Annual Report 2015/2016

Home , Aireborough, City of Leeds, Golden Acre Park, Midgley, Wetherby, Wetherby Whaler

Aireborough Voluntary Services to the Elderly with Disabilities

Charity Registration: 1048902

AVSED Annual Report 2015/16

Office Committee Members

Suffolk Court Chair Ken Elliott Silver Lane

Yeadon Vice Chair Brian Myers LEEDS LS19 7JN Treasurer Neil Moffoot

Telephone: 0113 250 1702 Secretary Ann Turner

E mail: [email protected] Isabella (Bunty) Burgon-Byrne, Roger Halliwell, Edward Lamb, Wendy Hanson, Graham Downes Website: www.avsed.org.uk (from Oct 2015), Cllr Ryk Downes (in an advisory capacity)

Staff

Project Coordinating Manager Sarah Lunt

Volunteer Recruitment, Training Community Cohesion and and Development Officer (VRTD Diversity Officer (CCD Officer) Officer)

Sarah Rogers Sharon Ahmed

Activity Support Worker Minibus Driver (part-time)

Ella Baxter Don Robertson

Minibus Transport and

Equal Access Organiser Rick Lamb

Front page: Ron and Denniss enjoying the Eric Morecambe statue at Morecambe Seafront 2

AVSED Annual Report 2015/16

Mission Statement

The primary object of the charity, as set out in the charity’s constitution, is the relief from isolation (without distinction of colour, ethnic origins, nationality, political or religious opinion, sex or sexual orientation) of the older people, many of whom have disabilities, living in the community of Aireborough within the City of Leeds.

Aireborough Voluntary Services to the Elderly with Disabilities (AVSED) provides a unique service to the older people of Aireborough, many of whom have various disabilities. Designed to support those who wish to remain living independently at home, AVSED aims to continually update and expand its socialisation and healthy living services to meet the changing needs of Clients. By relieving social isolation and providing Volunteers who care, great improvements should continue to be made in the quality of life of all our Clients and Volunteers.

Background Information

AVSED is a registered charity (registered in 1995), managed and run by registered Volunteers with the support of six paid staff, and covers an area of approximately 18 square miles. The charity is governed by a constitution

Founded in Yeadon in 1992 by a group of caring local people who recognised the loneliness and isolation of older disabled people living in Aireborough, AVSED is run by a Management Committee of nine Volunteers, which by including older people with disabilities, reflects the makeup of the organisation. A local Councillor has been nominated by Leeds City Council to attend Committee meetings and provide support.

All Volunteers, and all Clients who pay an annual subscription to receive services from AVSED*, are registered Members of the organisation. Each registered Member may nominate and vote for Management Committee representatives at the Annual General Meeting. A postal vote is arranged if necessary.

(*£15 for a single person or £20 for two people living in the same dwelling in 2015/2016)

Although AVSED is an independent registered charity, it works within the Leeds Older People’s Neighbourhood Network (around 35 separate organisations spread across the city) and, in particular, with the seven charities within the NW PCT area. The co- ordinators of these organisations meet together on a quarterly basis prior to a meeting with senior staff from Adult Social Care (together with representatives from the Neighbourhood Network organisations in the west of the city) and provide support for each other.

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Chair’s Report

2015/16 has been a very busy year for all the members, volunteers and staff with an increase in the amount of activities and events that have created a better sense of what AVSED is trying to achieve in the local community. We have secured a new home for AVSED which will be in the ANSA clubhouse in Nunroyd Park: this will provide a Hub for all our planned services and activities. Transferring to this property will give us the “Benefit of Change,” and has been possible with a grant from the ASDA Foundation. We applied to the Department of Transport for a new Minibus under a scheme for the Third Sector, and I am pleased to announce this bid was successful. The new minibus will be delivered later this year. The Management Committee have decided to make AVSED a ‘Charitable Company, Limited by Guarantee’ which will give us a legal identity and help us when applying for future funding. Looking ahead, a great deal was achieved in 2015/2016 and there is much more to be done in the year ahead including finalising our preparations for future funding applications, which will include Leeds Adult Social Care and the Big Lottery. The way we have progressed this year gives me great confidence that we will meet our objectives set for 2016/17: to help older people in Aireborough live a full and involved life by reducing their social isolation.

