With the year coming to a close, we wanted to look back at some exciting things that have happened in 2022!
January
In January, as part of our Improving Our Health campaign, we sent healthcare packs to every person Grace Eyre supports so they had more information on their health.
February
In February, we celebrated our founder Grace Eyre Woodhead’s birthday.
Born on 24th February 1864, Grace was a social care pioneer. She started our charity in 1898 by placing children with learning disabilities from London slums into holiday homes in East Sussex.
Find out more about Grace’s life and legacy.
March
In March, we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day – Monday 21 March 2022 – by asking ‘what does inclusion mean’ to you?
To Finn and Katharine, inclusion is love and they say “we love each other so much, and love is the most important thing, really.”
April
In April, They visited the Lloyd Corporation Exhibition together with Brighton CCA. Then they shared ideas about what they saw and made artwork about it.
The group decided to make boxes because they can contain, store and transport objects and materials, just like the shipping containers in the gallery. The boxes were much smaller than the shipping containers!
May
In May, we took part in Artists Open Houses.
Our exhibition focused on inclusion. It featured a diverse range and style of work, all made by artists with learning disabilities from across our organisation.
June
In June, we celebrated Mellie moving onto her paid job with Grace Eyre as a Travel Buddy Assistant.
In her new role, in addition to a variety of other tasks, Mellie has helped deliver workshops. Congratulations, Mellie!
July
In July, we received an award from the London Learning Consortium at their annual award celebration event.
The Sue Robson Award – Community Grants Providers of the Year recognised our Employment Project.
Well done to all our colleagues and learners on the Employment Project who work very hard and achieve amazing things!
August
In August, we stood together to celebrate Brighton Pride! It was great to celebrate all together again.
With our friends at Heartventure and Unity Club Nights we created the slogan Equal Able Sexual.
It was designed and chosen by the people we support to tell the world that despite what people think, we have the same rights as anyone else, we are as able as anyone else, and we are as sexual as anyone else.
When only 3% of people with a learning disability live with their partners, it is more important than ever to spread the message of our right to love whoever we want.
These words aren’t usually controversial, but when applied to people with a learning disability, they take on a new meaning and are a call for Love, Protest and Unity.
September
In September, we thanked all our #TeamGraceEyre heroes who took part in the London to Brighton Cycle Ride.
Our 7 fabulous riders collectively raised £2,402! All of this went towards the Big Build – a project to deliver a better community space and flats for people with learning disabilities.
October
In October, our performance group staged a brilliant version of “Macbeth: The Musical” at Exeter Street Hall, Hove.
Here’s what the audience said:
“It was beautiful! Everybody had an amazing time. It touched my heart!”
November
We think this is the first time a charity, a bus operator and a rail operator have come together like this.
Watch the video to see what happened on the day and what it means for everybody to feel safe, supported and confident on public transport.
December
In December, we were delighted to see the return of our annual Grace Eyre Carol Concert. After a 2-year gap it was great to see so many familiar faces again – and make some new friends, too! The evening was a fantastic occasion that got everyone in the Christmas spirit. The programme featured performances from the brilliant community choir The Tone Rangers, the very talented Grace Eyre performance group and a few surprise performances from the Grace Eyre Friendship Group.