Mencap Brings Barracuda Night Club to Belfast

Mencap, the leading learning disability charity, has joined forces with Arts Council NI, Heart n Soul, Open Arts and the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival to bring The Barracuda Club to The Black Box, Belfast on Wednesday 7 May.

Control of running the event will be shared with people with a learning disability, it will offer them a creative platform to showcase their talents as well as creating training and work opportunities for them in the arts. Local people with a learning disability will be trained to work as front of house staff, DJ’s and VJ’s for the night and will be supported by artists and staff from Heart n Soul in London, an arts organisation with learning disability culture at its heart.

This event is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and will allow adults with a learning disability to party in the night club or relax in the chill out space. Clubbers will be entertained by Northern Ireland’s answer to Elvis! Trevor Lemon from Co. Down. The performers set includes a mixture of Elvis covers as well as country and western classics. Local artists John Paul McCusker and Amy Naughton will be special guest presenters at the event.

The Barracuda Club is a new and innovative approach towards providing leisure and social activities for people with learning disabilities. The event is part of Mencap’s ongoing campaign for a world where people with a learning disability are valued equally, listened to and included. Mencap wants to make sure that everyone with a learning disability has the chance to lead the kind of lives they want – be it ordinary or extraordinary.

For further information contact Amanda Henry at amanda.henry@mencap.org.uk or phone 028 9069 0184 or check out the Mencap website at www.mencap.org.uk.