Project C oordinating Manager’s Report

2015/2016 was a year of settled staff levels at AVSED which was a great relief to both myself and the Trustees. Sharon hit the ground running in her new role as CCD Officer, and both Ella and Sarah Rogers were already flying in their new roles by mid 2015. It was fantastic to have the opportunity and the time in the latter part of 2015 to actually put parts of the business and strategic plan in action and start planning for the future of AVSED when I knew the day to day running was in safe hands.

As you can see from the rest of the Report we achieved an incredible amount during the year, which is due to the hard work and dedication of both Staff and Volunteers. It is quite exhausting in fact remembering it all! We are satisfying, and in fact exceeding, the expectations of our funders in terms of the targets we have achieved and the impact of our services on local older people. We also show a high level of satisfaction amongst our members and volunteers, which is the whole purpose of our organisation. At a time when charities are under scrutiny in the media for various practices like cold calling and financial mismanagement, I am very proud to say we have always, and always will be, fully transparent in our charity management, aims and objectives. Here is to a bright future for AVSED.

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AVSED Finance

During 2015/2016 we received a contract, grants and donations from all the organisations and individuals listed below:

Contract:  Adult Social Care, Leeds City Council – year 1 of a 3 x 1 year rolling contract to provide services for older people in Aireborough. We have had confirmation this contract has now been extended until March 2017, with assurance Leeds City Council have a strong commitment to continuing their support of the Leeds Older People’s Neighbourhood Networks.

Grants:  The Big Lottery Fund Grant – Fourth Year (of five) grant entitled ‘Socialising Seniors’ to allow us to enhance the capacity of AVSED to help more older people in Aireborough  Frank Parkinson Yorkshire Trust – Fourth Year (of five) grant to part-pay the monthly lease-hire charges for our Renault minibus  Horsforth Live at Home Scheme (lead scheme in a three-way partnership with Otley Action for Older People) – funding additional services for people with low-level memory loss  Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales – second year (of 2) grant to pay for the salary of our part-time minibus driver  The Department of Transport – successful in a grant application for a new minibus, which should be with us mid to late 2016. This is a gift in kind rather than a cash donation and the minibus will be created to our specifications.  Leeds Community Foundation – grant for our Winter Buddies Scheme  Green Hall Foundation – grant for 50% of the salary of our part time minibus driver for 1 year.

 Asda Foundation – grant for £15,067.00 towards building a new office to facilitate our premises move Picture to Right: Sarah Leonard from Asda

Guiseley Live at Home presenting the cheque to Ken on a foggy morning

Fundraising:

 AVSED Office Staff – ran the 10k Abbey Dash in November 2015 and raised £1250 (see right)  David Elliott – completed the Brownlee Triathlon at Harewood House and raised £342.50  Gift Aid – from individual contributers who had completed a Gift Aid Form, plus from the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (which we were eligible to apply for this year as we have successfully applied for Gift Aid for the last 2 years) which allowed us to claim 25% on cash donations of £20 or under, even

if a gift aid form had not been completed.

 Will Writing Scheme – Morrish Solicitors in Yeadon 5 raised £300 during May 2015 with a will writing scheme

AVSED Annual Report 2015/16

 Asda – ‘Chosen by you..given by Us’ green token

collection scheme at the Guiseley Live at Home Store.

