Aburound House

Aburound House is on Woodlands Road in Gillingham. The building is in need of refurbishment work to bring it back to full community use. We have plans to transform the kitchen area to train independent living skills and the toilets area to provide a disabled toilet. We would like to develop the main area in the centre to provide various activities including exercise sessions, training and employment, drama, music, woodwork and more. The main area will also be available for hire to the local community. Finally we are also hoping to transform the garden area into a thriving horticultural and gardening project.

Despite the building needing refurbishment we are running activities on a small scale within the centre. These are highlighted below. There is presently an ongoing steering group working to develop services at Aburound House for Medway users. The aim is to provide a well planned and integrated service to meet the needs of individual service users in Medway who are able to make their own choices about the activities they carry out.

There is a Monday Night Gateway Clubattended by over forty service users every Monday evening. Aburound House is also available for hire by outside groups.

On Tuesdays we run a weekly gardening session for people who want to learn how to grow their own flowers or vegetables. We also offer a session that develops woodworking skills. Drama and Music sessions take place on a Thursday for people who want to gain acting skills and develop an interest in music.

Tuesdays

GARDENING: 10:30am to 12:30pm
WOODWORK: 1:30pm to 3:30pm

Thursdays

DRAMA: 10:30am to 12:30pm
MUSIC: 1:30pm to 3:30pm

Steppingstone Training and Employment Programme

The Steppingstone Training and Employment Programme takes place at Aburound House on a Tuesday. The programme runs for 24 weeks. Topics covered include:

Money Management
Personal Safety
Self Advocacy
Relationships
Understanding Differences
Computer Skills
Decision Making
Safety in the Home
Seeking Help and Advice
Confidence Building
Identifying Skills and Abilities

The Training and Employment Programme costs £38.50 per session. Sessions run from 10.30am - 3.30pm. The next round of the course will run from Tuesday 14th September 2010.

For more information about the Steppingstone Programme, please contact steppingstone@dgsmyourchoice.org.uk

For more information on Aburound House please contact communityintegration@dgsmyourchoice.org.uk.