Chairman’s Statement 2010/11

It is good to be able to report once again that 2010/2011 was a successful year for our organisation and it proved to be another record year for turnover, as our income exceeded £1.7 million.

This was our 16th year of activity and we provided our widest ever range of services, to people with disabilities, their families and carers in Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire.

The restructuring of local authorities in Bedfordshire to form two new unitary authorities created a range of challenges to the entire voluntary sector. However it is pleasing that the Chief Executive and Executive Team here formed strong relationships with Central Bedfordshire Council, Luton Borough Council, NHS Bedfordshire and NHS Luton across a range of services and personnel, specifically Councillors, Directors and Commissioners, in order to maintain support for local people with disabilities.

In July 2010, his Grace the Duke of Bedford, formally opened our Enterprise Hub, following the provision of capital funding for this project by Central Bedfordshire Council. Designed, commissioned and project managed in house, the development has attracted encouraging levels of interest.

In October 2010 we celebrated the formal opening of our Centre for Independent living in Northamptonshire, with highly successful launch events in both Northampton and Corby. A wide range of services, including Disability Information, Equipment Display, Direct Payments Support Service, Disability Rights, carers Information, Welfare Benefits and various user engagement services all commenced in a very short period of time thanks to our Executive Team, supported by Trustees.

In January 2011, we commenced a new partnership with Hertfordshire Action on Disability (HAD), to provide Driving Assessments for local disabled people who need an assessment to retain their driving licence or advice to retain their driving independence. This new venture plays to our joint strengths and widens services available to local people.

Throughout the year, our work with BBC Three Counties radio continued, with numerous afternoon “Expert Hours” slots in the studio and impromptu interviews and our opinions being sought.

Our relationship with London Luton airport remains good, with training and advice sessions continuing. In January 2011, our Chief Executive was invited to speak at the Assist UK AGM at Gaydon. In March we undertook a promotional event with UK Digital , to promote awareness and practical support for local disabled people during the switchover period.

As I say every year (and mean it every year), we are grateful for the continued support of NHS Bedfordshire (on behalf of both Bedfordshire and Luton) who fund our core services and the Local Authorities who fund a range of disability related projects.

There are significant challenges ahead for all charities, including our own organisation, however I am confident we will look to embrace new opportunities, to further develop our services as set out in our recently adopted strategic plan.

New Commissioning Strategies and a degree of deregulation in Personalisation will create the need for new partnerships and the need for a more commercial approach to market our services. Although activity is extremely important it must never result in a reduction in the quality of our support to service users. Eligibility will also become an increasing factor, and we need to tailor our services to an increasing number of self funders

Finally, as always, I want to pay tribute to the efforts of our volunteers, to the staff for their hard work throughout the year and to my fellow trustees for their continued support in 2010/11.

These valued contributions have all helped to ensure our success during a very difficult period of time.

Thank you to you all.

Nadia Deadman