We received the most tokens of the 3 competing

organisations and were given a cheque for £200 (picture

left, Sarah receiving the cheque from Sarah Leonard, the

Community Life Champion at the store)

 Health and Wellbeing Fair – raised £197

 Guiseley Art Club – raised £200 for AVSED through sales at their annual exhibition (picture right, Sarah receiving the cheque from Michael Hillas, Chairman)  YAODs – Yeadon Amateur Operatic and Dramatics Society raised a total £217.91 during 3 bucket collections (picture right shows the Christmas Carol singing and collection at High Trees Garden Centre, and picture left shows Ella receiving the donation

cheque from Malcolm Kleiman, the Vice Chairman of YAODS )

 AVSED Christmas Raffle – raised £220 (Cora helping Sarah to draw the raffle numbers at Cuppa and Company)

Donations:

 Kind donations in memory of the following former AVSED members: Connie Norton, Sybil Firth, Shirley Battersby, Gordon Dunn, Douglas Richardson and Mary Kellegher  Individual Donations: many small and large donations from members, volunteers, family/carers and supporters of AVSED, too many to list. Thank you, for each and every amount.

 Organisational Donations: Yeadon Methodist Church Women’s Fellowship, Guiseley Methodist Church and Guiseley Methodist Church Tuesday Fellowship

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Annual Income 2015/2016 - £188,936.00

Adult Social Care Contract

Big Lottery Fund Grant 7.0% 12.0% 5.0% 32.0% Other Grants 1.0% 10.0% Subscriptions

33.0% Donations

General Fundraising

Other Income (investment, minibus hire, activity income etc.)

Our main income stream again this year was through Grants, the largest of these being from the Big Lottery which consisted of 33% of our entire income. We still very much rely on the Contracts and Grants established and maintained by AVSED Staff.

Annual Expenditure 2015/2016 - £193,366.00

Staff Wages (incl. NI & pension) 2.5% 0.5% Staff & Volunteer Expenses

1.0% 14.0% Transport Costs (vehicle hire, fuel & maintenance) 11.0% Support Costs (office, stationery, 57.0% printing etc.) 12.0% Recruitment and Training

Activity Running Costs (room hire, tutors, refreshments, etc) 2.0% Depreciation of Assets (minibus, equipment etc.) Sundries

Expenditure was comparable to the last financial year, with slightly increased staff costs due to the continued implementation of the National Living Wage. We used some of our unrestricted balance brought forward from the previous financial year to plug the small gap between income and expenditure.

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Our Registered Volunteers

We have an excellent team of registered Volunteers ranging from 18, to a newly recruited Volunteer Befriender who is a very spritely 90 years of age! With a mix of experience from just about every walk of life you can think of, our Volunteers show care and commitment to the older people of Aireborough as they run a myriad of services for AVSED.

Our Volunteers work:  as Trustees  in three separate weekly social centres, and Cuppa and Company  as befrienders  to provide support at appointments, 1:1 shopping or on trips out  as minibus drivers and escorts  with fundraising, marketing and administration  as leaders of small groups/specialised activities such as our Tai Chi classes, Chair based Exercise Classes, Friday “Fish ‘n’ Chip” Home Delivery service, and minor repairs – to name but a few!  as much needed ad hoc volunteers to ‘fill in’ any gaps  as IT support gurus ……. and 101 other ways that help our Clients.

With the recruitment of our new VRTD Officer we really wanted to use this financial year to show our appreciation of the volunteers and value the work they do for the our members as well as the local community. Our volunteers attended two outside events: in May 2015 Sandra and Eddie Lamb attended the Lord Mayor’s ‘Thank you’ event on behalf of AVSED volunteers (picture below left), and during National Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2015) a team of volunteers competed in a Ten Pin Bowling Competition along with other charities (picture below right, from left to right John, Bernie, Kim, Sue, Carlo and Ken)

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During Volunteer week we also ran our own target bowls event at Rufford Park

Bowling Club. We had glorious weather

and a lovely buffet lunch, followed by the presentation of prizes for the winning team, and thank you certificates to volunteers (picture left: Beryl, Pat, Ann and Hazel receiving their target bowl prizes from Ken for the highest score)

No one, especially the Volunteers, should underestimate the value of their work and dedication. Due to their long term commitment, AVSED has grown steadily over the years and is now able to help hundreds of older people, many with disabilities, living at home in the community of Aireborough, to maintain their independence. Thank you!

