Beech Avenue Guest House to Close
Independent Options, a local charity that provides support to people with a learning disability in Stockport, has announced the unfortunate closure of one of its respite guest houses in Gatley at the end of October 2017. Beech Avenue Guest House forms part of the charity’s Short Breaks service that provides respite breaks for adults with… Read more »
Ed Takes on Big Stockport Run 10k
Our Shared Lives Registered Manager, Ed, is taking on the Big Stockport Run in aid of Independent Options. Ed will be running the grueling 10k race, which makes its way around Stockport town from its starting point of St Petersgate on 17th September. While Ed is a seasoned pro at sports – he currently cycles… Read more »
Oliver Stars in AuKids Magazine
The lovely Oliver, who comes along to our Children and Family Centre, is the star of the latest edition of AuKids Magazine! We think the photo of Oliver and his fidget spinner is just fab, and can’t wait to get our hands on the mag to get reading! AuKids is an award-winning quarterly print magazine… Read more »
£1,500 Raised at Birthday Bash Gives Independent Options More Reasons to Celebrate
Independent Options has marked its 40th anniversary with a huge summer birthday party, but has even more reason to celebrate after the fundraiser raised a phenomenal £1,575.11 – the highest amount raised by an event held at the Hazel Grove-based charity. The day was a fantastic success, with the bright sun shining down on the… Read more »
Eleanor 's Climbing to New Heights for Independent Options!
Eleanor is 10 years old and is taking on the Independent Options Climbing Challenge, which will see our intrepid climber scale a lofty 554ft – the equivalent to Manchester’s tallest building, Beetham Tower! Eleanor comes to Independent Options’ Children and Family Centre along with her brother, Jamie (4), and her sister, Poppy (6), who has… Read more »
How The Centre Helped Us: Sarah and Jacob's Story
Jacob is 7 and has autism and speech and language delays, he has been coming to the Children and Family Centre with his Mum, Sarah, for the past two years. Sarah explains why she found coming to the Centre helpful for both her and Jacob: “I discovered the Centre a couple of years ago before… Read more »
Anne and John: Our Shared Lives Story So Far
Anne and John are Shared Lives Carers with Independent Options, after transitioning from foster caring when they met Aaron. Here’s their story. “Aaron had been in foster care for ten years when he first came to us as a foster placement aged 14, having lived at 27 different addresses in that time. Straight away Aaron… Read more »
Andy Gears up to Take on Manchester to Blackpool Bike Ride
Andy is getting on his bike and training hard as he prepares to take on the Manchester to Blackpool Bike Ride in aid of Independent Options! Andy is gearing up for the challenge, which will see him cycle a staggering 60 miles on Sunday 9th July from its starting point at the Imperial War Museum… Read more »
Life's a Beach! Jennie's Holiday
Jennie had a fantastic holiday in Anglesey, where she spent the week in the sunshine with her support worker, Sarah. When they arrived, the first thing Jennie wanted to do was to go to the Sea Zoo, where Jennie had the opportunity to do some colouring in and have a look at lots of fascinating… Read more »
Ben is Full of the Joys of Spring!
Ben was full of the joys of spring and recently took a trip to Etherow Park to feed the ducks! Ben has autism and ADHD, so he has a tendency to rush off, but Ben loved spending time at the pond. Ben had an information leaflet from the visitors centre that helped him to identify which… Read more »