Tel: 01473 836777
Fax: 01473 836778
Textphone: 01473 836779
Email enquiries@optua.org.uk
Tel: 01473 836777
Fax: 01473 836778
Textphone: 01473 836779
Email enquiries@optua.org.uk
Share 2010 - Our 25th Share day!
Our 25th Share Day was held on Saturday 24th April 2010 at Thurston Community College. The event was as enjoyable as ever and people keep telling us that this one was the best ever!
We chose an oriental theme, hence the title 'Share goes East,' with around 300 people taking part in total. Over the years we have had over 6,000 people sharing these days with us. Some come along every year but there are always new people joining in. We had many colourful arts workshops such as creating dragon puppets, elephant masks and fans as well as singing, dancing, drumming and percussion.
Share events wouldn't be possible without our team of staff and volunteers who put so much effort and enthusiasm into the event, which takes months of planning and work behind the scenes. We'd like to thank everyone who was involved in making it happen!
There are more photos from Share goes East on Optua's facebook page. If you are on Facebook just search for Optua and become one of our fans! We also now have an account on 'flickr' and you don't even have to sign up to look at the photos. Just go to www.flickr.com/photos/optua.
Share 2009 report
Click here to download a report from our Share event in 2009.
Share 2009 - Share-o-saurus!
Our 24th Share event - 'Share-o-saurus' took place on Saturday, 25 April at Thurston Community College and was once again a great success!
Just over 300 people came along to the all-day event. This year the theme was dinosaurs which helped create some very colourful and fun art workshops and there were plenty of dino-bags, plaster dinosaur heads, dinosaur puppets, cardboard dinosaurs and caveman costumes, as well as amazing tribal music, Jurassic Jiving and a spot of Try-Singing-Tops!
Following the workshops, there was the traditional 'Sharing', where everyone had the chance to show off what they'd created, learnt or rehearsed throughout the morning and afternoon.
We'd like to thank all the supporters of this year's Share Day who provided funding which enabled the event to go ahead - Boshier-Hinton Foundation, Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust, Skipton Building Society Charitable Trust, Bruce Wake Charitable Trust, Scarfe Charitable Trust, Mrs L D Rope Third Charitable Trust, Stowmarket Relief Trust, Stella Symons Charitable Trust and other individual donations.
Our Chairman Linda Hoggarth, said: "Yet again our Share event was a resounding success and was enjoyed by hundreds of people. As always, the success of the event owed a lot to the hard work and dedication of our superb team of staff and volunteers who worked so hard on the day and in the weeks and months beforehand. We are incredibly grateful to them for their efforts. For many, Share is a very long day from when we set up in the morning, to when we tidy up after everyone is gone. Share would not happen without such brilliant volunteers.
"Nor would it be possible without the very generous donations from several organisations who provided funding for the event. Thanks to them we were able to run this event once more which I'm sure was appreciated by many of those taking part. We're looking forward now to Share 25 sometime next year!"
There are more photos from Share-o-saurus on Optua's facebook page. If you are on facebook just search for Optua and become one of our fans!
Everyone had a magical time at Share 2008!
Our 23rd 'Share' event took place on Saturday 19 April 2008 and everyone had an amazing time.
The theme this year was 'Share is Magic!' and around 300 people, including volunteers and carers, came along to take part in a host of workshops relating to magic and wizardry. Our annual Share events offer a huge range of fun and colourful activities and each year we have a different theme.
Our Chairman Linda Hoggarth, said: "This event is only possible because of the commitment made by a very dedicated group of volunteers who give their time and expertise to help Optua run this event so successfully year after year. Their contribution is absolutely essential to its smooth running and they work exceptionally hard throughout a very long day to set up the venue, prepare the refreshments, help in the workshops and enable people to be fully included in everything that is going on, right through to clearing up at the end of the day and making sure everyone gets home safely."
'Share is Magic' provided a wonderful opportunity for many people to share a fantastic day together thanks to the sterling efforts of these wonderful volunteers. We'd like to say a very public 'thank you' to each and every one of them, for making 'Share is Magic!' one of the greatest Share Days we have ever had."
Here are some photos from the day.
Share on Safari 2007 - a message from our chairman, Linda Hoggarth:
Almost 300 people, ranging from small children to a lady of over 100 years old, thoroughly enjoyed 'Share on Safari', Optua's special day of arts activities on Saturday 21 April 2007. Share is an annual event which provides opportunities for people of all abilities to enjoy many different art forms.
This was our 22nd such event with an 'On Safari' theme and the various arts workshops concentrated on the sights and sounds of the Jungle. The African Drumming, Tribal Music and Safari Soundscape workshops were impressive and their music, plus the opportunities to dance a Jungle Journey, paint a Jungle Mural and sing as loudly as possible, meant that we had no difficulty at all in creating a Jungle atmosphere in the middle of Thurston! Added to this, we tried some African crafts, had our faces painted, and created fantastic Jungle Masks and Shields, Animal Masks, Safari Cup Puppets, Jungle Jewellery, Safari Brooches, and some amazing cardboard slithery snakes. A great time was had by everyone!
This event would not be possible without the commitment of a very dedicated group of volunteers who give up a huge amount of their own time to help Optua run this event so successfully year after year. Their contribution is absolutely essential to its smooth running and they work exceptionally hard throughout a very long day to set up the venue, prepare the refreshments, organise the workshops and enable people to be fully included in everything that is going on, right through to clearing up at the end of the day and making sure everyone gets home safely.
'Share on Safari' enabled many people to share an excellent day together thanks to the sterling efforts of our volunteers. We'd like to say a very public 'thank you' to each and every one of them, for making 'Share on Safari' one of the best Share Days ever.
Here are some photos from the day.
Share 2006 - Share the Limelight
We held our 21st annual Share event on Saturday 29th April 2006 at Thurston Community College.
The theme this year was the theatre with the title 'Share the Limelight'.
More than 250 people came along, including volunteers and carers and everyone enjoyed the many fun activities on offer such as making shadow puppets, drumming, singing, face-painting and filming.
Share is a day open to everyone and is very popular with people of all disabilities and children. At the end of the workshops everyone shared their achievements with the others, followed by a disco in the evening.
Linda Hoggarth, chairman of Optua said:
"Everyone had a brilliant time and we had a wide age range, from young babies to a 99-year-old woman."
"The workshops would not have been possible without all the fantastic volunteers who helped on the day."