Registered Volunteers who have served in 2015/2016

Theresa Angove, Denise Arnott, Christine Baguley, Sue Best, Roy Blanshard, Sheila Bower, Kim Broadhead, Bunty Burgon-Byrne, Margaret Clark, Beryl Claughton, Christine Coen, John Davies, Annette Dewhirst, Jo Dixon, Dorothy Downs, Ken Elliott, John Foster, Sue Kellett, Janine Garnett, Maureen Gough, Roger Halliwell, Wendy Hanson, Bernie Harrison, Carlo Harrison, Tony Hemingway, Claire Hepworth, Joyce Heslop, David Hirons, Sheila Hollings, Tessa Holmes, Moreen Holt, Shelagh Hooten, Anne Hudson, Diana Jenkins, Peter Jenkins, Dorothy Jones, Michael Jowett, Christine King, Eddie Lamb, Sandra Lamb, Tina Lawrence, Alexis Mannion, Jean Mason, Dianne Midgley, Elaine Miller, Carolyn Moffatt, Neil Moffoot, Geoff Mott, Brian Myers, Bridget Napp, Paul Napp, Pauline Noonan, Sasha Ollerenshaw, Hilary Pank, Ellie Pearson, Sarah Penketh, Patricia Pinder, John Ratcliffe, Jill Reilly, Aaron Sanders, Pat Sands, Jean Sawyer, Hazel Shaw, Alan Sheath, Pat Simpson, Susan Stevens, Ann Turner, Andy Walker, Anna Webster, Edna Wild, Alan Willey, Eileen Wilshaw, Colin Wrigg, Anne Yeadon.

AVSED Members

In March 2016 we had 479 registered members of AVSED. This figure includes clients (those who are over 60 and live within Aireborough), affiliated members (over 60s who live outside of the area, in sheltered housing complexes not supported by AVSED, and those who access our transport regularly to attend sister groups) and our Volunteers.

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 Our youngest client was 61 years of age, and our oldest was 102!  75% of our members were women  50 new clients joined us this year, and 50 left.  278 members started a new service/activity provided by AVSED

Reg and Jack enjoying lunch at Newsholme Manor Afternoon Tea at Thursday Social Centre

The feedback we receive is, on the whole, overwhelming positive, which makes all the hard work more than worth-while. Members are in general very pleased with the variety and quality of services and activities available at AVSED. The transport, trips out, and care and consideration of the volunteers and staff were most important to the members. They also feel

 less isolated/lonely  an improvement in their mental health and wellbeing  more involved in their local community  it helps them maintain their independence  services are affordable, but they wouldn’t mind paying a reasonable increase

There were many comments about what activities they would like AVSED to provide in the future, including more varied trips, pottery, gardening, art and crafts, dancing, pamper days, bird watching, walking, cake decorating, I-pad sessions etc. There was a feeling that a local’ hub’ for older people would benefit AVSED members and give them a real sense of belonging. There were also thoughts it would save AVSED money and give us the ability to expand and diversify our services. The questionnaires identified a few areas where we need to improve:

 activities / services which improve the physical health of members (53% of members felt no improvement in their physical health since becoming a member of AVSED)  investigate the costs of providing activities weekends/bank holidays/summer evenings in the future (62% of those interviewed would be interested in this)  increase the sense that members have input/influence over services available from AVSED (over 50% of those who we talked to felt they didn’t have any input in this, although the majority said they were happy with our services and felt we do, and will continue to adapt to their changing needs)

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AVSED Services

AVSED services in 2015/2016 included:  General advice and information  Personal 1:1 Shopping Trips (non  Bi-monthly Newsletter grocery)  Memory Loss Support (see below)  1:1 appointment support (non  Health and Wellbeing Support hospital)  Handyman Service  Carer Support  Full needs assessment  Help with form filling  Accessible transport to the majority  Advocacy of our activities  Referrals / signposting to other  Pastoral care telephone calls agencies  Mobility Aid Loan

Transport: AVSED’s two minibuses continued to be used every day of the week to provide transport not only for our own activities, but to provide accessible transport to other local groups for older people, without which they would be unable to attend. Regular weekly bookings include The Tuesday Convent Day Centre (which unfortunately closed in March 2016), Rawdon’s Darby and Joan Club and Yeadon Methodist Church’s Sunday Worship transport, as well as various residents’ associations, which have been set up in sheltered housing complexes in the area.

