Darlington Association on Disability

Darlington Association on Disability is an organisation led by disabled people, which exists to promote independence and choice. DAD supports disabled people and carers through the provision of services, support and information and by tackling issues affecting disabled people both locally and nationally.

Chairman's Report

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of ignorance among decision makers, employers and service providers regarding their duties under the Equality Act, towards disabled people. Where disability access improvements occur, that are most beneficial, they are usually in areas where decision makers have finally understood disabled people’s needs, not when legislation or regulations have required them to do something. Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) continues to educate as well as challenge negative attitudes that prevent disabled people living as true equals in society.

DAD also supports many disabled people, regardless of age, through our many services. Providing those services is often a challenge both financially and operationally. I am extremely proud of all DAD’s staff and volunteers who continued to deliver these services to a high standard and within the ethos of our organisation. I thank them all for their hard work and commitment to DAD.

Securing core funding is an ever‑present struggle and I cannot overstate how appreciative I am to all our financial supporters, especially in these times of uncertainty and I offer them my sincere thanks.

I am indebted to Chief Executive, Lauren Robinson; Deputy Chief Executive, Tracy Roberts; and Senior Managers, Stacey Allan and David Thomas, who have all done an outstanding job by continuing to make DAD an organisation that is envied by other towns and I thank them for their loyalty and dedication.

I acknowledge the roles played by my fellow trustees and thank them for their support and their continued hard work and commitment to DAD.  I also thank them for their many hours of hands‑on work within the organisation that often goes unseen by others. 

Gordon Pybus

Chairperson

 

TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The Trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their annual report together with the audited financial statements of the Charity for the 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The Annual Report serves the purposes of both a Trustees' report and a directors' report under company law. The Trustees confirm that the Annual Report and financial statements of the charitable company comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charitable company's governing document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

1. to relieve the needs of disabled people and carers, for the public benefit, resident but not limited to, Darlington and the surrounding areas. In particular, but not exclusively by the promotion of equality, diversity and independence through the provision of services, support, information and training; and
2. to direct, promote and support the efficient working of charitable organisations, voluntary bodies, and statutory bodies in their work to relieve disability ("the Objects").

 Significant activities

Darlington Association on Disability (DAD) was established in 1986 as a voluntary and charitable organisation led by disabled people. It exists to promote independence and choice of disabled people and supports disabled people and carers through the provision of services, support and information and by tackling issues affecting disabled people locally and nationally. DAD promotes the Social Model of Disability and as part of that ethos is actively involved in promoting disability equality and awareness raising. As an organisation, DAD endeavours to ensure that its services are responsive and not prescriptive.

DAD has five strategic aims that it works to achieve;

• Promote the Social Model of Disability.
• Ensure disabled people and carers are involved in all its work.
• Provide high quality services to promote independence and choice.
• Improve access to services, consultation and involvement for sensory impaired people, younger people and people from minority ethnic group.
• Ensure that DAD has a secure, sustainable and independent future.

These aims are met in two ways:

Firstly, DAD acts with disability groups, individual disabled people and carers to jointly tackle issues affecting them in Darlington and the surrounding area and to enable involvement and consultation with service providers, voluntary, public and private sector.  Secondly, DAD develops and delivers services with direct involvement of disabled people and carers.

All of the organisation's work relies on volunteers who receive ongoing support. Many disabled people act as role models and mentors for other disabled people to volunteer. Many young people volunteer to support the children and young people's service enabling them to demonstrate skills and experience to future employers.  Members play a vital role in the organisation ensuring that DAD remains user led and anyone who is new to the organisation is encouraged to become a member in order to be able to influence the organisation, 178 people are registered and 62% are disabled people.

 Public benefit

The Charity's aims and achievements are set out within this report.  The activities set out in this report have been undertaken to further the Charity's charitable purposes for the public benefit.  The Trustees have complied with the duty under Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission and the Trustees have paid due regard to this guidance in deciding what activities the Charity should undertake.

DAD continued to monitor, evaluate and develop all of DAD's projects to ensure that each is providing the best possible service and is supporting disabled people and carers to increase opportunities, choice and control.  

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Key Achievements 2023‑2024

Most significantly, demand for our services, in line with the picture across the voluntary and community sector, has continued to increase. This is all made possible by an excellent team of staff and volunteers who are committed to supporting people to have independence, choice and control and are committed to supporting the organisation to achieve its aims.

