Beeching Park strawberry cream tea

Scones with whipped cream and jam were on offer alongside bowls of juicy strawberries as service users, friends, family and staff enjoyed a proper taste of summer at the centre in Beeching Road.

Resource Officer Helen Bridger commented: "This is just for fun. If we make some money out of it, that's fine, but basically people wanted a cream tea so we thought we'd do it. We have been making scones in sessions and freezing them to get ready, and today it is all hands on deck.

"It is like all these things - once you get going, it's fine, but there are always a few worries beforehand. But we have done it in the past and it all comes together.

"We also have plants for sale and the vegetables grown by the people in the garden project. We have to been able to use a lot of what they have grown but unfortunately we didn't grow the strawberries - another year, who knows?"

There are 70 service users at Beeching Park at present, with on average 45 attending every day. Aimed at adults with learning disabilities, Beeching Park places emphasis on building independence by encouraging skills such as travel training, photography, arts and crafts, cooking, and various sports activities.

"We have got the thriving gardening group," said Helen.

"And we have some service users who belong to the green gym environmental project and do some recycling and so on. We also do a lot of community outings, and some do work placements if they want to."