Summer Programme 2021
Giving Children, Young People & Adults a Voice through Positive Activities
Cheesy Waffles Project
Skills House
A CWP Building
Welcome to The Skills House
Our project that started in 2019
In May 2019 we set out to raise funds to purchase a local house with the aim of creating a home setting for young people & adults to have the opportunity to develop independent skills and experience overnight stays for respite. We raised over £100,000 and purchased a house which is now used for sessions, residentials, daytime provision, staff training and much more!
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A house to learn
life skills
This is a real home environment where members have the opportunity to develop valuable life skills that will support them in their daily lives and as they transition into adulthood. These include household responsibilities such as vacuuming, washing up, and changing bedding; maintenance and outdoor tasks such as lawn care; and other essential life skills including cooking and recycling.
A Fun Skills House
The Skills House is a space where members can have fun! Whether that be by staying over night with their friends, through learning or through the opportunity to take part in fun activities, games and sessions. From movie nights and outdoor garden fun to group meals and socialising in a safe and comfortable home environment.
In the Garden
Members have the opportunity to learn new skills in the garden by getting involved in gardening tasks such as watering plants, cutting the grass, and keeping the garden tidy. This supports independence, teamwork, and confidence while learning practical skills.
The gardens are also fun and relaxed outdoor spaces where members can spend time together, play games, be creative, and enjoy being outside. It provides a safe and welcoming environment for members to explore, socialise, and take part in a range of outdoor activities.
Overnight Stays
& Respite
Members have the opportunity to stay overnight at our Skills House for respite and residentials. A chance to have fun but also learn skills related to independent living at home. From cooking their own meals or ordering their own food to movie nights, games, social time, popping to the shop, setting up for breakfast, making the bed and having time away from parents and quality time with friends.
A Timeline Of The Skills House
Updates from the start of our project
Dec 2022 l Skills House Opening Celebration
Last night we celebrated the opening of the 'Skills House' at Sherburn WMC. After 2 years of fundraising to purchase the house and just over a year renovating it, it's now ready for our members to start using to promote the learning of life skills and independence. A great BIG Thank You to everyone involved in making this all happen, its been wonderful to have such a positive response and help from so many different people.
Nov 2022 l First Group Visit to Skills House
First group visit to The Skills House today with a bit of shopping and a visit to Cooplands for cakes to have with our cuppa. New Kettle and Cushions bought today - colour scheme for downstairs is grey and yellow.
November 22
The Skills House is Complete and ready for gradual use by some of our members!
July 2022
Some of our Adult Members visited The Skills House yesterday to see how it's coming on. They can't wait to start using it, and they've got lots of ideas about what to buy when we go shopping next week.
July 2022
Over the last few months, there has been an overwhelming amount of support from local tradespeople and businesses to renovate the property, making it accessible to all and ensuring it is a safe and inviting space for our members. Our property development manager, Stephen Jones, has overseen everything on behalf of Cheesy Waffles. We hope to be able to start using the property over the summer and will work with some of our members to furnish it ready for its official opening in September. Thank you to everyone who has supported in making this happen.
April 22
The house is really coming together now with lots of work taking place over the last 6 weeks both inside and out. We have had a huge amount of support from so many people, it's amazing to see everyone coming together to support the project and make this happen for our members. A big thank you to everyone and the Skills House Project Manager Stephen Jones for sorting everything out.
February 22
An update from our Skills House Site Manager Stephen Jones:
There has been a lot going on at the Skills House this week. Thanks are in order to some fantastic people. Thank you to Michael Atkinson and ACK Electrics for helping to sort electrics; thank you to Water Works for sorting the new central heating system, wet rooms and bathroom; thank you to Ian Gallagher and Adam Magoran for building works, and thanks to JT Atkinson building merchants for supplying plaster, plasterboard and all other materials free of charge. Massive thank you to Craig Geddes who is taking time out of his busy schedule and popping in for the next couple of days to do some plastering free of charge.
Feb 2022 l Skills House Research
Some more brilliant research carried out, this time by our Adult Group who spent the morning looking for items to furnish our new Skills House once its ready in the Spring.
December 2021 l Skills House Update Northern Echo
An update on 'The Skills House' Project with input from Lee N & Sally plus a great photo of Alumbeni, Lee M & Chelsea. Read the article here..
2021 l We've bought a house!
