60 years of supporting people with learning disabilities and their families
About Us
Centre 404 was founded in 1951 by carers of children with learning disabilities and continues to work towards building a community and a society where people with learning disabilities are valued. Over the years Centre 404 has built vital services in Islington that have enabled children and adults with a learning disability and their families to have a voice and to access activities and support.
Services History Staff Trustees
Centre 404 Annual Review 2010/11
Centre 404 Annual Review 2009/10
Services
Our services include a Family Support team that work with families and carers to reduce isolation and provide information and advocacy. The team can offer support to carers of children with a disability, young adults with a learning disability going through transition from child to adult services, and older carers of adults with a learning disability.
Our Learning and Leisure team provide a variety of daily clubs and activities for children and adults with a learning disability and their siblings. These include social, creative and physical activities at our centre and within the local community. We also provide play schemes for school aged children, a weekly Friday night social event for adults over the age of 18 and small group activities for those with personal budgets.
We provide Supported Housing services and support to live independently to 63 people with learning disabilities. This service supports tenants with a range of learning disabilities to be active and responsible citizens within their community, by promoting individuality and by offering support to increase independence and access to community services and activities.
We can also offer Individual Support Services if you have a direct payment or a personal budget. We can provide you with a personal support worker to help you achieve the things you want in life.
Our History
Centre 404 has a long history of innovation and enthusiasm for developing relevant services for people with learning disabilities and their families. We were founded by a group of carers who met monthly to promote the well being of their children, and to fight for improvements in provision for their children and other families like them.
In the 1960’s, the group set up clubs for people with learning disabilities run by volunteers and became Islington Mencap. These clubs provided opportunities for people to do new things, challenging the notion that people with learning disabilities were "uneducable". The clubs became an important way for people with learning disabilities and their families to socialise and make friends.
For several decades the organisation was run by a group of highly dedicated volunteers. During this time, one of the parent founders and a successful businesswoman bought the Victorian building at 404 Camden Road. A team of volunteers continued to offer support by visiting families in their homes. Parents met at 404 Camden Road to socialise and learn how to help their children develop their potential. It was not until 1999 that we appointed our first paid Director.
From the early days parents got together to campaign for rights and services and we developed the first nursery in Islington that worked directly with children with learning disabilities. In the 1970s education for disabled children and children with learning disabilities became a right. Parents in Islington started campaigning for local supported housing provision and in the 1980s we set up the first supported house in Islington for people with learning disabilities.
Over the last fifteen years our family support team has expanded their services and we now offer a comprehensive information, advice and advocacy support service to families throughout all stages of their lives and the lives of their children. This service is a vital source of support for family carers who often have little knowledge of their welfare rights. We offer social events such as family fun days and outings as well as training for parents and professionals alike.
In the 1990s we extended our Learning and Leisure Service to provide additional social, educational and recreational activities for adults and children with learning disabilities, we now offer 11 group activity sessions ranging from after school activities to our Men’s group and a Friday night social club at our centre. We are also currently developing new group activities for those with personal budgets.
The rapid expansion of clubs and activities over the last twenty years has been very successful but has put heavy demands on our building. We are now at the point where we need to undertake a complete refurbishment in order to develop our current activities, improve accessibility and secure the future of our Centre. Our "Build Our Future" Campaign has been launched and is raising funds to enable this essential work to get started.
Trustees
Jean Willson OBE - Chair of Centre 404
Jean has been a member of Centre 404 for 40 years, being Chair three times. She has a special interest in health and housing for people with learning disabilities. She acts as Champion for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities in Islington on the Partnership Board, and sits on the Health and Housing Working Groups. Nationally, Jean has been a member of government groups working on behalf of people with learning disabilities and their family carers. She currently represents the London Region Family Carers at the National Valuing Families Forum, which advises government. Jean has an adult daughter with multiple disabilities and twenty years ago, along with another parent, set up the first supported housing in England for their daughters. Jean currently works as an assessor for the Independent Living Fund for North London, a trainer and consultant. Earlier in her career Jean was a Director of the Camden Society.
Paul Formosa - Co-Vice Chair
Paul has extensive experience of development and governance within a range of community focused organisations. He has an MA in Public Service Management. He takes a particular interest in the work of our Leisure and Learning team and is really eager to support and encourage people with learning disabilities to get involved and take as much responsibility as possible at Centre 404. His youngest son, Dylan, has severe learning disabilities and health challenges. Paul has lived in Islington all his life and is also a member of the Islington Childrens Trust Board.
Alex Swallow - Co-Vice Chair
Alex was co-opted as a Trustee in summer 2009 and is also Chair of Housing Committee. He works as Fundraising, Development and Communications Officer for a small national charity, the NBFA, which supports older people on low incomes. Prior to this he was a private tutor and an intern for two MPs. He studied politics at Cambridge and then International Relations at Sussex and also taught for two years in Japan. As well as volunteering with Centre 404 he is a mentor on a leadership programme run by The Young Foundation.
Chris Hearn - Treasurer
Chris was co-opted in early 2009. After qualifying as a Management Accountant in 1992, he spent much of his career in the house building industry with Barratt Developments PLC, Alfred McAlpine PLC and more recently as Regional Finance Director at Miller Homes. Currently he is working as the Financial Controller of the UK's 14th largest charity, the Girls' Day School Trust. A Christian, he is committed to improving people's opportunities in life and has undertaken various fundraising activities for national and local charities.
Staff
Linda McGowan - Chief Executive
Bob Dowd - Family Support Manager
James Humber – Learning and Leisure Manager
Claire Curtis – Housing Support Manager
Amy Curtis – Resources Manager
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