fair share of fundraising, we cannot do this without your

help. Please support our fundraising ventures as much as you can, or

even do a little yourself, just have a read of the next page to see how

easy it can be.

Fundraising Update

SUMMER 2015 PGL ADVENTURE HOLIDAY

Monday 10th August until Friday 14th August

Decided that a PGL holiday is not your thing? Not sure that your family will enjoy the activities on offer? Please take just a few moments to think again and have a peak at some of the wonderful photo-graphs from our visit in 2010, we had so

much fun together.

If its swinging around the tree tops, whizzing down the Zipwire or hanging off a Trapeze PGL has some-thing for everyone. For those that prefer to keep their feet on the ground we have Quad Biking, Fencing and Mountain Biking or for those that enjoy being on the water how about canoeing and raft building? With a fun-packed programme from dawn ‘til dusk, our holiday will be fantastic for the whole family to share a wide range of activities, no matter how diverse your interests! You don’t need any experience or be super

fit, it’s just about great family fun.

A PGL adventure will nurture and challenge your youngsters; bringing out the best in them. Realising the potential in every individual to reach higher and achieve more. PGL Multi-Activity courses use adventure to build confidence; a sense of achievement; forge stronger relationships; boost self esteem; enable

them to work as part of a team and lastly put a huge smile on their faces.

They’ll return home with renewed belief in their abilities; the confidence to

succeed and a whole bunch of new friends.

So what are you waiting for….Book your places today!

More fun filled photo’s can be found later in the newsletter

9

Not wanting to come to PGL?

We have to ensure that our calendar of activities are suiting the

majority of our membership. Numbers at the moment are indicating

that we haven’t succeeded in achieving this with our choice of

Annual Special in 2015, therefore will you please help us know why

this holiday isn’t for you by completing the checklist on the final page

of the reply form. Thank you

If there is anything we can to help persuade you to come along, then

please just pick up the phone for a chat.

We are currently taking part in Localgiving's Grow Your Tenner

match fund campaign. This means that through our Localgiving

page, any donation you make will be matched by up to £10!

The campaign will match one-time donations pound-for-pound

minimum of £5 and up to £10, alternatively a monthly donation

of up to £10 per month for 6 months.

Please help us to make the most out of Grow Your Tenner by setting up a £10 monthly Direct Debit donation through Localgiving.com today.

Your gift will be matched by £10 per month for 6 months, providing us with over £120 in funding, including Gift Aid.

Simply visit—www.localgiving.com/charity/escape

Any questions do give us a call

Your views are needed……. The questions on the reply form opposite are seeking your feedback as to whether you and your family would support a regular ‘club’ event for our young people, at the moment we are considering run-ning two clubs 0 to 14yrs or 10 to 18yrs, the four year overlap would allow for children to attend the particular club that suits their needs best. The intention is to give our young people the opportunity to form friendships, have a sense of belonging and have opportunities to gain new experiences and at the same time have some fun. Our intention would be to keep this at the same regular venue and the normal Escape rules would apply and attendance would require a parent / carer to accompany the young people. The present sugges-tion for this club would take the upper age limit up to 18, so we would appreciate hearing from all families who have young person with special needs up to age 18.

This evaluation is taking place as a result of our Children In Need funding coming to an end early next year.

THANK YOU

Please keep an eye on your

email inboxes, as we will

soon be sending out our

Annual Questionnaire.

We plan on delving deep

into your thoughts, about

ESCAPE and all that we offer

and whether it is still right

for you, our membership, so

get your thinking caps on

Do you use Paypal?

We hope to be set up to accept card

payments via Paypal soon, which

will enable you to pay in person via

chip and pin or over the telephone.

Paypal payments do incur a fee

which we will have to ask you to

pay. This fee will vary dependant on

the amount you want to pay, so call

us to find out the cost.

PGL Review Check List, please tick if the statement/s is/are relevant

to your family and if there is another reason please let us know.

Too Expensive

If too expensive, would the option of monthly instalments help?

Would paying by credit card help?

Encroaches with our own family holiday

Not our kind of holiday

Cannot plan that far ahead

Would like to book but can’t afford it at the moment.

Our child/ren wouldn’t be able to access activities

Worries with dietry needs

Other, please specify

Your Views (Please see paragraph opposite)

Q If Escape were to proceed with the idea of a regular club

event, would your family/ young people attend?

A Yes/No/Maybe

Q Which club would be appropriate for your children

A 0-14yrs/10-18yrs

Q How often would you like to see the club run?

A Once a month/Every other month/Other

Q When would you like to see the club run

A Afterschool/Weekends

Q What activities would you like to see provided at the club?

10

How to pay us;-

Direct Bank Transfer - if you access your bank

account through the internet you can pay us direct using

sort code 30 98 45, a/c no. 02474591 please quote your

surname as a reference and email Cathy to let her know

payment has been made.

By Cheque - payable to ESCAPE Sup-

port Group, posted with your reply form

to, 3 Discovery House, Cook Way, Bin-

don Road, Taunton, TA2 6BJ

By Cash - Brought in to the office.

Sending cash through the post is at your

own risk

Unless stated otherwise, payment in full is required with

booking.

Family Name ___________________________________

Address _______________________________________

______________________________________________

Postcode _______________________________________

Tel. No. _______________________________________

Mobile No. _____________________________________

Reply Form

November 2014

Matalan 29th & 30th Nov- Please tick your preferred slots

Sat 29th - 10-11 __ 11-12 __ 12-1 __ 1-2 __ 2-3 __ 3-4 __

Sun 30th 10-11 __ 11-12 __ 12-1 __ 1-2 __ 2-3 __ 3-4 __

_________________________________________________________

Salisbury Christmas Markets - Saturday 6th December

No. Adults___ at £6 each No. Children___ at £6 each

Preferred Pick up Point Bridgwater/Taunton/Wellington*

Wheelchair position req. Yes/No*

________________________________________________________

Raffle Tickets

I am returning ___ Sold/Unsold Tickets

____________________________________________________________________

Carers Lunch - Mon 15th December

Please indicate if you are hoping to attend ___

_____________________________________________________

Christmas Bowling - 18th December—Closing date 9th December

No. children attending ____

_____________________________________________________

Christmas Party—30th December - Closing date 18th December

No. Children attending ___ No. Adults attending ___

Please state names and ages of children attending

__________________ ____ __________________ ____

__________________ ____ __________________ ____

_________________________________________________________

Bodyguard The Musical - 22nd June 2015—Closing Date 18th Dec

No. tickets req. ____ £5 pp deposit enclosed

Wheelchair Position req. In coach Yes/No*

In Theatre Yes/No*

Pick up Point Wellington/Taunton/Bridgwater*

_________________________________________________________

ANNUAL SPECIAL - PGL LIDDINGTON 10TH - 14TH AUGUST

Coach req. Wellington/Taunton/

Bridgwater*

Wheelchair position req. Yes/No

Taking own Car Yes/No* (deduct

£10 per person from cost)

Rooming - Wheelchair accessible

room Yes/No*

Meals - Do you have a special/limited diet Yes/No*

Total Cost £120 per person.

£10 per person deposit payable with booking.

Closing Date now extended to Friday 28th November

Who’s coming?

Please state all names

Age if

under 18