Below is brief introduction to some of the many services available to our Berkshire residents.
Animal Care
Animal care helps people with disabilities at Ravenswood to develop skills in handling small animals and benefit from the therapeutic effects of taking care of their daily needs. Residents get involved with all aspects of animal care including feeding and cleaning. There are a variety of animals including sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs.
Staff and residents enjoy hand rearing lambs and bottle feeding them, chicken’s eggs are collected daily and are used by the residents. There is also an aviary and paths to give wheelchair access to enable everybody to see the animals.
Art
The Art Studio at Ravenswood runs sessions daily, giving people the opportunity to express themselves through art. Set within a lively and enthusiastic environment the art therapist provides the canvas for individuals to develop and grow using art as a platform.
Participants enjoy using a wide variety of materials to be creative including pastels, water colours, mosaic tiles, paper mache, glue and glitter.
Dance
The dance studio at Ravenswood is specially designed to offer individuals the opportunity to develop their fitness, health and emotional well being using music and movement.
There are also discos held on some evenings at Ravenswood.
Gardening
The Landskill environment offers residents of all abilities the chance to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of gardening.
Gardening groups grow plants and vegetables outside or in our greenhouses. Sensory Gardening sessions offer students to the chance to experience the sights, touch, smells and tastes of flowers and vegetables grown there. Other activities include mowing lawns, digging borders and beds and maintaining the animals living areas and boundary fences.
There is also a woodland management session and a group that works with the Local Forestry Rangers. Together, with the Rangers, participants in the programme help to maintain local parks, ponds and nature trails. This can involve making paths, chopping down trees and bushes and, a favourite in the winter, building bonfires.
Hydrotherapy Pool
The Hydrotherapy Pool enables people to enjoy the fun of a swimming pool, plus the therapeutic benefits due to its warm water. Kept at a consistent temperature the pool allows people with mobility problems to move freely within the water. We run physiotherapy sessions alongside and regular swimming. We also run training for staff to enable greater use of this resource. It is also used at weekends by a parent and toddler baby swimming group.
Music Therapy
Making music can be a different way of communicating. Playing music can help people who communicate through non-verbal or verbal communication to express themselves. We support our clients in interactive music making as a means of communication, self-expression and emotional support.
Click here for further information about Music Therapy…
Pottery
The pottery and weaving rooms offer people the chance to be creative and experience the therapeutic benefits of working with different materials.
Students can enjoy the sensory aspects of working with clay, mosaics, pots and outdoor plaques. Some students use the potter’s wheel and work is glazed then fired in our onsite kiln. New on offer this year within the pottery room are glass-fusing sessions. We have our own glass kiln to make items. Students can also dye wool, thread and weave the loom making textiles for display or to take home.
Stables
The Stables and Equestrian Centre provides therapeutic benefits to our residents and people with disabilities from the local community. Riding strengthens muscle tone and also improves balance and confidence. As well as riding horses we also offer the opportunity for our riders to use the horse and cart. Our Olympic size all-weather paddock ensures that riding is possible all year round.
The horses are trained to the required standard for Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) and our riders are training to represent the region in the Special Olympics in 2012. We have two riders currently attending Special Olympic training for the 2009 event.
For more information about our adult opportunities in Berkshire (Ravenswood), please contact Norwood Direct on:
020 8809 8809
info@norwood.org.uk
