On July 5th, Merton Centre for Independent Living (Merton CIL), celebrated its 10th anniversary of supporting local Deaf and Disabled people with a party at The Everyday Church in Wimbledon.

Merton CILs engagement with the local community was evident from the crowd that turned up on the day to celebrate all that it has achieved, with nearly 100 people partying with us! The Mayor of Merton, Councillor Mary Curtin even came along to help us cut our birthday cake. There was an exclusive screening of Merton CILs new short film - #Here2Stay on the day. If you missed out you are able to watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecTQIfU4Doo&t=

Some of you were worried that banning plastic straws was going to have an impact on Disabled people who use them to drink independently. It was felt that maybe we could do our bit for the environment in other ways, and here at Merton CIL we've bought glasses instead of plastic cups for our water. But, we still provide bendy plastic straws for anyone who needs them!