Support for Gateway Club runs in family

And for three of them, the description is a real one – director Sharon Hartley’s daughter, Marguerite Corbin, and mother Jenny Martin are all involved.

The Gateway Club LBG was formerly La Corbinerie Gateway Club and it was set up in 1969 by parents of adults with learning disabilities.

It now meets weekly in a room specially set aside for the group on the Princess Elizabeth Hospital site.

‘I’ve been with Gateway since I was 16,’ said Mrs Hartley. She also spent some time helping out at Riding for the Disabled.

Mum Jenny took over at the riding group when Mrs Hartley left, but has been a volunteer at Gateway for 10 years.

Mrs Corbin, who is also a director, was taken along to the club when she was a baby.

‘I love it,’ she said. ‘They became family, almost. Some of them used to feed me when I was little.’

Julie Hyde is a chef lecturer at the College of Further Education and she comes into regular contact with some of those who attend the club as part of the life skills class she teaches. She is also involved with Guernsey Mencap.

She said going to help out at the club every week is relaxing. ‘You forget about work, it’s really just a great break from it. When you’ve had a hard day it helps you to relax.’

The club’s weekly activities include beetle drives, meals and bingo.

‘I like to help them with the bingo,’ said volunteer Mick Le Vasseur.

Transport to and from the meetings is also arranged by the club, with Rose Corbet, a director and volunteer for the last 23 years, driving a minibus for some service users while also acting as the club’s football coach.

Members pay a £10 yearly subscription, with all the other funding raised from donations.

The club is limited to 50 members, and Mrs Corbin said that on occasions there has been a waiting list, but there club is currently fully subscribed.

And, like many charities, there is always a need for more volunteers. ‘If we had the space and the volunteers we could take on more members,’ she said.