The organisation that is now Reading Mencap is a small local charity that was founded in 1962 by local parents of children and adults with learning disabilities (LD) and autism.
The aim was to provide support so individuals with learning disabilities and their families might lead a full and active life in their community.
We now provide services for children and adults with learning disabilities and their parents and carers.
We aim to:
Family Support Team
Our team of Family Advisers are an outreach service who are there to give support and information with problems which need a bit more help to sort out. You can reach them on our office telephone line (0118 9662518), by appointment at our drop-in centre or by appointment at home.
Family Advisers are also supported by a Family Support Worker who gives practical support with appointments or form filling etc. All the team are experienced and qualified in learning disability. See our Family Support page for more details.
Clubs and Activities
We run a range of clubs for adults, a support service for carers, and other events for families and siblings throughout the year including school holidays.
Campaigning
We sit on many forums and steering groups including the Carers Steering Group and the Autism Partnership Board to give a voice to learning disability.
We use our contacts at both local and national level to drive action when issues arise. Our aim is to empower parents and individuals to help them to help themselves, so that they can choose how they want to live their lives. Statutory services don’t always understand the problems that face people with learning disabilities or their families and carers on a daily basis, but we do because our members tell us every day, and many of us are parents of children or adults with learning disabilities ourselves.
