View from the Chair

30th April 2010

Hello and welcome to my latest blog.

Since my last blog so much has happened at home, at work, at WDP and nationally. It’s hard to choose where to begin. I’ll start with at home, because due to volcanic ash that’s where we stayed instead of flying out to Egypt. A few weeks ago my brother in law Graham and I passed the confined pool and theory sections of the PADI Open Water Scuba Diving qualification. We were looking forward to completing the four 18m sea dives, but you’ve guessed it our plane was grounded. The good news is that we have rebooked and hope to fly out on the 21st May.

Work has been hectic but very rewarding. Last Wednesday we ran our annual Service Users and Carers Conference at the DW Stadium in Wigan. We had a great line up of speakers including our chairman Bernard Pilkington, chief executive Simon Barber, one of my fellow assistant directors Emma Parkes; Frances Hasler from the Care Quality Commission, Stephen, Jeanette, Gary and Derek provided useful introductions to the discussion topics, and several members of staff and service users and carers shared their experiences of working together.

It was a fantastic day thanks to the hard work of my team from the equality diversity and inclusion unit Bernie, Dennis, Duncan, Adrian, Sue, John, Pam and Katherine. Over 160 people attended. The main message from the event was the overwhelming support we have across the Trust to involve service users and carers, and the appreciation of their efforts and acknowledgement that their shared experiences can help to influence positive changes in our services. At WDP there has been a mix of emotions, some very good and others not so. My thoughts go out to two good friends Dave Molynuex and Anne Thorpe who are currently experiencing poor health for very different reasons. A couple of weeks ago I joined friends at Eric James’s leaving party. Eric dedicated over a decade of his life setting up and running the Disability Information Point in Warrington Market and he undertook most of the ground work that led to the establishment of Warrington Shopmobility. Eric was one of the three founder members of the original Disability Information Group, together with Alan Shaw and myself. On that note, I have spent the weekend with family and friends at our Beaufort Street site getting ready for our relocation on the 8th and 9th May. During the weekend my wife Pam and took a few people around the newly refurbished site and explained how it all began back at the Dallam Centre in 1991 in a 8ft x 8ft office. Looking at the site today feels surreal.

Earlier today whilst I was doing a few mundane jobs like weeding and sweeping it got me thinking about the people who have been with us on this journey, Annette, Jim, Chris, Bob, John, Mark, Nancy, Raza, Pat, Shelly, Michelle, Dennis, Allan, Tommy, Peter, Ted, Jenny, Les, Keith, Mathew, Doris, Fred, Ethlyn, Brian, Derek and our dog Pippa who even met Rolf Harris when he visited Disability Awareness Day in 1994.

Nationally the greatest news was made on the 8th April when the Equality Act 2010 received royal assent. As well as disability the Act also covers age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, together with a new socio-economic duty and dual discrimination protection. It will be introduced from April 2011 to 2013 and will close the loop holes in current disability legislation and extends to carers. I will cover this in more detail in future blogs. Last week we held the first meeting for the stewards of this year’s Disability Awareness Day. It was great to see the team together again, and a couple of new faces. It’s amazing that many don’t see each other at all between events but once together it’s like they have never been apart. Late yesterday Audrey sent across the latest list of exhibitors, over 110 have already booked nearly 200 spaces. The management team are moving up a gear in planning their individual areas of responsibility, Brun has all the facilities booked, Maria and Tom are finalising the programmes for the launch event, main arena and arts marquee, Dave and Rachel are in contact with our sports people, Chris is busy with the exhibitors, Gary’s busy with the programme and Jayne is putting the final touches together for the VIP Reception and this year’s Positive Action Awards. I cannot finish on DAD without mentioning Sue Abbott; those who regularly visit the DAD website will notice the huge amount of work that has been undertaken during the past few weeks. This was after Sue and I spent several hours going through the website before she went into hospital for a knee replacement. Sue's daughter Penny has since finished off the last few sections. I’m pleased to report that Sue is making a steady recovery.

Finally back to the refurbishment works at our Beaufort Street site. Jayne and the team at WDP are as ready as they ever will be for the move, but before that we will be holding our annual away day with trustees, staff and volunteers. The event will provide us with time to reflect on the last 6 months since our annual general meeting and to plan ahead for the next year. It will also provide an opportunity for everyone to look around the site before this weekend’s logistical encounters begin.

As you can see, it’s a very busy time all round.

Until next time, thank you for your interest.