On 25 June 2026, we were lucky enough to go the The Hexagon in Reading to watch the most amazing Michael Jackson tribute act Michael (starring Ben) – Michael Jackson Tribute Act. Our group (50 people) were treated to an incredible evening of singing, dancing and at the end some of our Members were lucky enough to get high fives and even meet the man himself – what a treat.
If you get the opportunity to see this incredible act, I would highly recommend it
We held a huge Summer Party in July with a very successful bbq (cooked to perfection by Harry), a fun disco, supported by Suzanne & her team, with football and games in the garden and lots of opportunity to meet new friends, chat, socialise and have fun 🤩
As always we are hugely grateful to Maidenhead Mencap for the use of their lovely space, to Timpsons for providing the meat and Jungs Backhaus Bakery for the buns and lastly The Handmade Cake Co for the delicious sweet treats.
Suzanne, Harry, Robyn, Jess & Emme provided the care, which gave and our parents respite, safe in the knowledge their young person was safe & happy) 😊
Our March Social saw 20 of our members come together on a Friday night, for an evening of fun, games & socialising. We had different stations set up for :
Puzzles
Games
Mothers Day crafts
and then other activities such as Table Tennis, Table Football, Pool and Darts.
We also had a Tuck Shop available for our members to select their own snack & drink.
We finished the evening with entertainment from Charlie the Magician (back by popular demand following his appearance at our Christmas Party – we were delighted to welcome him back).
We also saw this as a great opportunity to socialise and make new friends
In February, we decided to escape the rain and try out a super new indoor mini golf centre in High Wycombe for our February Social.
The staff (and customers) at : https://www.carnivalgolfandgames.co.uk/high-wycombe were lovely and so supportive of our Group
It was a huge success with everyone giving it a go as well as enjoying the independence of choosing which games they wanted to play in the onsite arcade, with each person being given their own pre-charged credit card, which was a great idea! The whole place was well organised, fun, imaginative and safe – we will be back.
We encouraged independence, friendship building and turn taking.
Once again, this event was supported by our incredible team, which gave parents / carers much needed respite.
For our January 2026 Social, we took a small group to the Twyford Drama Group’s production of Aladdin.
https://www.twyforddrama.co.uk
With kind thanks to the Loddon Valley Rotary Club, we all enjoyed a fun evening – a particular highlight was the Giant Panda!
We hosted our 1st ever Christmas Party in December 2025 and it was a HUGE success. We had nearly 40 young people join us for 3 hours of fun, food, a disco, a FAB magician and even a little surprise from the Big Man himself 🎅. As always, we were lucky to have our AMAZING team support our event + Harry, Benjy, Amy and Hannah volunteering and generally working hard to ensure the whole event ran smoothly and our young people had a great time.
Its not easy sometimes for teens / young people with additional needs to feel relaxed and able to enjoy something like a party – it can be too loud, too many unknown faces, too crowded, unfamiliar setting, too bright, too dark, or just too overwhelming, so the fact we got so many people along, who seemed to have a ball, is a success in my book.
The dance floor was heaving :
Charlie (the magician) was a real hit 🪄
and we had some AMAZING sparkly dresses and awesome Christmas Jumpers
Games were played and friendship were made
On a cold Sunday in November 2025. we took a group of young people to Salt Hill Bowling Centre in Slough, where we had excusive use of the bowling area. This was great as we were able to split into teams, spread out and enjoy a safe, space to ourselves to get competitive with our bowling as well as having a drink and a chat with our friends.
Once again, we were supported by our lovely team, who witnessed some excellent bowling skills, some health competition and even a strike or 2!
In September 2025, we thought as our Group was growing, it was a good idea to have a disco, so that all our members could meet each other and hopefully, make new friends. We had about 20 young people on the night who showed some amazing moves on the dance floor, bought snacks and drinks from the Tuck Shop and some great new friendships were formed.
We were lucky to have 5 lovely Carers support the event, which allowed us Parents / Carers to catch up, over a glass of wine at the nearby pub (its often incredibly hard to have some time to yourself, so this provided an excellent opportunity for 2 hours of uninterrupted time – to chat, make new friends / contacts).
We had our 1st ever Chatterbox Social in July (our aim is to organise a Social Event every month) and our 1st one was a real success. Vickie and the lovely team from Chance to Dance – https://www.sendanceclub.co.uk/ ran the event for us and we had 13 young people attend. They walked to the cinema (saw Bad Guys 2) and then walked to The Bear, Maidenhead, where they selected and ordered their own lunch. Then a walk back through town ready for pick up.
Great first event !!!
I cannot believe its been 4 years since I last updated this website …… wowsers!
Well Chatterbox is still here – we have all been very busy juggling work / family life / different challenges as our children start moving towards adulthood. Our Group now consists of young adults from the ages of 15 – 19 – some still at school, some at College and some considering the next chapter after education. We continue to run our Speech Camp every July and this year we had a Olympics / Sports theme, which went down really well. The Camp was run by Vickie and the lovely team from Chance to Dance CIC – https://www.sendanceclub.co.uk/ and supported by Lucinda & Jo from Waitrose Bracknell – https://www.waitrose.com/find-a-store/bracknell who did an excellent session on healthy eating (including meeting and tasting some unusual foods!!)
watch this space for more updates very soon.
🌟we have a rapidly growing ‘Social’ Group, started by our Chair, Samantha Turner. If you have a young person who would like to be involved, please contact Sam on 07786 554781 to register.
