Chair’s Report 2010 At our 2009 AGM we launched our “Year of Friendship” and this has been the theme of many of our activities during the year. Many of our projects have held coffee mornings to raise money for ECHO. This has led to some participants inviting their friends to their own coffee mornings.

All our activities have grown from strength to strength. There

has been continual development and learning along with an

emphasis on good health and fitness and working within the

community.

ECHO’s main funder is the Big Lottery Fund. Their money

supports a number of our staff. This funding will end in 2

years time and the trustees are already looking at how ECHO

will manage its business post-Lottery. The AGM in June will

provide an opportunity for all those involved in using or

supporting our services to have their say as to what this

uncertain future may hold.

We look forward to going into our third decade with

enthusiasm to make a real difference to the lives of disabled

people in Herefordshire. We

would not do this without the

support of our loyal volunteers,

who work with our staff in every

activity. Thank you to each and

every one of our volunteers for

their commitment and contribution.

Glenn Hutton

Rep Group Report We have had a busy year working hard for ECHO and speaking up for all ECHO participants. 2 of our members are trustees of ECHO and we support them to be good at their job. We send a report to every ECHO Board meeting. We also help to interview new staff. To make us better at our job, we have done lots of training this year. We did a 15 week course on meeting skills which will help us run our meetings better. We also did training with Herefordshire Council’s Equality and Diversity team. We learnt al lot about the importance of thinking about the words we use to describe people. We also watched a film called We Me which was about race discrimination in Herefordshire. We have talked a lot about hate crime and how people feel when they are treated badly because of their disability or their skin colour. There is a general election planned for 2010. We think it is very important that people with learning disabilities get a chance to vote. We have supported Mencap’s Every Vote Counts campaign. We wrote to all the local political parties asking them for easy read information. In September we held a street collection for ECHO. We raised £370. Thank you to everyone who put money in our tins.

Development Workers Report It is great being a Development Worker for ECHO because there is such a variety in the work that we do. Sometimes we are working with people on there own, other times supporting groups. We may be joint working with other organisations setting up new projects or meeting new participants and helping them decide what they would like to do. Or we may be organising exciting things like holidays and summer activities. In early March Maggie was fortunate to be part of group from Herefordshire to visit Amsterdam on a social enterprise fact finding project. We visited some exciting projects around Amsterdam that employ or support disabled people into work. We hope this will lead to creative joint working to develop social enterprise opportunities for disabled people in Herefordshire. We were lucky with the weather when Denise took a group to Pensarn Harbour outdoor centre in March. The more adventurous of the party tried out raft building, rock climbing and canoeing. The rest of us enjoyed a long walk over the hills to Harlech castle. We have had a lot of enquiries and new referrals this year. At the first visit we find out what people like to do and then, as well as telling them about ECHO, we may signpost them to other organisations. The new ECHO leaflets have been a great way of showing people what we do at ECHO.

Community and voluntary work

Many ECHO participants give their time as volunteers to help others in the community. As well as supporting our own activities, they can be found working in charity shops in Leominster and Tenbury Wells. And a small group volunteer to keep the garden at the Leominster Community Centre looking bright and cheerful.

Our Lifelinks groups continue their regular activities of shopping for older people, leaflet delivery and litter picking. When the weather is good they are also able to do car washing.

Hereford United’s ground is the place where our Litter Pickers work hard filling black dustbin bags after each home game. It is quite amazing the amount of litter that they collect each week.

News & Views has passed its 60th issue. They are going from strength to strength keeping everyone informed of what is happening in Herefordshire learning disability services.

Small Sparks is a great project for encouraging people to do something to benefit their local community. Richard helped to establish a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme on his street. It has helped him get to know all his neighbours and make new friends.

Our community garden at Vicarage Street is now established with fruit trees in blossom. We look forward to the plum, cherry and apricot trees producing healthy, tasty treats to refresh tired gardeners. The 16 raised beds from Widemarsh Workshop are ready to be

planted and sown. The project is a wonderful mix of neighbours and participants learning about each other as much as about gardening. Visitors are welcome to drop in to see and enjoy this peaceful and productive space. We have been working with the Age Concern Greenagers Scheme to support the development of the Vicarage Street Community Garden. Rural Crafts have also benefited from the scheme and have bought some new hand tools to replace well used and worn out old ones.

Learning New Skills Funding from Herefordshire Council and the Learning and Skills Council has given us the chance to try some new and different activities this year. On our 2 Weaving courses, participants have learnt about warp and weft, headles and raddles, shuttles and sheds. They have woven rugs, mats, bags and braid on a variety of looms. Many of the lovely things they have made are for sale and some of the weavers are hoping to set up in business with the possibility of earning some money from their craft.

