Twilight, speaker Catherine McLeod

Henley Rotary Club’s twilight meeting on Tuesday of last week at the Red lion Hotel was addressed by Mrs Sarah Affleck, the fund-raising and communities manager of ‘Dingley’s Promise,’ an organisation which aims to support children under the age of five across Berkshire, but is not attached to a special needs school.

Set up in 1983, originally in the old Battle Hospital in Reading, but later connected with the specialist children’s centre in Dingley Ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, it became a registered charity five years later. It concentrates on supporting families with under-fives suffering from various conditions, mainly autism.

Mrs Affleck gave as her example a three-year-old named Louise who had been diagnosed with autism and whose mother had found out about the charity through her toddler group.

The main thrust of the work is by ‘learn through play’ sessions, giving the toddlers ‘a pathway to inclusion’, so that 60 per cent of the children went on to a mainstream setting, as well as offering family support.

Before moving to larger premises in Reading itself, Dingley Centres were also opened in Wokingham and Newbury during the 1990s, both of which have since been renovated, or expanded in different locations.

The charity was rebranded officially last year as Dingley’s Promise, reflecting the promise it sees in every child in its early years and to take the opportunity to support them to reach their full potential.

Stressing that it was reaching out beyond geographical boundaries (the Reading centre having taken a number of children from South Oxfordshire), Mrs Affleck said that she hoped the organisation would spread southwards towards Hampshire. She explained that they were supported by Children in Need, as well as local government, but were always looking to expand their work by accepting donations and encouraging people to become ‘a Friend of Dingley’s Promise.’

Mark Harling proposed the vote of thanks, suggesting that the charity was helping to ‘plug a gap.’

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Earlier in the meeting, President Maria Bunina thanked Rotarians who had assisted with the charity bingo held at the Town Hall the previous Friday, as well as those businesses and individuals who had generously presented prizes. She particularly mentioned the organisational work of community chairman Maurice Robins, together with secretary Philip Fletcher, who acted as M.C. in the unavoidable absence of Maurice himself.

The club itself was especially grateful to the voluntary caller, Don Maycock, who had been assisting with the event for many years. It is anticipated that total proceeds from the event, which will be donated to local charities, will amount to about £1,000.