Existing DAD services responded in a range of ways;

Access Interest Group:  Continued to work with the Local Authority and businesses across Darlington and extended its work across Tees Valley as part of the development of infrastructure for electric vehicle charging points, advising Local Authorities and suppliers on accessibility requirements for disabled people.  Work continued with Darlington Council, working on the Towns Fund Project developments, reviewing all planning applications in relation to disability access and the Equality Act, reviewing applications for licenses for scaffolding and pavement cafes and monitoring compliance. Involvement with Durham & Darlington Police has led to the re‑establishment of the Independent Advisory Group, now Chaired by DAD, to review Police support for disabled people and others from minority groups. Investment in the provision of a Hate Crime Advocacy Service by the Police, Crime & Victims’ Commissioner to support people, across all the equality strands, facing Hate Crime has also continued.  Regular meetings have been held with the local Member of Parliament to update them on disability issues leading to DAD being mentioned in House of Commons debates on several occasions to influence national issues.  Access Audits and advice for local groups and businesses are also ongoing.

Advocacy:  Demand for all areas of Advocacy has increased significantly and has been a major growth area for the organisation. The service dealt with 2,305 new referrals and supported 2,875 people overall.  Delivering advocacy support is a key pillar of our work as a Centre for Independent Living. In June we were delighted to be successful as a sub‑contractor for People First to deliver a long term contract for Advocacy in Tees Valley including: general statutory Advocacy, Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA), Relevant Persons Representatives (RPR) and Care Act advocacy alongside contracts for Darlington Council and other agencies. All advocates hold, or are working towards, the National Advocacy Qualification to ensure that the team has the up‑to‑date knowledge and skills necessary to support people to access the services they need and to ensure that their rights are upheld. A trainee Advocate role has also been introduced to ensure a high quality team is developed based on the Social Model of Disability. This has been supported by developments in training, systems and structures to maintain a high quality service.  Funding has continued from The Henry Smith Trust Fund as part of a national pilot to demonstrate the value of general, non‑statutory advocacy for people with a learning impairment. The groups to develop self advocacy skills have had regular attendances totalling 456 over the year and 121 people have received one to one support.  People have been supported with a range of issues including housing, health and employment.

Carers Support:  Support for carers is delivered across the organisation through Information and Advice, Direct Payment Support and Advocacy. Carers breaks have continued to be available at both The Hub and DASH thanks to Better Care funding. Carers and parent carers have been a focus for the support we have provided for Cost of Living.

Children and Young Peoples Service (ChYPS):  Over 135 children and young people were registered to attend activities during holidays and after school. DAD caters for four different age groups between 3 and 25 years of age. A group of trained and qualified staff, alongside volunteers, delivered a wide range of accessible activities and outings including going to the beach, farm and local parks to enjoy the same opportunities that are open to other children through the holidays.  Alongside Youth Group and Young Leaders, the Mentoring for Independence scheme was re‑established this year supporting young disabled people with money management, cooking, travel and a range of other activities focused on developing independence.

The Independent Living Hub:  A review of the service, including a Disability Equality Impact Assessment involving all who attend, was undertaken to ensure the sustainability of the service. The Hub was able to continue to support 42 disabled people to develop new skills, have access to education, leisure and social activities through reorganising staffing and reducing costs. Health and wellbeing has been a focus of individual plans with people taking up swimming, participating in a diabetes awareness course and learning about healthy cooking.  The DAD accessible vehicle continued to provide essential transport to enable people to access the service. Support from Awards for All enabled people to access activities and outings.

Young people’s services were relocated to the Hub as part of the reorganisation, along with support for Cost of Living projects.

Direct Payments Support Service:  Supported over 300 people to use a Direct Payment or a Personal Health Budget to manage their own social and health care support. This is mainly supporting people to employ their own staff to meet their needs through the provision of Recruitment and HR support, payroll support, accounts to manage the funding and ongoing information and advice. Additional funding from Skills for Care, for User Led organisations, also enabled accessible training to be delivered to Employers and Personal Assistants.

Information Provision:  Support for the Cost of Living crisis has been the key focus to support people to access information, CAB appointments at The Hub and food and fuel vouchers via The Household Support Fund.  DAD has continued to be a key partner in Darlington Connect, a partnership of voluntary sector organisations working to support health and wellbeing from a shop front in the town. DAD’s role is to support people who experience barriers accessing the Town Centre.  Funding from The Energy Saving Trust, to support disabled people and carers with energy saving measures and accessible information, is a very welcome addition to the support we can offer over the next two years. Over 400 people have received support for Cost of Living and a further 124 enquiries were received across all areas including housing, benefits, transport, education and equipment.

Self Advocacy:  People’s Parliament, as the voice of people with a learning impairment in Darlington, receives support from DAD with the facilitation of the meetings. The meeting’s goals are to work together to try to influence positive change for people with a learning impairment and autistic people and to try to make people’s lives better.  The group have worked on several issues including raising awareness of the Accessible Information Standard for health and social care, reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act and access to housing.

