Singing and baking raise £600 for disabled charity

MORE than £600 was raised at a bake sale in Henley to mark national learning disability week.

The event on Saturday, organised by South Oxfordshire Mencap, also saw 20 of its members gather in Market Place for an annual sing-along.

They sang Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Que Sera, Sera, among others.

Volunteers also sold cakes baked by Mencap members, while others collected donations in the town centre.

Mayor Tom Buckley and Henley MP Freddie van Mierlo both attended and joined in for some of the songs.

Mencap has about 30 volunteers who help to organise and run activities for people with learning disabilities throughout South Oxfordshire.

The charity has about 80 members and is affiliated with the national body Royal Mencap but is entirely responsible for all its own funding and undertakes several events throughout the year.

One of its main activities is Meteor Club, where members can go every Thursday to socialise. It also organises quarterly discos, monthly swimming, two or three theatre trips per year and an annual Christmas party.

Marie Byrne, who chairs the charity, was pleased with the money raised. She said: “It will enable us to provide more activities to our members and investigate new activities for them to do.”

Geoff Walsh, chairman of the Henley Freemasons, also joined in the singing, having donated an additional £1,500 to the charity from his organisation.

Mr Walsh said: “The programme that they have to support local people with learning disabilities is unbelievable.

“Mencap is a great organisation and it makes a big difference and they have even got me singing.”