Background

During 2000 it was identified that the trustees and volunteers of four organisations were virtually the same small group of people, added to this there was the difficulty for officers from statutory bodies to attend every meeting, and more importantly to fund every organisation.

Everyone agreed that changes were required, so a small working party was formed to look into the options, one of the first options identified was that we would need to stop delivering a variety of services, but this wasn't seen as an option, as all of our services had been developed from the basis of need. Secondly, we could ignore the plight of individual organisations, go our separate ways and eventually some would fall by the wayside, but this couldn't be an option as we had all invested so much time and energy, and many of us were good friends.

Finally we arrived at the decision to amalgamate the four organisations, but this was met with so much hostility, due to ownership, that we nearly gave up. But with the following benefits so plain to see, we all agreed that this must be the way forward. Through WDP we could and would,

• ensure that a quality service can continue to be provided at existing levels,
• maximise the time and skills of Trustees, staff and volunteers, provide a combined Strategic Management Board supported by the Local Authority, Health and other main service providers,
• strengthen the voice of local disabled people, providing afocus for consultation and service provision,
• provide a strengthened case for funding opportunities,
• provided the opportunity to establish a Corporate Support Service that includes a Service Manager, Assistant Service Manager, Financial Administrator, Fund Raiser and Admin / Secretarial Support,
• provide future opportunities for the development of new services.

Dave Thompson MBE
Chairman