AN ANDOVER charity which supports people with learning disabilities has officially rebranded with a launch event at the Guildhall.

Purple Oak Support, which was previously known as Andover and District Mencap, held an event on Thursday (April 28) to introduce its new branding.

The charity, which offers a range of support services including supported living, at-home help and activities at the Wellington day centre in Andover, has evolved numerous times over the years to adapt to the needs of its users.

Attending the event were service users, volunteers, and invited guests including the Mayor of Test Valley Cllr Mark Cooper, TVBC leader Cllr Phil North, and charity president Cllr Iris Andersen.

Talking about the choice to rebrand, CEO Helen Walker said: “We have always been affiliated with the Royal Mencap, but also fiercely independent. With Covid, lots of organisations have gone through rapid changes, to surviving during a turbulent time.

“We have increased our turnover in supported living and enablement (care at home), and branched out to Winchester and Eastleigh. I think Covid has allowed us all to stop and think about what we need as an organisation.”

Expanding on the new name choice, Helen continued: “It’s always been about the tree, the trunk being the hands of support and the leaves being the people we support. We have included the purple leaf as a reference to inclusion.”

The charity was founded by Elizabeth Hall MBE in 1964 to help families like her own who had children with additional needs.

Liz passed away last year and the current team says that in moving the organisation forward they aim to “keep her memory alive”.

READ MORE: Tributes to Mencap founder and Andover stalwart Elizabeth Hall MBE

“The next stage in our journey is to drive forward getting ourselves connected in our community,” said Helen. “What can we do to have an even bigger impact and add value to our community?”

She added: “Thank you to the wonderful and dedicated teams that work for us. They just keep giving more and more and I am blown away by them every day.”

Addressing the attendees, Cllr Mark Cooper said: “It really is remarkable that our society is able to produce so many volunteers. I really believe that volunteers are the cement of our society.

Charity chair Ann Woods added: “It is a pleasure and a privilege to be part of this organisation and part of our continued journey under our new name.”

For more information, visit: purpleoaksupport.org.

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