April 2003 to March 2004
This Annual Review tells you what Walsingham did in the last year.
Sue asking a question at a Walsingham meeting
Walsingham supports people with learning disabilities so they can lead fulfilled lives.
We provide housing, care and support services for people with learning disabilities aged 18 or over. Some people we support also have a physical disability, mental illness and/or problems with their hearing or sight.
In 2003/2004, we had 47 services in England and Wales for 275 people with learning disabilities. We had 467 members of staff.
Our services are run on Christian values. Each person is valued the same as everyone else. We also respect the fact that the people we support and our staff have lots of different beliefs.
What is the Walsingham Annual Review?
The Walsingham Annual Review tells you what Walsingham did in the last year.
It has easy words and pictures to help make it easy to understand.
You can tell us if you want to listen to the Annual Review on a CD.
We hope you enjoy this Annual Review. Please tell us how we can make it even better next year.
Contact Walsingham
Address: Walsingham House, 1331-1337 High Road, Whetstone, London, N20 9HR Telephone: 020 8343 5600 Fax: 020 8446 9156 Minicom: 020 8446 0790 Email: enquiries@walsingham.com Website: www.walsingham.com
Pauline talking on the telephone
Telling people about our work
Christiana Horrocks, Chair of Walsingham, says:
"It is very important for Walsingham to tell people about our work. This helps people get the information they need. In the last year, we told people about our work in lots of different ways.
We had our Annual General Meeting in Swansea. Lots of people we support and their families and friends went to the meeting. People from local authorities and other organisations like Walsingham also went to the meeting.
We told them what happened at Walsingham in the last year. They also told us what they thought about our work.
We started our own website. It tells people everywhere about our services. You can find it at www.walsingham.com.
We also started a different website for the people we support and our staff. This has lots of information and helps people keep in touch.
Please tell us if you want more information about our work."
Getting even better
Mark Snell, Chief Executive of Walsingham, says:
"We worked very hard this year to get even better at what we do. Our staff and the people we support helped us to do this.
The Our Voice Project helped the people we support to tell us what they want from Walsingham. The Big Lottery Fund gave us money to do this project.
The Feeling Valued - Giving Value Project helped our staff to tell us about working at Walsingham. They told us what would help them make our services better and what would make their jobs better. The Department of Trade and Industry gave us money for this project.
These 2 projects will make our services better and make life better for the people we support and our staff.
Finally, we started running 2 services for people with learning disabilities in Brent (London) in the last year. We also started new services in Croydon (London) and Swansea (Wales). We welcome the staff and people who use all of these services."
Our housing, care and support services
Walsingham provides housing, care and support for people with learning disabilities who are aged 18 or over.
We provide 2 different types of service. This is because people with learning disabilities need support in different ways. All our services try to make sure people lead full lives.
We run residential care services. People live in ordinary houses with a lounge, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms and a garden. Everyone has their own bedroom.
We run supported living services. People have more control over their lives than people using residential care services. They are responsible for things like paying for food and rent. Some people live on their own. Others live with their friends.
Our services are changing
We opened some new services in 2003/2004. We also worked hard to make all our other services even better.
This picture shows that Walsingham has provided more and more services for people with learning disabilities since we started in 1986.
Brent (London)
We started running 2 services for 14 people in Brent. These services used to be run by an organisation called Dignity Care. They asked us to run the services because they like the way we do things.
Croydon (London)
We started a supported living service in Croydon. We support 7 people who live in 3 different houses. They tell us how much support they need and what things they need support for. They now live more independently and have got lots of new skills. We want to make this service bigger in 2004/5.
Swansea (Wales)
We started a supported living service in Swansea. It was started because people wanted to live more independently. 6 people are supported by this service. They live in 3 different houses.
They are learning new skills. They now do lots of things for themselves such as shopping, cooking and cleaning. Some people now have their own pets.
Walsingham (Norfolk)
We took over this service in 2002. We worked very hard on plans for this service. The people we support will move into smaller houses by March 2005. We have a meeting every month about this so everyone has a say.
Workington (Cumbria)
We planned a new service in Workington with an organisation called Cumbria Care. Some people will move out of a large hostel into shared houses later in 2004. This new service will support them. The service will be paid for by the Independent Living Fund.