“I've learnt a lot. We've been making things to sell in the shop. I have made two cushions with difficult patterns – it took me ages to get the patterns right.” Rosemary

Our Rep Group continue to work hard supporting the running of ECHO. This year they spent 10 weeks learning the skills involved in taking part in meetings. This work should help them in speaking up for our participants.

Kevin and Tim enjoyed a 10 week course learning how to use digital cameras and photography. Their abilities and confidence grew tremendously and we now have two experienced photographers whose work has been seen on the internet. At Lifelinks and Smart Art we have run 3 creative arts courses. The Friday Lifelinks group have been learning about screen printing. At Smart Art the group are working together to create a large patchwork wall hanging.

The ECHO Card & Crafts shop gives all the participants a chance to learn new skills. More and more of the products we sell have been made in the shop, and all to a very high standard. Working in the shop also teaches money skills and customer service, all very important parts of making the shop a success.

Leisure and Social Activities

Every Friday afternoon we have our drop in club in Leominster. There is always a group enjoying each others’ company, having a cup of tea or coffee and doing something together.

Discos continue to be a popular and, in support of the “Stay Up Late campaign”, these now run longer and later. Held at the Royal Oak in Leominster there is the opportunity to chat in the bar if you prefer not to dance or want to take a breather.

Stardreams have organised a variety of activities during the year including cinema visits, lots of music evenings, meals together, quizzes and the ever popular Karaoke evenings. Not forgetting our Autumn Ball at the Left Bank, a chance to dress up. And love continues to blossom for members of our dating agency.

Our 12 different summer activities were enjoyed by more than 55 people. We were especially lucky with the weather for the camping weekend. We had a gloriously sunny Saturday and enjoyed a lovely walk and picnic on Bircher Common. The evening of Annie's BBQ was also just perfect and the sun shone from a clear blue sky for our walk through Mortimer forest to Ludlow.

Arts Activities About Face Theatre Company had a busy year with workshops in Cardiff, Wolverhampton and Liverpool. They also performed at the NEC in Birmingham and at a Mencap conference on Hate Crime in Worcester. In July they took their skills with them to a week’s residency in Lancashire where they worked together with Beaumont College to create and then perform a show in five days with the theme of water. “I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it” Graham Our summer arts project Plastic Fantastic produced a unique walk through tent made from recycled plastic. Participants made up pictures from different sorts of plastic, and ironed the panels together. Each day two people had the task of stitching them all together on sewing machines. The tent was on display in the Courtyard during August and September.

What do you do with all those unwanted bits of lace, threads and buttons? Frock On will take it and put it to good use, repairing old clothes and making quilts and cushions.

Our regular arts workshops continue to be popular. Smart Art meets weekly at Pembridge Village Hall with a variety of art and craft activities including making Indian elephants, toys, candles, sweets and working with dough scarecrows. And once a month in Hereford, everyone enjoys our Art and Design workshops with GreenEyedMonster Co.

Tuesday mornings sees a flow of excited people to St Martin’s in Hereford where Yam Jams takes place. Lead by Lofty and Dave, Yam Jams is a music session as you have never seen before. The enthusiasm with which the music is made with everyone working together has to be heard to be believed.

Keeping Fit and Healthy Healthy Living is part of all our activities. We have a range of activities for keeping fit to suit everybody’s taste. Our ECHO Athletic Football Team

enjoy their weekly training sessions

and taking part in the five-a-side

tournaments. In Hereford, NJ’s Sports

is for young active people. They try

out lots of different sports each

week.

Good posture, breathing exercises and movement are all included in our weekly Yoga group, whilst a small group continue with the gentle Sherborne movement each month. Bank Holidays are the only stop to Badminton which is enjoyed by a group each Monday evening at the Leominster Leisure Centre. Whilst swimming and visits to the gym continue to be important forms of exercise for others.

The Walking group is led by 3 of our participants who are qualified Walking for Health leaders. Our monthly disco is another good way to keep fit for those not so keen on sport.

The gardeners amongst us get plenty of exercise at Rural Crafts and the chance to grow and eat healthy fresh veg. “It gets me out of the flat and to meet up with my friends, and I love the jobs as well, if it’s not back breaking”

Volunteering with ECHO Volunteers support 18 ECHO activities, help in the office and serve on our board of Trustees. 9 buddies also support our participants one-to-one at community activities. Many of our participants are also involved in volunteering both with ECHO and with other organisations. We are fortunate to have such a large group of volunteers, bringing so much time, skill and dedication to our activities and making such a difference to the lives of our participants in so many different ways. A Volunteer's View

I have been a volunteer with About Face for over 5 years and loved every minute.