These buses are extremely well looked after, with regular safety checks and servicing, as they are amongst our most valuable resources. We will be welcoming a new minibus to our ‘fleet’ in mid to late 2016, as outlined in the funding section of this report.

Memory Loss and Dementia: We have continued this year to provide additional services for members with memory loss to enable them to have access to all our activities for as long as possible. These included:  Telephone prompting for our activities  Carer invoicing for members who attend our activities but who struggle with bringing purses/wallets/money  Newsletter visiting – for those without carer support who find it difficult to read the newsletters, telephone the office to book activities/outings, make the payment, then record what they were booked on to

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Leeds Older People's Forum was successful in applying to Leeds Innovation Fund to run two training programmes delivered to staff, volunteers and carers of three Neighbourhood Networks – Cross Gates & District Good Neighbours’ Scheme CIO, AVSED and South Leeds Live at Home Scheme. Carers Leeds offered two half-day Dementia Training sessions at each of the Neighbourhood Networks (staff, volunteers and carers were invited), and there was also a full day training session about Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, teaching us ways to help maintain the cognitive skills of individuals with early stage memory problems.

We are very lucky to have an active support community locally in terms of Memory Loss Services, with two independent Dementia Cafes (The Forget me Not Café, and Memory Lane Café) plus a new Memory Lane Activity Day Centre which started in March 2016. Support is available therefore for members who can no longer attend our activities due to the advancement of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Signposting: During this financial year we signposted our members to the following services to help them maintain their independence and improve their health and wellbeing:  Leeds Directory – for reliable tradespeople  Care Ring – emergency button for activating at home  Trading Standards  Local Ironing Service  West Yorkshire Fire Service  Dental Advice Line  Local care agency  Local Dog walker  A sister Neighbourhood network  Alzheimers Society  Carer’s Leeds  Council Pest Control

AVSED Activities

In 2015/2016 AVSED continued to provide the following regular activities, which combined offered nearly 200 member places to socialise each week:

 Quarterly Outreach “Windmill” Day Trips  Friday Fish and Chip Home Delivery Service  3 weekly social centres  1 coffee morning – Cuppa and Company  Monday afternoon trips out  3 Tai Chi classes  2 chair based exercise classes (with a

weekly member led quiz at one class)

 Befriending for members unable to 12 access regular activities

AVSED Annual Report 2015/16

Articles from the Marks Social Centres: and Spencers’ Archive The Social Centres enjoyed a raft of activities including:

* book/cake/ bric a brac stalls, quizzes, pie and peas, clothes stall, various talks (e.g. Noel Nostalgia, Scams and Frauds, Doorstep Crimes, Local Solicitors, West Yorkshire Fire Service, Silver Links, Water Aid, Local History, Marks and Spencers etc), singers and groups (including Emma James, Terry Williams, Young at Heart, YAODs, The Brotherhood Male Voice Choir and a Rat Pack Tribute), birthday celebrations, Christmas parties, reminiscence sessions and instrumental performances.

They also enjoyed lunch trips out to local venues such as: * Graveleys, Otley Golf Club, Murgatroyds, Dick Hudsons, Newsholme Manor, Millstones, The Wharfedale (see picture left), The Stansfield Arms, Wetherby Whaler, Wheatley Arms, The Royalty, Horsforth Golf Club, Asquith Arms, Halfway House and Websters

Monday Afternoon Trips:

Monday afternoon ‘trippers’ were spoilt for choice with  lunches at: The Fleece (Farsley), Calverley Arms, Graveleys Fish and Chip Restaurant (Horsforth), Brownlee Arms (Horsforth), Newsholme Manor, The Hitching Post, Hawthorn Farm, The Half Way House (Shipley) and Websters Fish and Chip Restaurant (Idle)

 trips to: The Royal Armouries, Tong Garden Centre, Roundhay Park, Yorkshire Dales Icecream Parlour, Caring for Life, White Rose Shopping Centre and Golden Acre Park

