Mid Dorset Mencap

22/10/2026

Here’s a little display of just some of the spooky Halloween arts and crafts that have been created in our workshops in the lead-up to Halloween! 🎨🧡

Great work, everyone – you’re such a talented lot! We love seeing your creativity shine through in all these wonderful creations. 🧡👏

A special thank you must also go to Alison, who kindly gives up her time to pre-cut all the bats, spiders and cats for our Halloween lollipop crafts. 🦇🕷️🐈‍⬛ Your help is very much appreciated!

Well done to everyone who has been getting creative and making our workshops extra spooky! 👏🎃

20/10/2026

🌺 Hand-knitted with love for Remembrance Day 🌺

A few of our lovely volunteers have been busy knitting these wonderful poppy brooches, and we think they’re absolutely beautiful! ❤️

All funds raised are split between BRL and Mid Dorset Mencap, so every purchase helps support two wonderful causes. ❤️

🌺 Our poppies are topped up regularly, so be sure to pop in and purchase yours in time for Remembrance Day!

These lovely knitted poppies can be reused year after year. A beautiful, sustainable way to remember and show your support. 🌹

A huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers for giving their time and talent to make these special poppies. 🧶❤️

15/10/2026

Till volunteers wanted 💙

05/10/2026

🏆❤️ FOUR AWARDS! We are absolutely over the moon! ❤️🏆
What an incredible evening for Mid Dorset Mencap at the Volunteer Centre Dorset Awards Evening! 🎉
We are bursting with pride to have come away with FOUR amazing awards, recognising the incredible people who make MDM the special place it is.
🌟 Anna & Briana – Young Volunteer of the Year
🌟 Andrew B – Volunteer of the Year
🌟 The whole MDM team – winner of the brand-new Volunteering for All Award 🎉
We honestly couldn’t be prouder! ❤️
Every single person in the MDM team brings something special. From our volunteers to our trustees, everyone plays such an important part in making Mid Dorset Mencap the welcoming, inclusive and wonderful community it is.
You guys are simply the BEST! 🙌❤️
We really can’t big you up enough. You give your time, energy, passion and heart, and last night was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate just how incredible you all are.
And as if winning FOUR awards wasn’t exciting enough… we were even interviewed by a local radio station! KeeP 106🎙️📻 How exciting!
It was also wonderful to celebrate alongside so many other amazing organisations and individuals from across Dorset. There were so many truly well-deserved awards, and it was fantastic to see volunteering recognised and celebrated in such a brilliant way.
A massive THANK YOU to everyone at Volunteer Centre Dorset for putting on such a wonderful evening and for everything you do to champion volunteers and volunteering across Dorset. ❤️
And finally…
🎉 WELL DONE TEAM MDM! 🎉
These awards belong to every single one of you. We are incredibly proud of you all. ❤️
YOU’RE AMAZING. YOU’RE INSPIRING. YOU’RE MDM. 🥰🏆
Centre Dorset

22/09/2026

04/09/2026

🎉 Alice gets all the fun! 🎉
We had a very unusual cassette fancy dress costume donated to Mid Dorset Mencap… and of course, someone had to model it! 😂📼
Alice was more than happy to step up and show it off — she certainly gets all the fun jobs! 😆
Meanwhile, Andrew was busy being the boss in the MDM office! 👨‍💼☕ He’s really enjoying his new office role and has already made himself very much at home!
We absolutely love seeing our supported volunteers getting involved, trying new things and enjoying being part of the Mencap team. ❤️
Who knew volunteering at Mencap could involve such a glamorous wardrobe and important office duties?! 😂

26/08/2026

We were absolutely thrilled to be presented with our Shopfront of the Season Finalist Certificate by the Mayor of Dorchester! 🏆🎉
A huge congratulations to Fudges Wool in Dorchester, who were the very deserving winners of this year’s award. 👏🧶
We are incredibly proud to have been shortlisted, and it was lovely to hear such positive feedback from the Mayor and the judges. They told us that our display was wonderful — although it was our exterior shopfront where we lost a few points.
They weren’t big fans of the black and felt it could look a little unwelcoming… and do you know what? We happen to agree!
The black doesn’t really reflect the positive, vibrant and colourful charity that we are. So, we’re getting the paintbrushes out for next year! 🎨🖌️
Watch this space… because MDM is going to be getting a bright, cheerful and welcoming new look, just like our fabulous new A-board signage! 🌈✨
We may not have won this year, but being a finalist has definitely given us some inspiration — and we’re already planning for next year! 💙

25/08/2026

⭐️WE HAVE A NEW MID DORSET MENCAP OFFICE! ⭐️
We’re absolutely delighted with our lovely new office at Mid Dorset Mencap — and we couldn’t have achieved it without the incredible time, hard work and skills of two wonderful volunteers. ❤️
🎨 A huge thank you to David, who has given up hours and hours of his time to paint our new office space. The painting certainly came with its challenges, including the rather painstaking job of smoothing down the walls before he could even get started! Our Ivy Green feature walls needed many coats to get them looking just right, and David kept going until they were perfect. The transformation is fantastic! 👏💚
🪚 And a huge thank you to Andrew, who has spent days stripping back the original floorboards, which were hiding underneath some very greasy vinyl flooring! 😳
There have been days of sanding, creating what can only be described as a sand storm! 🌪️😂 But all that hard work has certainly paid off. Andrew has beautifully refurbished the original floorboards and given the doors a whole new lease of life.
💰 Between you both, you have saved the charity thousands of pounds by generously volunteering your own time, skills and expertise to transform this space. If we had to pay professionals to carry out all of this work, it would have cost the charity a fortune. Your generosity means that money can instead be spent where it really matters❤️
We now have a peaceful, calm and relaxing space where we can work, hold meetings and get all that important MDM admin done. 🥰
This is exactly what volunteering is all about — people giving their time and skills to make a real difference.
David and Andrew, you have both done a fantastic job! You have absolutely excelled yourselves with this project. Well done! 👏👏👏
Although… what room can I get you doing next?! 😂🔨🎨

21/08/2026

🎉 A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATALIE! 🎂🥳
Today we’re wishing our lovely volunteer Natalie a very happy birthday! 💕🎈
Thank you, Natalie, for inviting us all out for birthday drinks to celebrate with you. 🥂 It was so lovely to spend some time together outside of MDM and celebrate your special day!
We hope you’ve had a fantastic birthday! You’re a very valued part of our MDM team and we’re so lucky to have you! ❤️
Happy Birthday, Natalie! 🎉🎂🥂

19/08/2026

Mid Dorset Mencap has been shortlisted for this summer’s Shopfront of the Season award, organised by Dorchester Town Council and Dorchester BID!

We’ve had so many lovely comments from customers about our current beach-themed window, particularly the painted scallop shells. People really enjoy hearing that the shells have been painted by the people we support during our arts and crafts workshops. It’s a lovely way of showing the community just some of the wonderful things that happen here at MDM.

The judges have visited the shop today and the winner will be announced soon.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed! 🤞🌟

Thank you to all our lovely customers who nominated our shop window 💙