Registered Charity Number 1192414
Ripon Disability Forum
Annual Report 2022-2023
Ripon Disability Forum is a Registered Charity with a Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO.)
The Objectves of the Organisatons are: -
The Objectives of the CIO are for the public benefit to relieve the needs of people with a physical, sensory and /or cognitive disability, and their carers who are affected by their disability within Ripon and the surrounding areas, in particular but not exclusively by: -
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The provision of a forum to discuss, respond to and raise issues of interest and concern to the disabled community.
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Working with individuals, local organisations and charities, to provide advice and support.
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Promoting greater awareness of disability in North Yorkshire.
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To work with Local Authorities, Health, and Voluntary Organisations and Community Groups to improve the lives of people who have a disability, their careers and family.
The Trustees for 2022-2023: -
Chair Maggie Donnelly Treasurer Jeremy Dunford Margaret Crosfield David Suddards Lindy Webb.
Co-ordinator
Lynette Barnes
Venue: -
Meetings are held are in Ripon Community House, Sharow View, Allhallowgate, Ripon HG4 1LE.
Membership: -
We have been pleased to welcome 6 new members during the year and we currently have 18 members, not all are able to attend meetings in person, but we keep in touch virtually or by phone.
Contact Details Telephone Email Facebook
Our face book page has 499 followers.
Ripon Disability Forum Governance and Meetngs
Trustees meetings have been held 5 times during the year, to deal with the governance of the charity, along with a number of planning and working group meetings.
There have been 11 Forum Meetings, where there has been discussion on current topics, issues, consultations and projects.
Forum meetings are attended by Officers from North Yorkshire Council Adult Services, Public Health, North Yorkshire Highways and Harrogate Borough Council and their attendance, assistance and input has been very much appreciated and has resulted in many good outcomes. We appreciate the help of Helen Williams who is our main point of contact with the Council.
Ripon City Council provided a grant to cover the purchase of equipment which enabled the meetings to be seen virtually by those members who are unable to leave home or live where transport is difficult. For the same reason this equipment can be used by other organisation for other public meetings.
Talks have included: Harrogate Parkinsons NRS Wheelchair Service
The National Trust (Fountains Abbey) & The Skell Valley Project
Involvement and Actvity
North Yorkshire Disability Forum
Ripon Disability Forum has been an active participant since it was formed, and our Chair attends all the meetings with other members attending from time to time. These meetings provide all the Disability Forums, direct access to the County Council, and other Partners, and Statutory Authorities. We greatly value the input into our meetings of Helen Williams, Helen Robinson, and members of North Yorkshire Highways.
Richard Webb Director of Adult Social Care has set up a regular Question and Answer Session which our Chair also attends, and these are extremely useful as it enables our Forum to raise issues of local concern.
Also attended and linked to the County Forum is the Wheelchair Forum.
North Yorkshire Highways
For many years we have worked with the Highways Department, with members and the public drawing attention to access issues. We maintain a referral register to monitor the progress of each concern. We were very pleased when the major work at Quarry Moor was completed (work that was proposed by RDF in 2018),along with other work at Sharow Lane end and a number of other places. Unfortunately, the attendance for our meetings by an officer has not been as regular as in the past but we are working with the Department to maintain contact in between the meetings they can attend.
Harrogate NHS Foundat i on Trust
Through the assistance of one of our members who is a Foundation Governor we have been able to raise the access issue of the footpath leaving Harrogate Hospital which had been identified by more than one person and we are informed that the difficulty is being addressed.
Ripon Disability Forum Pilot Mapping Project
Work has started on a pilot to map routes around the City with the intention of applying for funding for a project to map the whole City.
The Nat i onal Trust: -
We have worked throughout the year with the National Trust at Fountains Abbey, assisting with their Disability Audit. We have reviewed the accessibility of the grounds, the proposed new literature and the website.