We are very pleased and excited to announce that we have now raised over £92,00 and have successfully bought a two-bedroom property in Sherburn Village.
August 2021 l Thank you for more fantastic donations! Another £14,000
A HUGE Thank You to Dougan, Gordon & Chris who carried out a sponsored bike challenge completing the Coast to Coast. They have raised over £4000, a fantastic amount that we are going to put into our Skills House Fund to support with much-needed renovations to make it suitable for our Project Members to use.
We are a Weight Watchers Wellness Impact Award Winner. Cheesy Waffles Project were chosen as the UK Winner for these International Awards and have received an award of £10,000 which will be split between The Skills House Project and continuing to develop our fitness and wellbeing activities.
December 2020 l Skills House Total Reaches £82,000
We now have a total of £82,000 in our funds and hope to start searching for a suitable property soon - a positive start for 2021. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us in raising this amazing amount over the last 18 months. Thanks to our most recent donors, Chris Hill and Julie Jones!
November 2020 l Donation from Co-op
A HUGE THANK YOU to The Co-op Local Community Fund. We have just received £2887.46, which we will put into our 'Skills House' Fund to help boost our target amount. Thank you again to all involved and those who supported.
October 2020 l £7208.14 Donation from The Mayor
A big thank you to our friend, the Mayor of Durham, who has supported us for many years. We received an amazing donation of £7208.14 that we have put into our Skills House fund! Read more here...
June 2020 l £10,000 donation
We had a visit from Jessica today as she had a fabulous donation from her Aunty and Uncle. An amazing £10,000 donation for our 'Skills House' Fund. We are elated, our total is now at £58,000 - getting closer to our £80,000 target 🎯
May 2020 l Skills House Total Reaches £47,617
Lots of people have supported us to help raise funds so far, with a large donation from Primula and funding from our local Councillors Eric Mavin, Lesley Mavin and Katie Corrigan. Last week, we were given a huge donation of £13,617 from Terrence and Beverley Cleary on behalf of the late Len & Nora Akerman. Terry said, “Hope this helps towards all of the great work you do within the community”.
The Skills House Total is now at £47,617. This couldn't have come at a better time, it will take a long time for the Cheesy Waffles Project to resume its usual practice, and having our own place will mean we can work with smaller groups in a safe and secure environment specially adapted for our own use.
A huge thank you to Terry and Bev for thinking of our Charity and to everyone else who has supported us. Our target goal is £85,000, so we are now a whole lot closer to getting there.
Primula Cheese Donation of £15,000
March 2020
Erika and Amy were invited to the Primula Factory in Gateshead on Friday to talk about The Skills House and how it would support independent living skills for members of The Cheesy Waffles and The Wider World Projects. They were then presented with a cheque for an amazing £15,000. This now means we are over 25% towards our target and can start to apply for funding.
2019: More Fundraising!
One fundraiser we did was our Christmas Charity Tins: "Support us to raise Funds towards purchasing a 'Skills House' for The Cheesy Waffles' and 'Wider World' Projects. Can be purchased in nominations of £10 to £50" We also had Charity Baubles on sale. All purchases took us a step closer to starting our 'Skills House' to support and educate children, young people and adults with additional needs from across County Durham." And... we did much more!
November '19
Thank you to everyone who supported Cheesy Waffles and Wider World yesterday at the Tesco Durham Extra store bag pack and raffle. We raised a fabulous £673.55 which will be shared equally between Cheesy Waffles, Wider World and The Skills House. A great big thank you to Jo (at Tesco Community) for arranging the bag pack.
Research Project May 2019
A huge thank you to 'Harry's House' for letting us carry out some research for our SKILLS HOUSE yesterday, we had a fab day
Sponsor a Brick 2019
We set out to develop a new venture, 'The Skills House', with the aim to purchase a 3- bedroom property that will provide a 'home' setting and offer personal residential opportunities for project members to develop life skills. We want to offer one-to-one support, bespoke training and activities.
We aimed to raise funds to purchase a property with a target of £100,000 over 18 months from the 1st of May 2019. For people who wanted to support the fund, we encouraged them to Sponsor a Brick’ by filling out a brick form.
Our Aim
In May 2019 we set out to raise funds to purchase a house near to where we are based with the aim of creating a home setting for young people and adults so that they have the opportunity to develop independent skills and experience overnight stays for respite. We raised over £100,000 thanks to the sale of bricks, lots of wonderful donations and plenty of fundraising.