 Quality

Across the work of the organisation, 75% of people supported report that they receive a positive outcome and 100% of people who respond to evaluations rate our support as good or excellent.

High standards of governance are maintained and improved which is demonstrated through CHAS, an accreditation and safety scheme, and the maintenance of the Investors in People award. The Advocacy Service is working towards the national quality scheme accreditation. 

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Review of financial activities and affairs

The financial affairs of the Association were managed by a Trustee sub‑committee which met throughout the year and reported to the Trustees.

The last financial year continued to see a significant rise in demand, Trustees agreed to allocate reserves to be able to respond effectively to the Cost of Living crisis. Additional support was secured from funders who rose to the challenge of supporting the sector with the speed that was needed.

We are immensely thankful to all our funders including; County Durham Community Foundation, Children in Need, Community Transport Association, VONNE, The 700 Club, The Energy Saving Trust, The Integrated Care Board, Healthwatch, Social Enterprise Support Fund, Skills for Care, Police Crime and Victims Commissioner and Awards for All.

Contracts were in place with Councils across Tees Valley including Darlington, Stockton and Redcar & Cleveland. In June, DAD was successfully selected as a subcontractor for People First to deliver Advocacy across Tees Valley. This provides the security of a contract, potentially for eight years, and has created an initial surplus due to  proactively tackling a waiting list to ensure that people who need Advocacy are supported in a timely way.

The review and restructure of The Independent Living Hub, bringing children’s and adults services together, has also resulted in an initial surplus and secured the short term future of those services.

The incoming resources for the 12 month period amounted to £1,514,730 of which £228,050 was for restricted projects and £1,286,680 was attributable to general funds before expenditure.

Reserves policy:  The Trustees established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets ('the free reserves') held by the charity should be between 3 and 6 months of the resources expended in general funds. This is the level assessed by Trustees that would enable the organisation to manage risks associated with a sudden loss of funding. Trustees agreed that a Designated Fund be established to support unmet need and essential development, and this stood at £91,974 at the year end. The level of free reserves at the year end is £471,847 which falls within the target set.

Future Plans:  Our strategy of operating as a Centre for Independent Living across Tees Valley is a key focus of our Business Plan to support disabled people across the area. The Energy Saving Trust is funding work across Tees Valley to provide Cost of Living Support, along with funding in the new financial year, to promote accessible information for Smart Meter usage.

The provision of Advocacy across Tees Valley has undergone major changes as the sub‑contracting model is embedded. The staff team is being developed and continues to grow to meet demand.

Self advocates are preparing to deliver the national roll out of Oliver McGowan mandatory training to NHS and social care staff.  The training aims to provide the workforce with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning impairment. The training was named after Oliver McGowan, whose death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training. This will be a main area for development over the coming year as we recruit and train new staff as co trainers, who have lived experience, deliver the training to meet demand. The impact of DAD is already being demonstrated as new staff include some of our previous Young Leaders.

Our Direct Payments Support is well established, and we will continue to support people across Darlington and Redcar & Cleveland with a wide range of support including supporting employers with recruitment, payroll and Managed Accounts. Work to support people with Personal Health Budgets who wish to be employers is also continuing.

The Access Interest Group has been advising on the major capital improvements to Darlington Railway Station which will be ongoing in 2024. As Darlington is amongst those towns identified by Government to benefit from Long Term Plan for Towns investment, with key criteria to consult with disabled people, the group anticipates a key focus of its work will be involved in these developments.  

DAD continues to play an active role in the Voluntary and Community Sector Strategy Group in Darlington and has been actively involved in a partnership bid, led by CAB, to the Volunteering for Health Fund. The bid is to redevelop volunteering infrastructure in the town.

Following a review of premises requirements, Trustees have agreed to relocate the main office. Negotiations to secure the lease are ongoing. A review and restructure of direct services is nearing completion which will co‑locate children and adult’s services, based at West Lodge in Darlington. A focus on support for young disabled people, and particularly the development of Young Leaders as the future of the organisation, is a key focus of the review.

DAD wish to thank all funders and supporters of the organisation.  In particular we thank our amazing staff team and the many people who give hours of their time, expertise, skills and knowledge to ensure that DAD continues to be a successful organisation. Volunteers work at all levels of the organisation. As a User Led Organisation, disabled people and carers volunteer as Trustees and others work across the projects which DAD operates. Volunteers are the backbone of the organisation and our thanks and appreciation go to all of them.

DAD will continue to ensure that the organisation has a strong presence going forward, promoting the organisation as a Centre for Independent Living available to support all disabled people and carers.

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