Annual Report 2013—2014

Cover photo: High tide at Pensarn Harbour

Chair’s Welcome

This year ECHO delivered more services to

more people than ever before. Despite all

the problems caused by Council cutbacks,

ECHO continues to grow and deliver high

quality services.

This report tells you about some of the good work that we do One of ECHO's aims is to offer the chance to learn new skills. With funding from Herefordshire Council we run lots of short courses each year. Wendy's Cook and Share is very popular. And both Clever Betsy and Rose Tinted Rags run craft courses which bring new participants to ECHO. Changes at Herefordshire Council meant that we had some thinking to do about our future. We are working with other local charities to see how we can improve services by working together. ECHO could not continue without our hard working staff team and our wonderful volunteers. Thank you to all ECHO’s participants, volunteers and staff for continuing to support us this year.

Cath Baker

ECHO—WHAT WE DO ECHO works to make a real difference to the lives of disabled people in Herefordshire. We support people to be valued members of their community. ECHO offers lots of different activities during the day and in the evenings. This year we have provided 90 hours of activities over 6 days and 3 evenings each week. Our day opportunities provide a full day of supported activity where people work together to learn new skills. Our leisure and social activities happen in community venues during the day, the evening and at weekends.

Community Connections support

individuals in their local community:

making friends, volunteering, getting

involved and joining in community life.

Picture needed and better

one above?

OUR WORK THIS YEAR Day Opportunities Our shop in Leominster got a new name and a new look. Clever Betsy re-opened with a party in October. About Face Theatre Company have a new one year training course. Theatre is a good way to grow in confidence and learn to be reliable. Just what you need if you are looking for work. We also have a new puppet show called the Apple Dumpling Girl. It’s our first love story. Rose Tinted Rags is now jam packed full of textiles, haberdashery and wonderful treasures. In June we will be moving to Governors House on Union Walk. Our sewing project, Frock On have a thing about owls!

At Storytelling, we have been looking at

our own stories. We made models of

Gypsy caravans as part of a course

about travellers in Herefordshire.

At Rural Crafts we are proud of what we grow.

Friday Lifelinks have taken up dog

walking. This is Angela with Charlie

We also have time for trips out. Here we are in Malvern

At Lifelinks we do shopping for older and housebound people….. Lots and lots of shopping…. Lots and lots and lots and lots of shopping…! We also help out at the Courtyard, stuffing

envelopes and addressing postcards for their

mailouts.

Sometimes we have time to make things…

Community connections The Ambassadors 42 people have become Ambassadors by doing a course to help them feel more confident in their lives. Over half of these have gone on to do something else with the project. Mand has done a teaching qualification

so she can deliver training to others.

Volunteering 21 participants volunteer in ECHO and in

the community. Mrs Price and Kevin go

shopping every Tuesday morning

ECHO has over 100 volunteers who help

our participants in all sorts of ways. Jan

supported Tracey and Steph to

demonstrate their weaving skills at the

Apple Fair in Leominster Priory.

15 participants do things in the community

with the help of a volunteer buddy. Jim

and Sheena enjoy a coffee at Grange

Court before going to Yam Jams on

Friday morning

The Living Your Life group took part in the Herefordshire Wheelchair User Group survey. We discovered that we could not all travel together on the same train from Leominster to Ludlow.

We are also offering training to people who

work in Adult Social Care. We can help train

staff to be skilled and compassionate and to

promote dignity, safety and respect.

Pooled Budgets This year we have been looking at how

people can pool their personal budgets to run

their own service.

The 5 members of Our News Our Views have

done this. In February they appointed their

own support worker to help them launch Our

News Our Views, Herefordshire’s learning

disability newsletter.

Next year we want to help lots more people

to think about pooling their budgets to create

their own services and support.

Leisure and social A group went on holiday to Le Fosso in Brittany in May. We went cycling on the velo-rail and on a horse and cart ride in the Forest. In March we had a fun weekend of

walking, climbing, archery, kayaking

and good food at Pensarn in North

Wales.

Lots of people enjoy coming to Yam

Jams each week and making music with

Lofty and Rich.

