View from the Chair

11th December 2009

Hello again. It doesn’t seem like 3 weeks since I sat down to write my last blog, yet on reflection lots has happened. The highlight was the WDP annual meeting which was organised for the 3rd December to coincide with the International Day of Disabled People. Whilst writing the report for the meeting it gave me a chance to pay tribute to Annette Clemo, whom many of you will know sadly passed away in August this year. It’s at times of reflection that we can think about those who are not with us. It was amazing to see over 100 people in the room, which by the way was my old school hall. This was a tribute to the team and support we have developed over the years. After we had dealt with the formal part of the meeting it was down to the nicer more personal side of the evening, the awards. We acknowledged the support we receive from our 100+ volunteers which included awards to two youngsters Will and Eilish both had been nominated by their fellow volunteers and staff. Will was his usual confident self, not really wanting to make a fuss; Eilish on the other hand had everyone reaching for the tissues. It really made me proud to feel that WDP are helping young people to gain valuable life skills. The evening closed after we presented the last of this year’s 10 Appreciation of Efforts Awards. It’s hard to believe that it was 15 years ago that I was honoured to present the first 3 awards at the inaugural ceremony held in the Warrington Town Hall. I bet there aren’t many people that know that during the summer of 1995 we held a meeting to decide how we would celebrate the International Day of Disabled People and the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act; someone suggested that we organise a protest march through the town centre, others want to chain themselves to busses in protest that they weren’t accessible, one person suggested daubing red paint on the town hall steps! Well thankfully we choose to celebrate the events by presenting awards in recognition of good practise. Oh how different things might have been if we have taken one if not all of the other options. I don’t think many people would have given us the support we have so far received.

That said the revolutionary route is sometimes needed; a couple of days after my last blog I was invited to speak at another disability conference here in the North West and I was astounded to find that I couldn’t access the stage and was left to present from the floor. I was further frustrated to hear that the organisation had recently spent hundreds of thousands of pounds refurbishing the facility.

Whilst on the subject of refurbishments; work at the Centre for Independent Living in Beaufort Street is progressing nicely, the base is in for the new workshop, work on the mobility test track has started and Brun, Jayne and I have just completed a £450,000 bid for another project which we hope will be located at the Centre. We worked hard to include the test track as we know it will prove useful to many of the hundreds of disabled and elderly people who are buying second hand electric scooters and simply driving off along the roads and pavements at speeds up to 8mph with no training or idea how dangerous their vehicles can be to themselves or the poor pedestrians they collide with. Last weekend I was honoured once again by Birchwood Lions Club when they invited me to speak at their recent Charter Night; my wife Pam and I were guests at the top table. Whist I was speaking about the work of WDP and local Lions Clubs I took great pride in making reference to our volunteers and staff, especially the 7 who had joined us at the event Brun, John, Dave, Joe, Terry, John and Jean.

We can finally close the chapter on this year’s Disability Awareness Day after I presented certificates and a cheque to Tina and her team at Warrington Sea Cadets TS Obdurate. I was invited to their presentation evening, and I must say it was a pleasure to watch each and every cadet as they marched forward to receive their awards and the delight on their parents’ faces when they marched back to their table with prizes in hand. I must say a big thank you to Dave for joining me on the night as our official photographer.

As if you didn’t know, it’s only a couple of weeks to Christmas; and don’t we know it at WDP. Our fundraising activities are in full swing; our giant tombola located at the rear of Warrington Market is breaking all the right records, our Santa’s grotto is busy after Santa arrived last week courtesy of a little help from our friends at Warrington Lions who lent us their trailer mounted sledge and reindeers. It was a spectacular sight watching it drive up Buttermarket Street into the town centre with Christmas carols blasting out it really attracted the crowds. Little did they know that we narrowly avoided a disaster when a low level power cable that had been strung across the street hit the antler of one of the reindeer’s missing Santa by a few inches? Can you imagine the headlines, WDP kills Santa. Not really the publicity we need.

Our team at WDP have got our own Santa. His name is Shaun from the Bond Hotel in Blackpool. Shaun and his good wife have pledged £10,000 to kick start our Capital Appeal to help us raise the £175,000 we need to complete the work at the Centre for Independent Living. Finally, the date is set; we aim to reopen the fully refurbished Centre on Monday 10th May next year. That’s only 21 weeks to go. If you have any thoughts on how you can help, we would like to hear from you.

Thanks again for your interest.

Until next time, take care

Dave Thompson