Mencap in Northern Ireland

22/12/2025

📣 We Want You To Join Our Early Years Team! 📣
We are looking for caring and compassionate individuals to join our Early Years Team in our Mencap NI Children’s Centre! 🙌
Hear from some of our team about why you should apply for a role today! 📣
You can apply now via the link below! ⬇️

https://jobs.mencap.org.uk/vacancies/35227/early-years-assistant.html

22/12/2025

Thank you so much to the art students from Banbridge High School for painting the windows of our tenants homes for Christmas! 🙌
The windows look amazing and have definitely got everyone feeling festive! 🎄

20/12/2025

Our Carols at Christmas event was a brilliant afternoon! 🌟
Big thanks to Jim Corr Photography who took some amazing images at the event and we think they perfectly capture the festive spirit!
Have a look at just some of the images taken on the day!

18/12/2025

What a fabulous afternoon at the Lord’s Taverners Northern Ireland Christmas Lunch yesterday ⭐🏏

Our Relationships Manager Maeve O’Lynn, Senior Communications, Marketing & Influencing Lead Karen Gilgunn, and Mencap NI Ambassador Dr James Martin MBE were privileged to be guests of Lord’s Taverners at such a brilliant event. It was wonderful to catch up with friends old and new — and especially lovely to spend time with some of our fundraising committee members too ✨

We’ve been delighted to work alongside Lord’s Taverners in Northern Ireland since the Waterloo Ball back in May, and are especially excited to have recently launched a pilot inclusive cricket project with young people from Mencap NI. Supported by Lord’s Taverners and delivered by the Northern Cricket Union, this programme is already shaping up to be something really special.

A huge thank you to Leo Callow for the incredibly generous donation of his artwork, which was auctioned on the day in support of this programme — such kindness makes a real difference 💙

We can’t wait to see where this partnership and project go in the year ahead! 🌟

Lord's Taverners
Northern Cricket Union
Callow Event Management

17/12/2025

Carols at Christmas! 🎄
Thank you so much to Ivan Martin who organised this amazing Carol Service for the people we support here at Mencap NI!

It was a lovely afternoon, filled with singing, festive cheer and even a visit from the Grinch!

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in the day, Choice Housing, Pizza Crew, Skainos, and East Belfast Mission.
As well a massive thank you to Peter Corry, Scoil na Seolta, James Martin, Josie, James, and Hawthorne Makaton Choir for their wonderful performances, to Riversley Crafts for coming along with their beautiful crafts on the day, and to pianist Lorna Rankin, narrator Brian Anderson, and reader Andrew Irvine!

A big thank you as well to our volunteers on the day.

And finally, the biggest thank you to everyone who came along on the day, we hope you enjoyed the event as much as we enjoyed hosting it!

17/12/2025

We were delighted to have Mitchell House School join us for our sensory nativity this morning in our Children’s Centre! 🌟

We hope you all had an amazing time!

16/12/2025

Busy Days Out! 🙌

Our tenants have been very busy over the past few weeks - from girls days out, to pamper sessions at the hairdressers, keeping fit in the gym, enjoying a night out dancing, and even heading out fishing! 🎣

Have a look through the photos to see what everyone’s been up to! 📸

15/12/2025

What a fantastic day in the Mencap Play & Connect Session! 🌟

Even in the chilly weather, it was heart-warming to see families come together to play, relax, and catch up with friends - old and new. The crisp air, warm smiles, and cosy coats made it feel extra special.

It’s all about having fun and spending time together, and it was great to see so many familiar faces joining in and enjoying the day. 💛💜

Here’s to more wonderful moments in our Mencap community! 🙌

If you’d like more information about future events, please contact: amy.townsley483@mencap.org.uk

15/12/2025

‼️ Important Update ‼️
Unfortunately due to staff sickness we are unable to run our scheduled Parents and Tots session tomorrow in Shantallow Community Centre. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
We will be running more Parents and Tots sessions in Derry/Londonderry in 2026 so keep an eye on our page for news and updates about these sessions!
Or if you want to find out more about our Family Support services you can contact our team at familysupport@mencap.org.uk

We are so excited for our next Parents and Tots Session in Shantallow Community Centre! 🌟

If you are a parent, carer or service for children aged 0-5 years with developmental delay we would love to have you join us Tuesday 16th December!

This is a drop in style session so feel free to come any time between 10am and 12pm.

For more information or to register your interest contact our Family Support team at familysupport@mencap.org.uk

10/12/2025

Magical Christmas Adventures! 🎄

Some of our tenants went on a very special trip to Lapland UK! ❄️

Everyone had an amazing time, helping the Elves make the toys, helping Mrs Claus make gingerbread and best of all seeing Santa Claus himself to find out they all are on the nice list! 🎅🏻🤶🏻

09/12/2025

✨ What a great night at our Mums & Female Carer Session! ✨

We had such a relaxing and uplifting Vision Board Workshop with the wonderful Julie Fitz, and it was everything we hoped for and more. 💜

This special evening was all about connection, creativity, and self-care — a beautiful chance for mums and female carers to come together, share stories, laugh, and build meaningful bonds while creating something inspiring for the year ahead. 🌟

Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the night so warm and supportive.

If you’d like more information about future events, please contact: amy.townsley483@mencap.org.uk 💌

08/12/2025

Our First Healthier Me and Fit Minds Fitness Day! 🌟
On Saturday, our Healthier Me Team in collaboration with FitMinds Coach Ronan held our very first fitness day for the children and families our team have been working with as part of their project! 🙌

James, Conan, Michael and Keith assisted Ronan in setting up the spaces, running the fitness sessions on the day, making sure all the children were having a good time, and showed off all they have learned during the programme. 👏

Everyone had a great time and we cannot wait to run more Healthier Me events like this in the future.
Well done to everyone who helped make the day possible! 🌟