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 September 2001 Newsletter
Chairman's Notes:
Statistics
September turned out to be rather a disappointing month. A lot of people were still on holiday particularly one or two key tutors. However, we did carry out 74 tutorials and 9 assessments a total of 83 visits in all and we are still ahead of our target estimates.
Four students graduated during the month.
Main Events
Tuesday 4th September - We had an excellent meeting with Mike Webster and Lesley Muscat of Action for Blind People. This is a major London charity. It was established many years ago and has an income in excess of £15mil. They have been successful in obtaining substantial SRB funding for a London wide initiative training visually impaired people to improve their job opportunities. They have invited WAACIS to be a partner in the scheme and we are delighted to have the opportunity of working with such a first class organisation.
The exact details of the partnership need to be worked out but, in principle, Action for Blind People will be introducing students to WAACIS in conjunction with other partners across London and, of course, WAACIS will be delivering training.
Friday 7th September - David Hart organised a meeting with Don McBean who is who is a Director of the Central London Learning Skills Council. David has been brilliantly successful in persuading Lambeth Council to agree to a funding programme for 200 computers for disabled people in Lambeth. These installations will be offered in the first instance to people who have taken up the opportunity to become part of the Direct Payment Scheme. Lambeth will save substantially by communicating with members of the scheme through the internet. The Learning Skills Council have, in principle, agreed to fund the training of 10 students by WAACIS in the immediate future as soon as the computers are installed.
Saturday 8th September - Ability Net training session for new tutors. This was extremely successful session taken by Nuala Davis of Ability Net with whom we are working in Westminster on the South Paddington SRB Scheme. The meeting was attended by Letwin Adekoya, Sina Adekoya, Tracy Fawthrop, John Howlett, Gabriella Gatward, Mary Sullivan and Adefemi Adedapo. Basically it is extremely important for WAACIS tutors to have a grasp of the assistive software and hardware which can enable disabled people to enjoy computer access.
Wednesday 19th September - Second meeting of the WAACIS Volunteer Committee. This is very exciting initiative. David Hart will take the Chair of the Committee. The Minutes of the meeting are set out below. The idea is that former WAACIS graduates will become WAACIS Volunteer Representatives (WVR) and will help to promote and publicise WAACIS and also encourage current WAACIS students. Our first aim will be to establish a WVR in every London Borough. This is a real opportunity for WAACIS Graduates to gain active work experience on a voluntary basis.
Friday 21st September - A Seminar by the Westminster Health Authority at the authority offices organised by Paul Crooks to give various people involved in SRB activities a chance to meet each other and discuss how the various projects were to be evaluated.
Development Officer activity during September:
Receiving visitors to the WAACIS office featured heavily at the start of September, while by the end trips out were dominant.
On 4th September Mike Webster and Lesley Muscat, of Action for Blind People, came to the WAACIS office and discussed how we could get involved in their pan London scheme providing computer training to blind and visually impaired people. Mr Webster is very keen for WAACIS to become an official partner and he is to get back to us with proposals on how we can work together. Another visitor to the office was Don McBean, of the Central London Learning and Skills Council, who was confident that he could provide funding for ten people in the borough of Lambeth to undertake our training this year and possibly twenty next.
Distribution of the Annual Report has resulted in plenty of requests for more leaflets and offers of publicity. Peter Bayman, of Enfield Age Concern, kindly distributed our information leaflets at an open day of local disability groups. Barking and Dagenham Carers are to include information about our service in their December newsletter, while Camden will mention our tuition service in their next communication to members. Merton Library service has agreed to distribute information about the WAACIS service and display posters in all of its outlets.
Picture below: Doreen Nicholas at The Independent Living exhibition at Wembley Conference Centre.
 Along with David Hart and Doreen Nicholas I attended an Independent Living exhibition at Wembley Conference Centre. There we raised the profile of WAACIS both with organisations in the charity sector and individual members of the public.
Picture below: Martin Ball of WAACIS and Sylvia Robinson of The Disability Resource Centre in Ealing.
 Following an invitation from Sylvia Robinson I gave a presentation about our tuition service to users of the Disability Resource Centre in Ealing. A number of those present already have computers and can proceed to training. However, others were interested but didn't have any equipment. It was decided that they would contact local organisations and companies about the providing free computers and then get back to WAACIS about training.
Picture below: Martin Ball of WAACIS and Emma Garner, the Co-ordinator for the Hounslow Borough Association of Disabled People.
 Following an invite from Hounslow Council's Sensory Team I visited their Community Day 'Insight to Visual Impairment'. This provided an excellent opportunity to meet with many people involved in disability groups in the borough of Hounslow, including the co-ordinator for the borough's disabled association Emma Garner. Contact was made with Dawn Cowley, of the Independent Activities project, who invited WAACIS to give a presentation at their AGM and is applying to become a student.
I attended and spoke at the WAACIS AGM, which took place on Thursday 20th at the Anthenaeum Club on Pall Mall.
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