Christmas Party Spreads Festive Cheer for Learning Disability Services Across Bromley

Widmore Road, one of Ambient’s Short Breaks & Respite Learning Disability services in Bromley, opened its doors this week to learning disability services across the borough for a Christmas Party – bringing festive joy to the people they support, their families, and employees.

Widmore Road provides a range of services for people with learning disabilities and complex needs living in the Bromley area, offering fun and fulfilling person-centred activities and experiences, whilst providing respite for families.

The service’s living space was transformed into a winter wonderland with hand-made Christmas decorations, staff dressed up as Elves, and party food including mince pies, hot chocolate and mulled wine, was served. Widmore Road’s sensory room became Santa’s Grotto where everyone received a small gift from the Big Man himself. 

A special performance of Christmas carols and festive pop songs by Theatre Box’s ‘Voices of the Makers Choir’ provided the entertainment- all partygoers were encouraged to join in with the singing and musical instruments including bells and chimes were shared out.

Luke Potgieter, Service Lead at Ambient Support, who is also a member of the Choir, said:

“I’m in a choir so when I heard about the Christmas party, I thought it would be brilliant to provide the musical entertainment. We know that the people we support love music and singing, it’s like a form of therapy for them, so we shared a set-list of carols and songs so everyone could listen and practise beforehand. The party itself was fantastic, we had a great sing-along together and it felt very heart-warming indeed.” 

Sara Barton, Scheme Manager at Widmore Road, says:

“The people we support don’t have as many opportunities as they’d like to attend parties so we thought it would be nice to host our own at Widmore Road where individuals could feel safe and included. Ambient services from across Bromley came along including Knowle Avenue and Lower Station Road and it was a good experience for the people we support to meet their peers and make new friends.

“Events like this are also fantastic for our staff and help to drive an uplifting, supportive and positive culture amongst the teams – it was a chance to meet colleagues and talk about things that only people in social care can relate to. Ultimately, we wanted to support people to enjoy Christmas and to get into the festive spirit!”