Nick took over as the coach for our

Football Club in February. He is

supported by a great group of

volunteers.

At Friday Club we were busy making

our Christmas puddings for our festive

party.

.

The Spinning Circle gave a spinning demonstration for the opening of Grange Court during Leominster Festival in June.

Summer Activities We visited Acton Scott Farm on a lovely warm sunny day in July. We also had two beautiful days sailing down the Gloucester Canal on the Willow Trust Barge. As usual we had lots of music, food and fun at Annie’s summer BBQ.

Watching cricket was almost as much fun

…..

as playing it at Burghill Cricket Ground

How is ECHO Run?

User Led Anyone who uses our services can join

ECHO We now have over 230

members.

The Rep Group The ECHO Rep Group met 44 times this

year. They enjoy their work listening to

and speaking up for ECHO participants

and helping to run ECHO. Thanks to

everyone for supporting us in our work.

The Board Half the people on our Board of

Trustees have a disability or are family

carers.

The Staff and volunteers We now have 20 people working for us

and 110 volunteers. Without their

dedication and hard work, ECHO could

not continue.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to all our participants who make

ECHO such a joyous place to work.

Thank you to all our charitable and other grant funders: The Big Lottery Fund, Herefordshire Council, The Eveson Charitable Trust, the EF Bulmer Benevolent Fund, The Ernest Cook Trust, the E P Godson Charity, the GMC Trust, The Henry Smith Charity, the Learning & Skills Improvement Service. Thank you to all the individuals and local groups who have made donations to ECHO this year: In a Nutshell and everyone who sponsored an apple on their Friendship Tree, St Richards School PTA, Alan Hooper and the members of Leominster Golf Club, Felicity Jacks for funding the Apple Dumpling Girl, Cllr Molly Cooke and all her supporters for raising £750, everyone who gives a regular monthly donation by direct debit and all the people who put a coin or two in our collecting tins…… To our partner organisations Affinity Trust, Aspire, The Bulmer Foundation, Earl Mortimer College, Halo Leisure, GreenEyedMonsterCo., Hampton Dene United Reformed Church, Herefordshire Mencap, HVOSS, Leominster Community Centre, Leominster Methodist Church, The Music Pool, St. Martin’s Church, Hereford, Walk Herefordshire

Thank you to all our volunteers who give their time so unstintingly: Margie Amos, Vicki Andrews, Graham & Lynda Archer, Jessie Ashmore, Paul Baines, Nick Baker, Frances Biseker, Michelle Broad, Sara Buckley, Diane Burgess, Jennie Burns, Jerry Burslem, Phil Caton, Tiz Chapman, Paul Choppen, Veena Chumba, Ciaran Cleery, Lucy Cole, Beth Collier, Caroline Collins, Gill Collins, Carol & David Cross, Keith Ellis, Tim Evans, Jackie Francis, Jonas Fredriksen, Annie Gamble, David & Sonia George, Sue Hall, David & Mary Hancock, Seb & Callum Harries, Jenny & Mark Harrison, Susan Harvey, Bella Hesbrook, Kayleigh Hicks, Sheila Hobden, David & Wendy Holton, Jim Howden, Heather Hughes, Jane & Neil James, Angela Jauncey, Annie Joss, Cate La Barre, Rachel Lawson, Beth Layton, Alice Leaper, Holly Lewis, Sara Lewis, Alison Lindsay, Gavin Long, Astrid McBride, Peter McKay, Sandy Madden, Viv Mair, Dave & Ann Marshall, Josh Mather, Francesco Mekhail, Peter Morgan, Maureen Morton, Anne Penning, David Penny, Rhiannon Phillips Powell, Edmund Proctor, Tracey Radford, Louisa Reeve, Hetty Scott, Hannah Segar, Sara Siloko, Anna Smith, Jan Smith, Kathryn Smith, Victoria Smith, Jane Stott, Jason Stuchbery, Kevin Stuchbery, Paul Tandler, Jeanne Taylor, Ann Tether, Kristina Thimm, Sue Thomas, Jenny Tomlinson, Kathy Townsend, Mel Townsend, Sophie Traylor, Emma Tustin, Jim Watt, Carla Warren, Viv Webb, Caroline Wood.