I have been able to watch as each show gets better. I have seen the team grow and develop into an energetic group who obviously love what they do, and contribute hugely to the creating and performing of plays. I have become close friends with the actors who I love and admire. I have enjoyed being able to be more than just a volunteer and helping in any way I can whether it be as a driver, a leader of singing or even an assistant-director.

As I write this About Face is headlong into planning and rehearsing 'The Boy Who Unlocked Tomorrow', another magical puppet play that suits the skills of the group so well. It has all the ingredients of another wonderful performance. And, aren't I the lucky one; I get to be involved too !!!

Note: The luck goes both ways,. About Face is very lucky to have Mark. As with all our volunteers, they are an essential part of ECHO’s work, we could not work without them.

Our Fantastic Volunteer Team Thank you to:

Ros Allwright, Graham and Lynda Archer, Pat Austin, Elle, Lance and Paul Baines, Cath Baker, Eve Barratt, Doris Bennett, Peter Bladon, Ruth Brookes, Jerry Burslem, Tiz Chapman, James Constance, Janet Covey-Crump, Jan Cresswell, Richard Crook, Carol and David Cross, Una Crowe, Tom Davies, Sadie Debenham, M Derry, Keith Ellis, Marlene Evans, Allegra Fowler-Wright, Jackie Francis, David and Sonia George, Jamie Gill, Jenny J. Harrison, Jenny and Mark Harrison, Bella Hesbrook, David Holton, Lottie Hudson, Rose Hunt, Glenn and Rosalie Hutton, Ann Hyde, Jane and Neil James, Angela Jauncey, Jimmy Kerwood, Lyne Knight, Cate La Barre, Cindy Lancashire, Beth Layton, Donovan Lewis, Linda Lloyd, Pete MacKenzie, Astrid McBride, Samantha Martin, Dave and Martha Merrey, Neil Mitchell, Antonia Morgan, Trish Mustoe, Jenny Nicholass, Iris Pedersen, Lisa Pendlebury, Anne Penning, Jed Pickford, Bethany Porter, Edmund Proctor, Marc Reeves, Tracy Roberts, Sue Robbins, Tom Savagar, Beti Scott, Paul Scott, Rosemary Skuse, Anna Smith, Kathryn Smith, Martin Sockett, Emma Standing, Mary Stinton, Jane Stockton, Emily Stokes, John Stone, Jane Stott, Jason and Kevin Stuchbery, Sandi Tatum, Kristina Thimm, Kathy Townsend, Mel Townsend, Emma Tustin, Janet Von Anrep, Jane Walsh, Paul Warburton, Jeremy Weston, Debbie Westwood, Blaise White, Jeanette Williams, Maria Wilson, Vanessa Woodcock, Sarah Yapp.

Steph Baines Participant support worker

Kris Betterton Rural Carfts co-ordinator

Jodie Burke Stardreams co-ordinator

Jamie Griffiths News & Views Editor Wendy Holton Office Manager

Denise Kerwood Development Worker Jess MacKenzie About Face Threatre Co Artistic Director Karen Meiklejohn Lifelinks project worker

John Newman Lifelinks project worker Wednesday & Friday

Lisa Pendlebury Shop Manager (job share) Maggie Percy Development Worker Catherine Power Lifelinks project worker

Fiona Ritchie Chief Officer Hetty Scott Volunteer Co-ordinator

Richard Smtih Finance Officer Emma Standing Office Assistant Lucy Tisdale Project & Activities Worker Jan Trewin Shop Manager

ECHO Staff at March 2010

We also said sad “goodbyes” to Diana Arseneau, Eve Barrett, Doris Bennett, Annie Gamble, Lisa Morris, Jane Smith, and Kristina Thimm.

THE TRUSTEES

Glenn Hutton Cath Baker Blaise White Graham Archer Chair Vice Chair Treasurer

Tiz Chapman Rose Hunt Rosalie Hutton Cate La Barre

Donovan Lewis Sue Robbins Paul Scott Jason Stuchbery Advisor

Rep Group Pictures

THANK YOU! We are grateful to the following organisations for giving us money this year: The Arts Council of England The Big Lottery Fund The EF Bulmer Benevolent Fund The Elmley Foundation The Eveson Charitable Trust The Football Foundation Four Acre Trust Hereford City Council Herefordshire Council Herefordshire Learning Disability Development Fund Herefordshire Community Foundation Herefordshire Mencap The Learning and Skills Council The Terebinth Trust And thank you to the following organisations for all their sup-port: Cadbury’s staff at Marlbrook, The Cathedral School, Halo Lei-sure, Hampton Dene United Reformed Church Tupsley, Here-ford United Football Club, Herefordshire Mencap, Leominster Community Centre, Leominster Methodist Church, The Minster College, The Music Pool, Pembridge Parish Hall Committee, Richards Castle Village Hall, St. Martin’s Church Hunderton.