Carlton Centre

We have a big range of sport and exercise activities, from rambling to football.

Once a month we join a group from our Ken Boyce Centre to form the Bexley Lions football team, which plays in a tournament organised by the Special London Special League. Other activities include:

• Bowling in Gravesend
• Boxercise at Nemesis Gym in Erith
• Cycling at the Cyclopark
• Gentle ramble
• Longer ramble
• Rolling ramble where we decide where to go, like bowling or cinema
• Snooker at a local snooker hall
• Sidcup Leisure Centre sports
• Sporty Fridays (golf, trampolining, walking and more)
• Swimming at Sidcup Leisure Centre
• Wii games at Sidcup Library.

If you like singing, acting or playing music, we have plenty of options for you:

• Drama with our big performance at Christmas.
• Drum beats using different instruments like drums and tambourines.
• Karaoke - a favourite with everyone!
• Music Appreciation Club. We choose pieces of music and discuss them.
• Music Appreciation Club performance skills. A music teacher from Bird College shows us how to sing, play instruments and perform as a group.

We run a relaxing sensory session with lights and music. You can have a hand or foot massage, or us a foot spa.

A Yoga instructor visits the centre and guides us through a relaxing session.

Our look good, feel good group talks about what makes them feel good about themselves.

We run a Cook and Eat group, as well as a baking session. Our food sensory sessions explores different food with our senses. We have appliances like microwaves and blenders adapted with large switches and buttons to make them easier to use, in case you find it difficult to hold things.

We also go to supermarkets Marks and Spencer and Tesco as part of the Foodsavers scheme. They give us food that we deliver to people we support nearby.

Let your hair down at our nightclub for adults with learning disabilities. Held at the Wig and Gown, Spital Street, Dartford, DA1 2DX, there's lots of dancing and theme nights where fancy dress is a must.

When?

Last Wednesday of the month.

7pm - 11pm

How much?

£5 (if you're bringing a carer, they pay £1)

Questions about the nightclub?

Contact Maxine Gobbett by email or call 01322 29312.

We draw, paint, glue and make pictures. We display these at the centre or take them home.

In our wildlife art sessions we look at plants and animals and make art based on what we see. We use different materials and styles like papier-mâché, collage and painting.

We are a part of a group of community artists. We run a session at the What If gallery in Dartford, where we draw and paint, and make art that we show in the gallery. Sometimes people buy our artwork.

We go out to community facilities like the park, museum, bowling or the cinema. We'll often use public transport to get there.

Our gardening group helps to keep the centre's garden neat and tidy. You'll learn to use tools safely like spades, lawn mowers and watering cans.

We also have an allotment that has a polytunnel, which we made with the design and build group. We know that fruit and vegetables taste better when you grow them yourselves. We can't wait to teach you how to grow lots of tasty fruit and vegetables.

You'll learn how to use computers, including how to search for things on the internet. It doesn't matter if you've never used a computer before, we'll give you the skills so that you feel more confident and safe.

We have two groups that like to make things.

• Design and build group: we make bird tables, wheelbarrow planters and more at our workshop.
• Prop making: we make the props and costumes for our drama group.

Photography

We go all over the place to take interesting photos and we learn how to take the best photo even if the conditions aren't great. Sometimes we turn our photos into gifts, like keyrings, badges or calendars.

Respect

Bexley Mencap runs this group, which meets once a week. The group talks about things that are important to us and things we would like to change.

Storytelling

We make boxes to help us remember our lives. We tell our stories using photos, art, writing and recordings.

Words and signs

We look at ways to communicate better. We learn new signs and practice those we have learned before. We also play different word games, which is great fun. It's also helpful when we recognise these words when we're out and about.