Take a Seat
We established a Take a Seat scheme in the City and number of years ago which was endorsed by our partners, Ripon City Council, Ripon Together, Ripon Cathedral, HADCA and , Rowel Rotary it is now due for a new promotion in the coming year. We were please to meet and discuss the scheme with Helen Robinson from Public Health who is developing a similar county wide Age Friendly Scheme
Changing Places
Having campaigned for many years for a central changing place in the City, we were pleased that our joint working with Harrogate Borough Council, had enabled them to secure a Government Grant, and a site at the bus station has been chosen and it will hopefully be opening in late autumn.
The Leisure and Swimming Pool
Ripon Disability Forum were consulted from the outset on the design and accessibility of the Swimming Pool and we were pleased to see when it opened in 2021 that our suggestions had been incorporated. Following the completion and opening, work has now moved on to the rest of the Leisure Centre and we have been able to keep people informed of progress and the temporary parking arrangement through our face book page.
Consultatons and Surveys
During the year we have been involved with a number of consultations which we either forward to members for their individual response, others have been discussed and a group response has been conveyed directly or taken to meetings.
North Yorkshire Council
With the move to the creation of a unitary authority in April 2023 we have taken part in a number of the “Let’s Talk Consultations”, with Liz Meade and other officers also attending a meeting to cover the Let’s Talk Consultations on “Local aims”, “Devolution,” “Money”, and “Transport”.
Ripon Disability Forum Survey
We conducted our own survey on transport using our Monkey Survey subscription by reaching out to the wider public through the Disability Forum Face book.
Housing Policy
Having taken part in the Government Consultation on Housing Policy in the previous year, Jeremy, one of our Trustees précised the resulting Government Report for members.
Events
Once again, we took part in the “Ripon Sights and Sounds”.
The Coming Year
In addition to our regular meetings and pattern of work we will continue to work in partnership with Ripon Together, and other Voluntary Organisations.
The Disability Awareness Project
We are in discussion with the nationally known Nimbus Disability and are arranging some disability awareness training for business’ s, retailers and voluntary organisations in the City, we are seeking funding for this and will be working closely with Ripon Bid and Ripon Together to deliver this exciting project.
There are other plans under consideraton, and we look forward to increasing our membership and the support we ofer in the coming year.
Ripon Disability Forum
Registered Charity Number 1192414
Balance Sheet
| Funds Brought forward 1 April 2022 | Funds Brought forward 1 April 2022 | Income 2022/23 | Total |
Expenditure | uncleared | Funds to carry forward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYCC contract | £1047.14 | £3810.00 | £4857.14 | £2695.31 | £360.20 | £2161.83 |
| Disability Awareness Fund £ 856.57 | Nil |
£ 856.57 | Nil | £ 856.57 | ||
| RDF Project |
£1543.28 | Nil | £1543.28 | Nil | £1543.28 | |
| Ripon City Council | £ 789.00 | £ 789.00 | £ 789.90 | Closed | ||
| Bank interest | £ 5.85 | £ 5.85 | £ 3.50 | |||
| £ 3446.99 |
£ 4604.85 |
£8051.84 | £3485.21 | £4566.53 | ||
| CAF Bank Current Account £ 936.00 | £4559.85 | |||||
| CAF Gold Account | £ 550.03 | £ 550.80 | ||||
| Funds held by HADCA | £ 2504.21 |
----------- | ||||
| £ 3990.24 |
£5111.65 |
Bank Funds at the end of year £5111.65 Minus uncleared £ 360.20Funds to C/FW £ 4753.45 Notes 1. Funds held by HADCA were transferred to our bank account during 2022 Note 2. Overspend of -90p of RCC Grant was deducted from NYCC to close fund Note 3 NYCC Contract accrual from 21/22 £544.50
Note 4 NYCC Contract accrual for 22/23 £360.20 £4566.63 - £360.00 + £544.20 = £5751.63
Signed on behalf of the Trustees