Wirral Donate/News March 09

Wirral Talking Newspaper

Wirral Talking Newspaper continues to serve the visually impaired on the Wirral. This is a totally free service and run by a large team of committed and enthusiastic volunteers. Earlier this year we took the plunge and started the change-over to digital recording. At the present time our analogue and digital systems are running side by side. Recordings are made in both formats which calls for some nifty technological work by the recording technicians.
All new listeners are introduced to the digital format and issued with speakers. At the same time as introducing the system to new listeners we have a team of volunteers visiting all existing users of the service to demonstrate the new technology. After six months we have 120 listeners on the new system. With approximately 500 listeners it will be some time before we are able to operate in a single format. Please remember if you know anyone who might be interested in our service give them our number – 0151 653 4787 – and we will do the rest when they call. All this is only possible because we have you good friends out there in the community; thank you so much for continuing to support us.

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Age Concern Wirral

Age Concern Wirral continues to meet the needs of older people over the age of 50 throughout the Borough. The provision of care and services is carried out in venues right across Wirral with ever increasing demands. We have now launched our Wirral's Bereavement Support Service. This holistic approach to support of people who have been bereaved continues to flourish as we provide very practical support, in terms of administration, welfare benefits, involvement in services and activities and the provision of counselling. We have received positive comments from people as to the need for this resource and now GP's, Funeral Directors and many others, as well as family members, are referring people who are in need of support. If you want to know more about this service, please speak to Gary Davies on 0151 666 2220.
We have also launched 'Friendship Matters', a befriending scheme which enables people who are isolated or restricted in getting out to activities to meet up with someone who can support them. Our Befrienders are trained volunteers, who have all been CRB checked, and offer individually tailored support for the clients need. For more information on this service please speak to Jenny Boden on 0151 650 6890. These new initiatives are helping us reach out to the communities of Wirral and, with your support, they can flourish because Age Concern Wirral is all about 'adding years to life' and 'life to years'.

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Wirral Donate
NEWS

Wirral Donate NEWS is a newsletter that is produced every six months and will keep you up-to-date on the goings-on of our six charities. Wirral Donate NEWS is also available in pamphlet form. Please contact us for more information. We have an archive of Newsletters and the links for each of these are listed below.

Sept 2009 March 2009 Sept 2008 Sept 2007 Feb 2007

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September 2009 Newsletter

Your generous donations are helping to fund this work.

Can you persuade a colleague or friend to become a donor? For further details on how to donate, or to download a donation form, please visit our website: www.wirraldonate.co.uk

All funds raised by Wirral Donate are distributed equally among the member charities.

“Our thanks to all donors for their
continuing support.”

Wirral Donate is run entirely by volunteers

Chairman's Report

We at Wirral Donate are grateful to our loyal donors, who have continued to give generously through the difficult economic times of this recession. Indeed, I am pleased to be able to report that the number of donors helping us is higher than ever - up by more than 20% on the number a year ago. Unfortunately, the demand on the services of our member charities is also higher, so we are never able to do all that we would like to do but your contributions do make a difference.

For any employers who may be reading this Newsletter, doyou know that you can get a quality mark award from the Institute of Fundraising if more than 1% of your employees make charitable donations through the payroll?

1% you will receive a bronze award
5% you will receive a silver award
10% you will receive a gold award

This award can be displayed as a certificate on your office wall and as a logo on your letterhead.

If you currently receive this Newsletter through the post but would like, instead, to get it electronically (saving us printing and postage costs), please send your email address to our Donor Co-ordinators at wdmailinglist@tiscali.co.uk

In the following paragraphs, each of our member charities gives a brief up-date on their current activities, describing some of the good work that they are able to do with your help. This newsletter can also be viewed on our web site at www.wirraldonate.co.uk. Thank you for your continuing support.

George Eakin, Chairman

Crosroads in Wirral: Caring for Carers

Change is in the air at Crossroads Care

In August, we were re-branded as Crossroads Care Cheshire West & Wirral. This has come at a very good time as, following our mergers, we can now build up our team with a new logo and new strap lines, such as “Crossroads Care are the people that carers turn to” and “Crossroads Care for people not profit”.
Despite all the changes [as well as a flood in our office in August!], our work continues to expand and we will be developing even more services for children with disabilities over the next year, alongside our other specialist services in palliative care and for people with dementia. For this group, we are starting two further CAMEO Clubs for people in the early stages of memory loss in October. Certainly the summer school holidays saw an expansion in clubs for children with special needs across the area. At the moment, we are supporting over 600 families caring for someone with care needs and there are plenty more who need our support. Your continued assistance is vital for the future of so many local carers. www.crossroadscaring.com


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Wirral Autistic Society

It has been a very busy time as the Home from Home Appeal to build a state-of-the-art respite centre has gathered pace. The respite centre will be the only one of its kind in the North of England and will provide many families with the opportunity to take a short break from the pressure of having someone in the family with autism.

Since our launch in February 2008, we have been busy with all aspects of fundraising and I can happily report that we have started the work and will have the centre completed by May next year. The centre, once complete, will have specific design features all aimed at reducing the impact of autism on the individual, including a sensory room to help alleviate stress, activity rooms, to enable one-to-one personal development, training kitchens, wide corridors and easy access to the outside garden.

We know how much this centre will mean to so many families across the North West and we look forward to the day when we welcome the first person with autism to take advantage of this desperately needed resource.


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Wirral Resource Centre and Toy Library

The Wirral Resource Centre For Special Needs Children is a Specialised Centre offering OFSTED regulated play therapy sessions to babies and pre-school children with special needs. The Age range we cover is 0-5 years old. We have our own qualified team of staff and numerous volunteers at the Centre. Additionally we have a full range of professionals who visit and apply therapy on site as appropriate. These include Physiotherapists, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Neo-Natal Nurses. Each play session is designed to enrich and develop each child's own individual need. We apply specialist techniques, mainly through play activities, both indoors in the Nursery and Light Sensory Room, and outdoors in the adventure playground and Sensory Garden.

	We have a coffee lounge and quiet library, which in turn offer an opportunity to catch up over refreshments or quiet time for parents and carer's, whichever the preference. This Year 2009, we held a Summer Fete at the beginning of August to help raise awareness of the Centre in the local community and boost funds that we are desperately in need of. The day was extremely successful and enjoyed by everyone. We are looking forward now to our Christmas Fair on December 16th, any gifts and donations will be most gratefully received.

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Multiple Sclerosis Society: Wirral Branch

	The Wirral Branch of the MS Society continues to provide wide-ranging support for the people of Wirral affected by multiple sclerosis. We are especially pleased with the high proportion of the membership which is now actively involved in the running and funding of the branch (about 25% of over 260 people). The involvement of younger people is particularly welcome, with newcomers now holding three important committee posts. newcomers now holding three important committee posts.
Our Support Team is especially active with its own new “drop-in” clinic in addition to supporting the MS Specialist Nurse Clinic, home visits, hospital visits and the telephone helpline. Our “self-help” activities continue to be much appreciated and well attended including: aqua therapy, MS support centre activities (neuro-physiotherapy etc), yoga and home physiotherapy for those unable to attend the centre. The new monthly lunch initiative is also much appreciated by many of the membership who enjoy a social gathering with friends. Our thanks to all Wirral Donate donors for their continued support.

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