Windmill Trips: Windmill Trips’ are supported day trips for which we hire the ‘Windmill Coach’ (see picture right): a specially adapted 46 seat coach, complete with a passenger lift so we can take AVSED members with a variety of disabilities. Up to 15 wonderful volunteers look after our members all day long, either pushing a wheelchair or just ensuring they have some company and are in the right place at the right time.

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This year we visited Millstones for some Wartime entertainment, Hull to visit The Deep, Morecambe Bay for some sea air, and York Designer Outlet Village for some bargain shopping, via the Wetherby Whaler in York for festive fish and chips!

Annual General Meeting: In a slight change to the norm we held a ‘new and improved’ AGM this year which included Pie and Peas and afternoon entertainment by the brilliant Emma James. We make no secret of the fact that we wanted to attract more attendees to this annual event in order to celebrate our achievements, make members feel involved in AVSED as a whole (not just individual groups and activities), and share our plans for the future; this ‘ploy’ seemed to work as we had over 80 attendees, compared to our normal 20-30!

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Ad Hoc activities:

This was a bumper year for ad hoc activities! They included:

* Guiseley Art Club Annual Exhibition

The local Art Club had their most successful Annual Exhibition ever recorded in October 2015 at the Guiseley Methodist Church. They were generous enough to invite us to have a stall there, plus donate 10% of the sales from the art work which amounted to £200.

* Health and Wellbeing Event

On Friday 24th July 2015 we held a Health and Wellbeing Day at Yeadon Town Hall which attracted over 80 people during the day. Stalls holders included Care and Repair, Community Heart Research, Morrish Solicitors, Home Instead, Arthritis Care, Carers Leeds, Guiseley Walking Football Club, PEP team and Leeds Mind, Tina’s Complimentary Therapies and our own stalls and Tombola. Refreshments Smoothies were kindly donated by Innocent drinks, and there were lots of healthy snacks available. Our Chair Based Exercise Class tutor, Jenny Wilson, also carried out a short taster session with members from the groups. A well attended and informative day.

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* Poppies Trip

On Friday 6th November we descended on the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the iconic poppy sculpture. It was very impressive and a fantastic day was had by all.

* Christmas Party

On Tuesday 22nd December 2015 we provided a 3 course Christmas Meal at Guiseley Methodist Church for local older people who might have been spending Christmas alone, and/or who had experienced a particularly difficult year. They were welcomed in to the Church foyer by The Woolpack Ukelele Band, enjoyed a soup starter followed by Turkey and all the trimmings, then mince pies, were entertained with some singalong Christmas songs on the guitar by Mike Rossiter and even had a visit from Santa with a bag full of Christmas Presents! Home Instead initiated the ‘Give a Gift to a Senior’ appeal so we would like to thank for them all their help with this. One member wrote in a card “Many, many thanks for the wonderful Christmas Party…Although I didn’t know any of the other party-goers everybody joined in and enjoyed every minute. The food was excellent, piping hot and plenty of it. The room was lovely and Christmassy and the music really made everyone want to sing and join in.”

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*Hydration Week Tea Dance

Sarah Rogers and 3 AVSED members attended a Tea Dance at Leeds Civic Hall in June 2015 which looked at living well into older age, including keeping active and hydrated. Betty and Audrey had lots of fun on the dance floor!

* Panto

On Wednesday 30th December 2015 16 members, accompanied by 5 volunteers, enjoyed a matinee performance of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ at the Alhambra Theatre. It was great fun and we all particularly enjoyed the parts in 3D and getting to wear those trendy glasses!

