Annual Report 2023 to 2024 

Our Voice Our Choice (OVOC) is a self-advocacy group for adults with a Learning Disability, Autism and Neuro-divergence based in Ceredigion. OVOC is managed and is further developed by a small team of dedicated volunteers who themselves are Autistic or Neuro-divergent and they are the Trustees of the Charity. Ovoc employs no staff and works in partnership with All Wales People First (AWPF), Pembrokeshire People First (PPF), Carmarthenshire People First (CPF) and Mencap Ceredigion (MC). 

Through our engagement with our members at our informal social meetings and our shared lived experiences of services in Ceredigion, we can gather and evidence any concerns which affect members of Ceredigion’s Learning-Disabled community. 

Through our affiliation with All Wales People First we have members who participate in their National Council and Regional County meetings. We also have representation at the Ceredigion Disability forum and our representatives take concerns to the relevant meetings. We have attended a wealth of meetings in the past year, and the main areas of concern have been public transport and accessible formats. 

This year we have been hosting, advertising, and participating in the Hywel Dda University Health Board’s” 12 Month Health Challenge” in Ceredigion. This is a series of 12 workshops delivered by the Health Board’s Learning Disability Liaison nurses and has been co-designed with the regional Health Champions who themselves have Learning Disabilities. These workshops have been informative, interactive, and fun and it has been a privilege to work with the Health Board in delivering all the workshops. Some of the topics have been “Epilepsy”, “Annual Health Checks”, “Healthy Eating” and “Breast and Testicular Cancer”. 

We have attended a wealth of meetings with the “Dream Team” which also has representation from PPF and CPF. Through the Dream Team meetings, we engage with the Health Board, Ceredigion County Council, Pembrokeshire County Council and Carmarthenshire County Council on their combined provisions and proposals for 



people with a Learning Disability (Regional Independent Living Plan). This is a tricounty platform for public service providers to engage with representatives from the Learning Disability community. 

Through our involvement with the Dream Team, we were also provided with the opportunity to participate in the assessment and judging panel for the Welsh government’s Innovative Care Fund for the 3 counties. This panel consisted of members from CPF, PPF and OVOC and we jointly set the criteria and scoring matrix for the applications, assessed the applications, jointly agreed the funding awards, and reviewed progress of the successful projects. 

We attended the All Wales People First annual conference (Adfest) at which we participated in a wealth of workshops over the two-day event and had a stand to promote our Charity and the work we do. We also supported the Mencap Ceredigion exhibit marking 60 years of their activities in Ceredigion at the Ceredigion Museum. This exhibit ran for seven weeks and included a wealth of activities which we attended and supported. We are grateful to Mencap Ceredigion for its continued support and inclusion in their activities. 

Following engagement with our members the need for training on Healthy Friendships and Relationships was identified. Following a successful grant application, we delivered two of Four workshops in Aberystwyth with the assistance of Caerphilly People First. These workshops were well received and generated a lot of interest in other workshops. Later this year we will deliver a further two workshops in Cardigan which have already generated a great deal of interest. 

In the coming year we aim to continue the activities from this year, further increase our membership, and to increase our engagement events with our local community. We are a new Charity, and we are proud of our accomplishments to date, and we will endeavour to build on these as we move forward so we can ensure the voice of Ceredigion’s Learning Disability community is heard both locally and nationally. We also recognise the importance of working in partnership with other organisations representing the interests of people with a Learning Disability and we would like to extend our gratitude to Mencap Ceredigion, All Wales People First, Pembrokeshire People First and Carmarthenshire People First for the opportunities they have afforded us. We are also grateful to Ceredigion County Council for providing us with core funding which enables us to carry out our activities and meet our objectives. 




|Charity Name: Our Voice Our Choice|||
|---|---|---|
|Charity no: 1201554|||
|Report Title: Annual Accounts|||
|Accountng Period: 1stAugust  2023 – 31stJuly 2024.|||
|Startng Balance  09.08.2023|£9,217.87||
|Income|||
|Grants.|||
|20.11.2023 Cymdeithas Mudiada (Grant)||£3000|
|07.02.2024 Carmarthenshire People First (Grant)||£4500|
|15.04.2024 Carmarthenshire People First (Grant)||£1500|
|Misc.|||
|11.01.2024 Pembrokeshire People frst (Travel)||£40.00|
|30.04.2024 All Wales People First (Travel)||£114.60|
|Promotonal Material.|||
|22.05.2024 Promotonal||£35.00|
|31.05.2024 Promotonal||£35.00|
|11.06.2024 Promotonal||£220.00|
|Total Income||£9,444.60|
|Expenditure|||
|Cymdeithas Mudiada (Grant)||£1527.48|





|HDUHB Workshops|£1477.69|
|---|---|
|Ofce|£536.95|
|Promotonal  Material|£1638.33|
|Events|£630.00|
|Volunteer Costs|£1243.45|
|Travel|£1518.28|
|Misc|£6.99|
|Total Expenditure|£8579.17|
|Assets|£0.00|
|Liabilites|£0.00|