Chrysalis was one of the few, local community groups invited to personally meet Prince Charles at Saint Mary’s Church.

Claire Doherty was accompanied by Dawn Golding, Joan Caulfield, Joan Hetherington, Andrew Studholme and Georgina Cartwright who were the lucky few whose names were pulled out of a hat.

The remainder of the members and staff gathered with the crowds eagerly awaiting the royal arrival and the rain and snow didn’t appear to dampen anyone’s spirits!

Claire Doherty, Director of Chrysalis said, “Prior to his arrival we were all given a briefing about protocol and then waited for HRH to arrive. He first had a tour of the church and the windows before meeting each of the community groups.  He took time to speak to each person and there was a lot of laughter around the room as he joked with people”.

“When he came to our group he greeted everyone and shook everyone’s hand.  He asked what we did and where people came from, and we were surprised he had the time to talk to everyone. He said he was worried about the children outside in the snow, but we said we were made of stern stuff around here!”

“He signed the book in the church and when he had left we were all shown his signature”.

Supported by staff and in partnership with Mobex and NADT (North Allerdale Development Trust) the group will be working together to gain the Conserver Level Award.  The award covers areas such as exploring a wild place, conservation and sharing information.

The group have chosen to use the garden at The Meeting Place near Wigton town centre to create a sensory garden.  The garden will also focus on encouraging wildlife and make it a great place for people to be.

The award will take up to six months to complete.  When completed we are planning to hold an open day so that everyone can come along and experience what has been achieved and see the groups presentations and displays.  We will keep you posted on progress!

The funding has helped purchase essential technical equipment including a laptop and video camera which were needed to produce the short bespoke video clips contained in the e-learning modules.

The modules have just been piloted and have already led to some improvements in service delivery, providing greater flexibility for people to complete learning at a time and place that suits them.  It has also provided a greater awareness into the ways of using intensive interaction methods to support our service users.  Early feedback from people who have completed the e-learning modules has been excellent.

Working in partnership with Age UK and NADT, The Lunch Club operate from the Cafe in the Wigton Market Hall from 12:30 noon every Wednesday.

Their success has attracted some publicity, and on the 29th February 2012 a team from BBC Radio Cumbria turned up to interview customers and staff at the Lunch Club.  This was very exciting, and the interviews were broadcast during the Friday afternoon radio show.

The Lunch Club enables our members to develop skills include planning, food preparation, food safety, catering, waiting on and customer service.  It provides real work experience for our members and the opportunity for them to contribute and support others in the local community.

Everyone enjoyed spending time with each other in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.  They must have had a great time, they are already planning next years holiday!

We have been looking to secure additional premises in Wigton for a number of years and this is a perfect location for our organisation.

Chrysalis actually rented the premises from the Quakers over 10 years ago, a relationship that worked incredibly successfully, so the site is already familiar to the organisation.

We pride ourselves on our positive links with the local community.

The premises will be used for individuals who are all local to the area, which we are sure the community will appreciate.

We plan this exciting new venue to be available from September 2011.

The official opening was made by the Provincial Grand Master, Norman James Thompson. The room includes fibre optic lights, a touch screen, a projector, bubble machine and a star map.

Support worker Rita Ditchburn said: “The sensory room is extremely important. It’s taken us a long time to be able to have the money to do this.

“It’s used a lot by our service users. We are ever so grateful and it’s absolutely lovely to have it.”

Mandy Shepherd, office manager, said: “As a charity, we rely heavily on funding. We were so excited about this and the equipment has helped tremendously.”

Peter Clarke, of the Aspatria lodge of the Cumberland and Westmorland Freemasons, said: “Last year was the 150th anniversary of the province. We gave £70,000 to 11 charities and Chrysalis was one of them.

“We have close associations with Chrysalis – some of our members’ families use the service. Chrysalis does a fantastic job and the province is delighted that they have put the money to good use.”

Chrysalis improves the life choices and chances of people with learning disabilities by giving them new skills and confidence through work experience opportunities.

With a 1-0 result Carlisle beat Brentford to take home the Sundays Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.