Thank you to all our staff who always go the extra mile:

Steph Baines Participant support worker

Kay Beeden Office administrator Kris Betterton Rural Crafts co-ordinator

Zoe Bradley Shop & Creative Arts Assistant Liz Evans Lifelinks project worker Yvie George Ambassadors Project Meg Hughes Ambassadors Project Denise Kerwood Volunteer Coordinator Smart Arts Storyteller

Jess MacKenzie About Face Theatre Co Artistic Director Lyndsay Maples Lifelinks project worker Karen Meiklejohn Rose Tinted Rags

John Newman Lifelinks project worker

Maggie Percy Operations Manager Fiona Ritchie Chief Officer

Richard Smith Finance Officer Jacqui Stewart Lifelinks Project worker Emma Standing Office Assistant Jane Stockton Yoga Tutor Lucy Tisdale Project & Activities worker Lisa Woakes Shop Manager Tina Walton Rose Tinted Rags

Our Trustees Cath Baker Blaise White Paul Scott Chair Treasurer Vice Chair Graham Archer (until Oct 13) Tiz Chapman Rose Hunt Jocelyn Hughes Cate La Barre Sue Robbins Jason Stuchbery

The Rep Group 2013—14 From left to right: Mand Hamblin, Richard Crook, Donovan Lewis, Simon Harris, Marianne Simpson, Aida Kiledjian, John Stuchbery, Sally Lewis, Richard Woodall, Michelle Tilbury

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OUR VISION

ECHO’s vision is of a fair society where all disabled people are valued, respected and supported.

OUR MISSION

ECHO wants to make a real difference to the lives of disabled people in Herefordshire, supporting them to be valued members of their community

OUR LONG TERM AIMS

1. Services – what we do. We will provide good services which change and grow to continue to meet local needs. 2. Involvement. We will listen to and involve our participants and their carers, our staff and our volunteers and others in our planning. 3. A quality organisation. We will make sure ECHO is well run with good staff and volunteers.

THE DIFFERENCE WE WILL MAKE

SERVICES

INVOLVEMENT

ORGANISATION

Our participants will: ∗ have good lives. ∗ feel less lonely ∗ have more choice ∗ Have more

independence. ∗ make new

friends ∗ Be part of their

local community.

Our participants: ∗ feel they are listened

to and have more say

∗ have the information they need to make choices which meet their needs.

∗ feel valued Our organisation and services are better quality because we involve disabled people in how they are run

∗ ECHO is a well run

organisation ∗ Our participants

are happy with ECHO services.

∗ Staff and volunteers are happy in their work.

∗ ECHO has a growing number of volunteers

∗ ECHO has enough money to run its services

OUR EASY READ PLAN ON A PAGE

Money This is a summary of how we have spent our money this year. Full copies of our accounts are available from the ECHO office Summary Income & Expenditure for the year ending 31/3/14

Balance sheet for year ending 31/3/14

Income 2013 2014

From generated funds £28,084 £47,494

From charitable activities £326,917 £371,814

Total income £355,001 £419,308

Money spent

Fundraising costs £1,261 £1,646

Charitable activities £310,095 £377,033

Governance costs £6,963 £8,702

Total Money Spent £318,319 £387,381

Balance £36,682 £31,927

Money brought forward £239,069 £275,751

Money to carry forward £275,751 £307,678

2013 2014

Funds

Restricted £27,457 £43,283

Unrestricted—general £129,518 £167,005

Unrestricted—designated £118,776 £97,390

Total Funds £275,751 £307,678

Net current Assets £275,751 £307,678

Creditors £40,865 £13,621

Current Assets £316,616 £321,299

For further details of the work of ECHO please contact

40 West Street

Leominster Herefordshire

HR6 8ES

Telephone: 01568 620307

Fax: 01568 620308

Email: echo.info@echoherefordshire.co.uk

Website: www.echoherefordshire.org.uk

Registered Charity No: 1096449

Company No: 4475254