The Unity Centre > Staff
|
Jac.
Chairwoman since November 2010. Centre Manager/ activities co-ordinator, Health care worker, Nutritional therapist & Groove dance facilitator. Jac is full of passion to help people with mild to moderate learning difficulties having brought up a son herself in this bracket. She knows the difficulties parents face and the fact that once these children have grown, it is more difficult for them to fit in anywhere. Knowing what a struggle it was, she is driven to help other parents/carers and give them and their family members a place to come and feel accepted and supported. Her favourite activities are karaoke, music and dancing. Jac took a diploma in health and social care to gain knowledge in supporting people with learning difficulties. As well as a certificate in "Working with individuals with a learning disability. She is a qualified, BANT registered, Nutritional Therapists and qualified Groove dance facilitator. Previous experience in care comes from being a qualified Enrolled Nurse, 8 years of support teaching at two schools of special education and supporting her own son who is now grown up, with learning difficulties. |
Ben.
Vice Chair Mencap, Chair of The Fort, Administrator/ Centre Manager since October 2014
Ben is a founder member of Unity Gaming as well as being a huge ideas man for Lowestoft Mencap.
He is our tech support which is hugely valuable for us older ones that struggle with technical things! Ben has also taken a diploma in health and social care and working with adults with autism, to help with his understanding when supporting people with Learning difficulties. He started Unity Gaming in the Centre, which became very popular and led to him expanding into the unit next door and opening The Fort & creating Unity Youth Projects. He is still very much active with Mencap although behind the scenes these days, while he concentrates on the gaming side of things.
Vice Chair Mencap, Chair of The Fort, Administrator/ Centre Manager since October 2014
Ben is a founder member of Unity Gaming as well as being a huge ideas man for Lowestoft Mencap.
He is our tech support which is hugely valuable for us older ones that struggle with technical things! Ben has also taken a diploma in health and social care and working with adults with autism, to help with his understanding when supporting people with Learning difficulties. He started Unity Gaming in the Centre, which became very popular and led to him expanding into the unit next door and opening The Fort & creating Unity Youth Projects. He is still very much active with Mencap although behind the scenes these days, while he concentrates on the gaming side of things.
|
Col.
Vice Chair/Centre Manager, karaoke king, joined the family in 2017. Col is the man of the Centre who supports the staff and service users alike. He works in all departments of the centre, being an excellent salesman in our shop with his charms and wit and he might even make you a cuppa in the coffee bar. He loves our karaoke sessions and if you’re lucky you can charm him into making the sessions longer. In 2022 he has become our excellent Quiz master, making our quiz nights extra special. He has great understanding with our Unity family & is always willing to be a listening ear. He is a great ideas man, and keeps Jac grounded and a really well loved part of the team. |
|
Zellie.
Gaming and Treasurer of the Unity centre and The Fort. Zellie is our young lady who is responsible for all the finances at the Centre and The Fort, ordering and knowing what's what, she is a wonder woman in this field and our unsung hero. She has a background in computer gaming and a Uni degree in this. She is the go to Gal on gaming matters, if she doesn't know the answer, she will know who does. She jointly created Unity Youth Projects with Ben at The Fort and can be seen in there streaming online and supporting the youngsters and adults alike. She has endless patience for those of us who are not so great on computers and always willing to lend a hand. |
|
Lou Lou.
Activities co-ordinator, Shop manageress, party planner. Lou joined the team to help one afternoon a week with Bang and Crash and quickly became a valuable member of the team, working several days a week at the Centre and at home planning and creating. She is very loved by all with her fun loving nature and caring ways. She has been a qualified carer for 18 years, gaining plenty of experience. she is our fantastic party planner and a general all rounder for the Centre. Each Friday you can join Lou in the afternoon to do crafts which is most often creating decorations for our next party. |
|
Nancy, Marina, Sharon, Jordan, Carol, Toni, John, Kai.
Volunteers These volunteers work in a variety of ways at the Centre. Some stick with one aspect such as coffee bar or shop, while others do a bit off everything including cleaning, repairs and activities. But what they all have in common is there love to help others and support their community. They often come up with ideas to help others and improve daily life at the Centre. |
Jane
Jane came into the Unity Center to buy some records and over 3 years later, she is still with us. With a background in marketing, PR & publications, Jane looks after our external Marketing. An ideas person with a practical side, she can also be found encouraging people to sing at karaoke events and is also known to get on the mic herself! Recently she paired up with Col to make the other half of the dynamic quiz masters, adding lots of fun and humour to the evening. She’s a dab hand at making tea and helping with whatever else needs doing in the Centre. |
|
Carol
Carol is another of our fun loving volunteers who can be found behind the coffee bar 2 days a week and loves to sing at our karaoke sessions and parties and encourages others to join in and loves a good duet! She gets involved in sorting donations in our shop as well as being a great listening ear to those who want to talk. Carol has a great sense of humour and brightens the place up with her endless sense of fun and chat.
Carol is another of our fun loving volunteers who can be found behind the coffee bar 2 days a week and loves to sing at our karaoke sessions and parties and encourages others to join in and loves a good duet! She gets involved in sorting donations in our shop as well as being a great listening ear to those who want to talk. Carol has a great sense of humour and brightens the place up with her endless sense of fun and chat.
Dean, Kieran, Jane, Jake, Janette.
These are our supported volunteers.
Although we have many service users that help out from time to time, these vulnerable volunteers are on our staff rota. they perform many duties in the Centre with our support and we enjoy teaching them the ways that everything works. their duties include working in the shop, the coffee bar and cleaning. We are very proud to be able to say that some of our supported volunteers over the years have gone on to get paid employment because they gained self esteem and a sense of a working environment, while being at the Centre.
These are our supported volunteers.
Although we have many service users that help out from time to time, these vulnerable volunteers are on our staff rota. they perform many duties in the Centre with our support and we enjoy teaching them the ways that everything works. their duties include working in the shop, the coffee bar and cleaning. We are very proud to be able to say that some of our supported volunteers over the years have gone on to get paid employment because they gained self esteem and a sense of a working environment, while being at the Centre.
Phil
Phil technically isn’t staff, he has been employed by Royal Mencap to support us and all other organizations in Lowestoft and surrounding areas, who support vulnerable people, but he definitely is a member of the Unity family. He has a mountain of experience working with charities having a history of being a CEO and working on funding boards. He has been giving us a lot of support in moving forward and growing as a charity. He has such a great sense of humour and has given us voluntary hours which we are all very appreciative of, getting stuck in with all aspects of the centre, from shop floor to governance.
Phil technically isn’t staff, he has been employed by Royal Mencap to support us and all other organizations in Lowestoft and surrounding areas, who support vulnerable people, but he definitely is a member of the Unity family. He has a mountain of experience working with charities having a history of being a CEO and working on funding boards. He has been giving us a lot of support in moving forward and growing as a charity. He has such a great sense of humour and has given us voluntary hours which we are all very appreciative of, getting stuck in with all aspects of the centre, from shop floor to governance.
If you would like to become a volunteer at the Centre, please get in touch. We have a coffee bar, a shop and many activities, that it is always great to have new people involved in, with new ideas. We are always looking for new people who are able to help run the building independently and if you have admin skills and would love a challenge, we are the place for you! No new volunteer will be left on their own unless the staff and the volunteer feel confident that can happen.