Vijaya making a pudding
Jocelyn making tea
About Chris
Chris lives in Cumbria. He moved from a shared house to his own bungalow in the last year. He now uses one of our supported living services.
Christopher says:
"I wanted my own house for quite a while. After months of getting ready, including interviewing for my own staff, I moved into my own bungalow.
My bungalow has 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and bathroom, with nice gardens. I now feel really independent. I help with housework and cooking.
Every day I do whatever I choose. I enjoy going shopping and having coffee when I am out. I still go to all my classes too. At night if I have nothing else on, I like to relax on the sofa and watch all the soaps on TV. I have also just got my own car.
I like showing friends round my house. I really enjoy living on my own."
Involving the people we support
Walsingham wants the people we support to take more control of their lives. You will see below how people we support get involved in our work and have a say about their lives.
We want the people we support to have a say about their lives. We support people to say what they want, what they like and what they don't like.
We also want to find ways to help our staff listen to people we support
We will provide all our information for people we support in easy words and pictures. This will make it easier to understand.
Speaking up for yourself
We want people to speak up for themselves so they can take control of their lives. Speaking up for yourself or having someone else speak up for you is called advocacy.
It is sometimes difficult for the people we support to speak up. We want to help them get better at saying what they want.
Congratulations to David and Alison from Swansea who got married in January 2004! David and Alison both get support from Walsingham. They told us they wanted to get married. We gave them support to do this.
Our Voice Project
Walsingham, Elizabeth FitzRoy Support and Freeways Trust were given money by the Big Lottery Fund to do the Our Voice Project. In the last year, the Our Voice Project helped the people we support get better at speaking up for themselves.
The Our Voice Project set up local groups so people can talk about things that are important to them.
The Our Voice Project also trained staff working with people who can't talk. The staff learnt how each person can show what they want to do.
We also do many other things so people can speak up for themselves.
Some people go to advocacy groups to learn about speaking up for themselves. Some people have an advocate who speaks up for them.
There are house meetings for the people we support. People say what they like and don't like about where they live.
We also have conferences for the people we support. People talk together about things that are important to them.
About Paul
Paul goes to an advocacy group. He says:
"My advocacy group is about supporting people who don't feel confident. The group listens to what I say and I get support from them with what I want to do. The group also helps us to listen to others. That helps us understand that we are not the only ones with problems.
We give each other advice from our own experiences and it is all kept confidential. This means whatever we say stays in the group.
We have met lots of times for group meetings and social occasions. I enjoy the advocacy group and look forward to each meeting."
Annual General Meeting
Walsingham has an Annual General Meeting every year. We tell people what happened at Walsingham in the last year. People tell us whether we do a good job and what would make our services better.
Our Annual General Meeting was in Swansea in July 2003. Lots of people we support and their families went to the meeting.
People we support asked lots of questions and told us what they want to happen next year. Here are some of the things they said and what we did to make things better:
- Some people we support wanted to have a barbecue at their house. After the meeting, we made sure they had barbecues when they wanted.
- Some people didn't want staff to smoke in their house. After the meeting, we made sure they wrote their own rules on smoking. These rules say who can and can't smoke in their house.
- Some people wanted to talk about more things at their house meetings. We have worked with our staff to make these meetings work better.
We are also starting groups where people can talk about things that are important to them. These groups will be run by West Cumbria People First, All Wales People First, POhWER in Hertfordshire and Advocacy Partners in London.
Our next Annual General Meeting will be on 6 October 2004 in Hertfordshire. Everyone is welcome!
About Steven
Steven gets support from Walsingham. He went to the Annual General Meeting. He says:
"We talked in a group with a lady called Marie. We talked about the things people want to happen in their services.
Michael wanted to do more gardening. Someone wanted a bus so they could go out more. Another person asked for more money for the staff and themselves.
One wanted to go to Barbados for a holiday. Alison wanted less paperwork for staff. I wanted to live in a smaller house and to do my own finances.
After talking about these important things, Mark Snell (Walsingham's Chief Executive) told us how Walsingham spends its money each year.
We saved the best for last and had a buffet followed by a disco. We all ate, drank and danced until almost midnight. The day was a great success."
Conference for the people we support
Walsingham held a conference for the people we support in the North of England. A conference is a big meeting where people can get together and talk about different things.
The conference was in Cumbria in March 2004. Lots of people came to the conference and had a good time. People told us what they thought about our work.
