Gardening and Plants
Grow bedding plants, shrubs and hanging baskets for our shops, and help with landscaping jobs around Fenland.
Grow plants and flowers. Help look after gardens.
A Fenland charity, based in March since 2002
Where Ability Grows: Day Opportunities for Adults With Learning Disabilities in Fenland
Every week, around 120 adults come to FACET to grow plants, make things in our woodwork shop, cook, learn, serve customers in our charity shop and spend time with friends. Each day is planned around what each person can do, and what they would like to do next.
FACET is a place in March for adults with learning disabilities. You can learn new skills, do real work and make friends.
Families, carers and social workers are all welcome to look around.
- 120+adults with learning and other disabilities join us every week
- 1:4one tutor for every four students, with one-to-one support when needed
- 92%in Cambridgeshire County Council’s monitoring visit, March 2025
- 2002the year FACET was founded, and we’ve been growing ever since
What we do
Your Days, Your Choice
Students choose how they spend their time, from gardening and woodwork to cooking, sport and drama. Most mix a few, and many work towards a recognised qualification along the way.
You choose what you do at FACET. You can try lots of different things.
Woodwork
Make planters, benches and bird boxes in our workshop, which now has a new CNC machine. Many pieces end up for sale in our shops.
Make things from wood, like planters and benches.
Cooking and Healthy Living
Plan and cook healthy meals in our kitchen, at whatever level suits you.
Learn to cook healthy food.
English, Maths and Computers
Build everyday reading, money and computer skills in small groups.
Learn reading, maths and computers.
Sport and Fitness
Football, exercise sessions and our accessible outdoor gym, which wheelchair users can use too.
Play football. Keep fit outside.
Music, Drama and Art
Music and movement, drama, and art and craft, with performances for the local community.
Make music, act in shows and make art.
Shop Work
Serve customers and display stock in our charity shop on March High Street. Twelve students help to run it every week.
Work in our shop. Help customers.
Sensory Room
Our newly extended sensory room has light, sound and touch panels, with room for wheelchair users to explore at their own pace.
A calm room with lights, sounds and things to touch.
Work towards a qualification. FACET is approved to deliver Gateway Qualifications, with Entry Level certificates in Independent Living Skills, Business and Retail, and Enterprise.
Sketch a Week at FACET
Tap Add to My Week on anything you’d like to try, choose how many sessions, then send us your sample week. It gives us a head start when we talk.
Choose the things you like. Choose how many sessions. Send it to us.
Your choices
- Nothing added yet. Use the Add to My Week buttons above.
Sessions a weekA session is a morning or an afternoon
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||||
| Afternoon |
This is a starting point only. Real timetables depend on spaces and support needs, and we always agree them with you.
Out in the community
Part of March, Not Apart From It
FACET students are a familiar sight around town. They serve customers, tend gardens and work alongside local businesses, because the best place to learn real skills is the real world.
FACET students work and help out all around March.
Yes, others can help us — but we can absolutely help them too. There is no doubt we achieve far more working together than we ever could working on our own.
Tesco March
50+students have done a day’s work experience in the superstore during a 12-year partnership, and plenty of customers now choose to be served by them.
Our Charity Shop
12students help run our March High Street shop each week. Three have just earned an Entry Level 3 Certificate in Business and Retail.
Aria Court Care Home
Students cook and serve at catering days and garden alongside residents, who often ask when FACET is next coming to visit.
March Station
Students’ woodwork and sunflower mosaic welcome everyone arriving at the station. The Community Rail Partnership project reached the national finals of an art award.
Octavius
During the regeneration of March town centre, students visited live construction sites and helped with parts of the work.
Friendship and fun
Friends, Football and a Summer Ball
A good day out matters as much as a good day’s work. Students make good friends here, and there is always something to look forward to.
At FACET you can make friends and have fun.
- Our own prom, every yearThe Summer Ball began because many students never had a school prom. Around ten years on, it’s the night of the year at the Braza Club in March, with a DJ, a bar and a professional photographer.Every summer there is a big party. You can dress up and dance.
- A team to play forOur football team plays in the ParAbility league, linked to the FA, and recently won the league cup.You can play in our football team.
- Music and movementOne of our most popular sessions. Plenty of students now arrive dressed for it.Dance and move to music with friends.
“Age-appropriate, aspirational and never patronising.”
How we run the Summer Ball, and a good rule for the rest of the year too.Joining FACET
Starting at FACET, Step by Step
Joining is simpler than many families expect. Like an oak, it starts small: most people begin with a phone call and a look around.
This is how you start at FACET.
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Step 1
Get in Touch
Call 01354 655 080 or send us a message. Tell us a little about the person and what they enjoy.
Phone us or send a message.
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Step 2
Come and Look Around
Visit the Marwick Centre, meet staff and students, and ask us anything you like.
Come and visit us.
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Step 3
Sort Out Funding Together
Places can be funded by your council, a Direct Payment or privately. No funding in place yet? We’ll help you make the referral.
We help you sort out how to pay.
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Step 4
Choose Your Days
Come for anything from one session to ten a week, and pick the activities you want to try first.
Choose your days and start at FACET.
How Could a Place Be Paid For?
Funding is the part families worry about most. Choose the option closest to your situation and we’ll explain what usually happens next.
Choose the one that fits you.