* Winter Buddies Scheme

This was funded by a ‘Winter Wellbeing Community Grant’ through Leeds City Council. It aimed to provide additional services to the most isolated of our members during the Winter months (December to March), and those who required additional support during this time. We were lucky this Winter was not particularly cold, but the seven volunteer ‘buddies’ still provided services such as regular telephone calls (116 made), friendly visits, and deliveries of essential groceries and prescriptions (48 visits carried out to hospital and home). The feedback from one member was “Thank you so much for caring.” This service was essential in maintaining the health and wellbeing of local older people, as winter is a time when people can become particularly isolated and depressed, therefore more likely to access the local health services. Prevention is better than cure.

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What’s new this Year

 Student Placement

Ellie Pearson joined us for a 3 month student placement (between November 2015 and February 2016) from Bradford College as part of her BTEC Health & Social Care course. She attended various activities including Monday exercise, Tuesday Social Centre and Tai Chi classes, as well as escorting on the minibus. Thank you for your help Ellie, and we wish you success in your future nursing career.

 AVSED Christmas Card

Many of our members, and even volunteers, find their social circles gradually reducing over Albert the the years, and Christmas cards becoming AVSED bear fewer and fewer. We wanted to ensure looking very everyone received at least one card this year, festive! so Ella designed this fantastic card which we had printed to send to all AVSED members, ex staff and AVSED supporters, to spread the festive cheer.

 Premises move

Part of the Strategic and Business plan developed at the beginning of this financial year involved an aim to create a local Hub. We are pleased to say the grant from the Asda Community Foundation has allowed us to realise this dream and start building an office within our new Hub at the ANSA Clubhouse in Nunroyd Park, Yeadon. (left: view of the Clubhouse from Leeds Road) We hope it will:  unite our services  give all members a sense of ‘belonging’ to AVSED as whole, as well as their own particular group or activity  allow us make efficiency savings as we won’t have to ferry people to venues across Aireborough, it will reduce our staff travel costs, and we will save money by combining office and room rental fees  allow us to pool our resources and make them available to ALL groups via a resource cupboard (including games, quizzes, the Wii machine etc.), which also

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avoids the cost of duplications (i.e. one bingo machine and 1st Aid Box to maintain rather than 6 or 7)  give us appropriate storage so volunteers/staff do not have to store resources at home/in cars to take with them to various activity spaces  increase the opportunities to share important information in a timely manner (yes, we can have a notice board!)  provide on-site support for members and volunteers  allow us to offer more, and a greater variety of activities over time  allow us to work more closely with other local groups and services

As well as the positives outlined above, the added bonuses with this venue are:  A good amount of parking for people who self-transport  the minibus drop off point is right next to the entrance which would allow members who currently require a wheelchair to access certain venues (such as St Johns Church Hall, which has a long path to the entrance) much more independence as they may be able to walk the shorter, and flatter, distance to the activity space

There are also possibilities to expand and enhance our services with:  a small ‘first aid room,’ which could be used as a space for visiting therapists and health professionals to provide services whilst members are attending activities e.g. health checks, chiropody, alternative therapies etc.  use of the outdoor space available in the park (we’re thinking health walks, raised beds with flowers/vegetables, Tai Chi on the lawn etc.)

 Incorporation

On 1st April 2016 we became an incorporated organisation. We now have a legal identity which not only protects the individual liabilities of our Trustees, but gives us more 'clout' when applying for grants and contracts. During this process we have also removed the 'with disabilities' part of our full name as we want to attract ALL local older people to join AVSED and therefore relieve the social isolation and improve the health, wellbeing and independence of as many local residents as we can. We want to try to shift the view we are just for 'people in wheelchairs,' and other misconceptions that unfortunately the word ‘disabilities’ still holds. Our name will still be ‘AVSED,’ but now it stands for ‘Aireborough Voluntary Services to the Elderly.’ The general day to day running of AVSED will not be affected in any way, and we are still a charitable organisation which operates not for profit. We now have a new charity number though, 1165792, and also a Company Number, 09882948.

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AVSED Suffolk Court, Silver Lane Yeadon Leeds LS19 7JN

Tel: 0113 250 1702 Email: [email protected] Website: www.avsed.org.uk

Charity Number: 1048902