The people we support told us that they have a say in lots of important things. They have a say in what happens in their life, the support they get and the way Walsingham works. They still think Walsingham must do more to give them a say!
Some people told us that they did not what Walsingham was. We learnt a lot at the conference.
The Our Voice Project paid for the conference. An organisation called West Cumbria People First ran the conference.
We will have more conferences for the people we support. We are planning conferences in Hertfordshire, Wales and London for 2004 and an Our Voice Project conference in 2005.
About Linda
Linda gets support from Walsingham. She went to the conference. She says:
"Angie and I had to get up at 6 o'clock to be ready in time to travel to the conference. We had a good journey although it was very cold when we got there.
In the morning, we talked about things we like doing. We talked about jobs, pay and why we might need someone to speak up for us. Later we talked about Walsingham and what they can do for us. We also talked about starting a Walsingham advocacy group. We could share our problems at an advocacy group and find out how we can get support to do more things ourselves.
There was a disco and a buffet in the evening that everyone enjoyed. I was very tired afterwards and went to my room quite early. The hotel was very nice.
The next day, I stayed for the breakfast meeting. David from People First talked about all the things we said at the conference and about how to start the advocacy group."
Getting involved in our work
Walsingham wants the people we support to get involved in our work. This helps us to do a better job. People we support also have more control over their lives if they are involved in our work.
Choosing new staff
Lots of people we support helped choose new staff in 2003/4. This helps us get the right people to work for Walsingham.
In Swansea, some people we support helped to choose new staff. They met people who wanted to work for Walsingham at open days and in job interviews. They helped find out if the people would be good at supporting people with learning disabilities. They also had a say in who got a job.
One person we support said: "I like being involved. It is good fun working with the managers."
The new staff also met people we support to make sure they could work together.
About Chris
Chris lives in Hertfordshire. He gets support from Walsingham. He helps us choose new staff. He says:
"I and the people I live with have been involved in getting new staff. We enjoyed doing it. We made up some questions to help find the right person to support us.
I also liked listening to other questions being asked at the interview and how they were answered."
Training staff
Some of the people we support trained our staff in 2003/4. This helps our staff do a better job.
Jimmy gets support from Walsingham. He trains our staff.
He says staff should learn how hard it is to be in a wheelchair. He tells them what his life was like before he was supported by Walsingham. He also tells them what his life is like now.
Jimmy enjoys training staff. He says the best things about training staff are "making friends and having discussions. You also get paid". He also says "I feel good when people listen to my talks".
The staff tell us they are always interested in what Jimmy says. We hope Jimmy will train more staff.
Writing our newsletter
Some of the people we support help put together the Walsingham newsletter.
The newsletter is called Our News. It is produced 3 times a year. It is for people we support and their families and friends.
People we support go to meetings to say what they want in Our News. They use cards to make sure everyone understands what happens at the meeting. If a person doesn't understand something, they hold up a red card. If they want to ask a question, they hold up a green card.
About Paul
Paul helps put together Our News. He says:
"Every 4 months, a group of us from different Walsingham services get together. We first have a drink, some lunch and a chat together. We then sit down and talk about what we would like in the next Our News. It is good and sometimes funny. We have a nice time."
Our work with groups and projects
Walsingham is involved in lots of groups and projects to make things better for people with learning disabilities.
Kingsholm Group
Walsingham is in the Kingsholm Group. There are 5 other organisations in the Kingsholm Group. They are called Real Life Options, the Kingwood Trust, TACT, St Anne's Community Services and the Wilf Ward Family Trust. They all support people with learning disabilities.
The Kingsholm Group tries to find out what is important for the people we support. It also asks if each organisation does a good job and provides the right support.
In 2003/4, we all asked the people we support some questions. We asked them about the support they need to do the following things:
- making choices about what they do in their lives
- making things happen that they want to happen
- having good relationships with people who are important to them.
Each person told us about the support they need to do these things. In the future, we will keep talking to these people about the support they need. This will help make sure we do a good job.
Our first ideas about how to do some other things did not work very well. We are now working on some different ideas that we will try out in 2004. This work will be paid for by the Our Voice Project.
Gary working in the supermarket
Vernon likes going fishing
Feeling Valued - Giving Value Project
Walsingham started the Feeling Valued - Giving Value Project in November 2003. The Department of Trade and Industry are giving us £50,000 for this project.
