Mencap Funday – 2024

Written by Neeva (U5 A)

Mencap is a charity that focuses on providing services for people with learning disabilities. The Habs Mencap Funday contributes to this charity and once a year organises an exciting and memorable day for children. This year, 88 children with learning disabilities (ages 4-16) were invited to Habs Boys to participate in a variety of activities which were organised by the Mencap committee. The Mencap committee includes Year 11 and Year 12 students from both the Boys’ and Girls’ school and is overseen by one teacher from both schools.

Throughout the day the children were paired with Habs student volunteers who took them around to participate in each activity. These activities included a magician, a face painter, bouncy castles, balloon animals, inflatable darts, petting zoo, pony rides, arts and crafts, a teacup ride, a chair-o- planes ride, sensory rooms and sweet treats such as ice cream and candy floss. The highlights of many of the children’s day were the magician, balloon animals and the chair-o-planes ride. My personal favourite part of the day was seeing the happy and excited faces of the children as they were able to enjoy activities they may never have tried before!

In order for the Funday to take place, the Mencap committee organised fundraising events throughout the year. We held a memorable girls vs boys netball tournament where we sold tickets and doughnuts and raised over £1,000. In addition, we held the annual ‘Mencap’s Got Talent’ event which was an amazing showcase of Habs’ best talents. This show raised around £5,000. The school also held a non-uniform day to support the Mencap charity.

The Funday itself required the help of around 200 pupil volunteers from both schools and about 30 teachers. It was a huge day which took a year to organise, and we are really proud of its success. Thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help make sure the children who came had a great day!

Well done to the committee which consisted of Lucas (L6J2), Rudrani (L6 CAJ), (Chairs), Milo (L6R1), David (L6M1), Emma (L6 CAP), Anika (L6 DXF), Sam (11H2), Sahil (11C2), Indiana (U5 Aleph) and Neeva (U5 A). Now onto planning for next year!