We believe that the whole of society loses if we do not embrace and value diversity.
Our founders worked in services for people with learning disabilities for many years. They saw that lots of their clients were isolated, and missing out on the things that make life worthwhile – friendships and socialising. To change this, they set up Building Circles in Gloucestershire in April 2005, and registered as a charity in 2007.
At the moment, with the invaluable help of our volunteers we support nearly 60 people - about 30 people with learning disabilities, and 27 family carers. While this number seems small, it is increasing steadily all the time – and we have tripled in size over the last three years.
Most of the people we support at the moment live in or near Cheltenham or Gloucester, although some are further afield in the county. There are both men and women and they range in age from people in their twenties right up to those in their seventies. Some have quite severe learning disabilities, while others have milder learning disabilities. All have very few social contacts outside the home, whether they live with their families, in residential homes or independently.
We have a small team of part-time staff who recruit, train and support our volunteers, visit people with learning disabilities who would benefit from our support, organise our social events, and manage our finances and administration.
As we are a charity, we are managed by a board of trustees.
But we would not be here today if it were not for the invaluable time our volunteers give regularly to building friendships with those who otherwise might have no friends.