This project helps us to listen to staff. We are asking staff what would help them make our services better and what would make their jobs better.
Our staff have told us about lots of things that are good at Walsingham. They have also told us about the things we should do better.
We have worked hard to find ways for staff to do an even better job. We plan to start changing the way staff work in October 2004.
ARC (Association for Real Change)
Walsingham is a member of ARC. ARC is for organisations that support people with learning disabilities.
ARC talks to the Government about learning disabilities. This helps the Government know what is important for people with learning disabilities and the organisations supporting them.
Topss (Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services)
Walsingham is in an organisation called Topss. Topss wants staff to get good training. Good training helps staff do a better job for the people we support.
Cathy watering the plants
Where do we get our money?
Walsingham is very careful how money is spent. But we still need lots of money every year to support people with learning disabilities.
In 2003/4, we were given £13,470,816 to support people with learning disabilities.
Where we got this money from:
Contracts - £13,153,473
This money came from local authorities to provide services for people with learning disabilities
Grants - £186,999
This money was given to us for the Our Voice Project and Feeling Valued - Giving Value Project
Fundraising - £46,317
This money was given by people to help us pay for projects for people with learning disabilities
Rent - £22,746
This money came from an organisation that uses our office
Interest - £61,281
This money was paid to us by the bank for keeping our money with them
Fundraising
We are very grateful to the people who gave us money to support our work. They gave us over £39,000 in donations and legacies.
We also had 2 golf days. The golf days raised over £6,000.
For the first time, we sold Christmas cards designed by people we support. The cards raised £1,100.
We can give you more information about helping us. Please telephone Hazel Shelley on 020 8343 5606 or look at our website.
The website is at
www.walsingham.com/fundraising
How do we spend our money?
In 2003/4, we spent £13,090,357 supporting 275 people with learning disabilities.
How we spent our money in 2003/4:
Staffing - £10,091,180
We spent this money on paying our staff
Training - £174,490
We spent this money on training our staff so they could do their jobs better
Transport - £196,974
We spent this money on transport for people we support
Food - £329,390
We spent this money on food and drink for people we support
Leisure - £372,729
We spent this money on holidays, outings and other activities for people we support
Houses - £1,000,980
We spent this money on houses for people we support. This paid for things like electricity and repairs
Fundraising - £5,958
We spent this money on our fundraising work. This work helps pay for our projects for people with learning disabilities
Management - £918,656
We spent this money on running Walsingham. This paid for things like our offices and insurance.
We have a report with more information about how we spent our money and where the money came from. The report is called Annual Accounts.
Please tell us if you want the Annual Accounts report. You can telephone 020 8343 5600 or email enquiries@walsingham.com. You can also write to Walsingham, Walsingham House, 1331-1337 High Road, Whetstone, London N20 9HR. You can also look at our Annual Accounts on our website www.walsingham.com.
Walsingham - Supporting People with Learning Disabilities
Registered Charity No: 294832. A Company Limited By Guarantee No: 2016251 (England)
Walsingham provides services in:
Patrons
- The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Archbishop of Canterbury
- His Eminence The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
- The Free Churches Moderator
- The Reverend Baroness Richardson of Calow, O.B.E.
Trustees
- Christiana Horrocks, O.B.E. - Chair
- James Hyland - Vice-Chair
- Rev. William Anderson
- Judith Gimson
- Shirley McCarthy
- Jane McCluskey
- David Peet
- Deven Pillay
- Frank Powell
- Eve Wilson, M.B.E.
Company Secretary
Anne Snell
Directors
- Mark Snell - Chief Executive
- Janice Campbell - Operations (until 9 March 2004)
- Paul Snell - Operations (from 17 March 2004) / Human Resoures (until 9 March 2004)
- Caroline Biddle - Human Resources (Acting) (from 17 March 2004)
- Harry Downie - Finance & Administration
- Sean Sinclair - Development
We would like to thank the Our Voice Project which gave us the money to pay for this Annual Review.
Walsingham, Elizabeth FitzRoy Support and Freeways Trust were given money by the Big Lottery Fund to do the Our Voice Project.
Most of the graphics in this Annual Review are from the CHANGE Picture Bank
Website: www.changepeople.co.uk Telephone: 0113 243 0202 Fax: 020 7639 4317
Permission has been obtained for all photographs used in this review.