Cambridgeshire County Council
FACET has been on Cambridgeshire County Council’s frameworks for day opportunities since 2018, for both standard and complex needs. Ask your social worker or care manager about a place at FACET, or call us and we’ll help you take the first step.
Ask us about a funded placeNorfolk County Council
Students from Norfolk come to FACET through Norfolk County Council’s Skills and Employment pathway. Speak to your social worker, or call us and we’ll explain how it works.
Ask us about Norfolk placesDirect Payments
If you receive a Direct Payment for your care and support, you can use it for sessions at FACET, as long as it fits the support plan agreed with your local authority.
Ask us about Direct PaymentsPaying Privately
You can pay for sessions yourself. Call us for current prices and the days we have available.
Ask about prices and daysNot Sure Yet
That’s completely normal. If you don’t have funding in place and we think you might qualify, we’ll help you through the referral. We can help with the forms too.
Talk it through with usCare and standards
Skilled Staff and Standards You Can Check
Families trust us with the people they love, and social workers trust us with complex needs. This is what sits behind that trust.
Our staff are kind and well trained. We keep everyone safe.
For Families and Carers
- One tutor for every four students, and one-to-one support from our own staff or an external support worker when it’s needed.
- All our care and support staff are paid the Real Living Wage.
- Every year, staff train in safeguarding adults, positive behaviour support and health and safety.
- We support families too, from benefit forms to help at difficult times.
For Social Workers and Commissioners
- On Cambridgeshire County Council’s day opportunities frameworks since 2018, for standard and complex needs.
- 92% in the council’s monitoring visit in March 2025.
- Places through Norfolk County Council’s Skills and Employment pathway, Direct Payments and self-funding.
- Approved to deliver Gateway Qualifications at Entry Level.
- Policies include safeguarding, Prevent, medication, safe recruitment, data protection and lone working.
Registered charity 1097098
Company 04457125
Accounts filed on time with the Charity Commission
See our entry on the charity register (opens in a new tab)
For everyone in Fenland
Shop, Hire and Book Us
You don’t need to be a student to be part of FACET. Every purchase, booking and donation helps the charity, and much of the work is done by our students.
Anyone can shop with us, book us or hire our rooms.
Charity Shops
Good-quality furniture, clothes and household goods at fair prices, with furniture collection and delivery available. Donations are always welcome.
Ask about collection or delivery
Gardening and Landscaping
Our horticulture team takes on garden jobs across Fenland, big and small.
- Fencing
- Decking
- Paving
- Turfing
- Planting
- Hedge cutting
- Garden clearance
Plants and Woodwork
Bedding plants, hanging baskets, shrubs and trees grown by our students, plus planters, benches and bird boxes made in our workshop. We take bespoke orders too.
Ask about plants and woodworkRoom and Sensory Room Hire
Hire our community suite, halls, IT suite or newly extended sensory room. Care homes, families and local groups are all welcome to book.
Ask about hiring a roomSupport FACET
Help More Students Grow
Fees for students’ places keep our doors open. Gifts, grants and local partners pay for the extras that change lives, like our extended sensory room, accessible outdoor gym and new woodwork machinery.
You can give money or things to help FACET.
Thank you to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the NFU March office, Power to Change, Tesco, Octavius, Cambridgeshire County Council and Norfolk County Council for their recent support.
Donate Online
Give through our JustGiving page, and add Gift Aid if you’re a UK taxpayer.
Donate Goods
Bring furniture, clothes and household goods to our shops, or use the FACET donation point at Tesco March.
Partner With Us
Offer work experience, a team volunteering day or sponsorship for the Summer Ball.
Volunteer
Give some time in our centre or shops. Ask us about current roles.
Questions
Questions Families Ask Us
Straight answers to the things people ask us most.
Can’t see your question? Our team is happy to talk it through.
01354 655 080Who is FACET for?
Adults with learning and other disabilities, including people with complex needs. Most students live in Fenland, and some travel in from elsewhere in Cambridgeshire and from Norfolk.
How many sessions can someone come for?
Anything from a single session up to ten sessions a week. We’ll talk through what suits the person, their support and their funding.
How is a place paid for?
Through Cambridgeshire County Council, Norfolk County Council, a Direct Payment or privately. If you don’t have funding in place yet, we can help you through the referral.
Can we visit before deciding?
Yes, please do. Call 01354 655 080 or use the form on this page and we’ll arrange a time for you to look around the Marwick Centre.
What support will there be?
We work to one tutor for every four students. If someone needs one-to-one support, that can come from our own staff or from an external support worker.
Can students gain qualifications?
Yes. We’re approved to deliver Gateway Qualifications, including Entry Level certificates in Independent Living Skills, Business and Retail, and Enterprise.
Are you open all year?
We’re open 50 weeks of the year. Call us for this year’s closure dates.
Can people who don’t attend FACET use the sensory room?
Yes. Care homes, families and local groups can hire our recently extended sensory room. Call us to check availability and prices.
Visit FACET
Come and See FACET for Yourself
The best way to know if FACET is right for you is to see it. Send us a few details and we’ll be in touch to arrange a visit at a time that suits you.
Come and see FACET. Send us your name and phone number. We will call you.
- Call us01354 655 080
- Email usadmin@facet.org.uk
- Find usMarwick Centre, 21 Marwick Road
March, Cambridgeshire PE15 8PHGet directions (opens Google Maps in a new tab) - PressFor press enquiries, ask for Kris Harrold, General Manager.
