January Newsletter
Cliff Docherty"s Report:Vital Statistics for January
We were delighted to see 2002 starting on a very good note. A total of 119 tutorials took place, and a further 13 initial assessments were completed, which almost matches last month"s excellent figures.
Seven students graduated in January, and congratulations are in order for:
Peter M, Sydney C, Wendy S, Muriel W, Eleni D, Hazel S
Development Activity
We returned after the Christmas break to another busy month on the development and promotion front and, as expected, the student applications arising from the North East London Dial a Ride mailing started to come through. For the first two weeks of January the total number of applications coming into the office, from all sources, jumped to around twenty a week. In a similar vein our partnership with South London Dial a Ride also got underway, with the first mailing to new SOLDAR users due to go out late in the month. In addition to sending our leaflets, SOLDAR have also agreed to WAACIS posters being displayed prominently in each bus, and these will be delivered in early February.
Much of the month was spent researching and then contacting the Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in London. This is still ongoing. Oh the whole the DEAs have been positive about what we are trying to do, and a number have asked for further information and some leaflet stocks to distribute on an ad hoc basis. Meanwhile an approach was made late in January to the DEA"s regional headquarters with a view to moving our relationship onto a more formal basis. This too is ongoing, and we will report the results of this initiative in a future newsletter.
Information packs were sent to a number of other large and high-profile organisations through the month to introduce the WAACIS project, and these will be followed up by direct approaches in the coming weeks. Organisations contacted include; the Employers Forum on Disability, the Dial a Ride & Taxi Card Users Group, and the British Computer Association of the Blind. Contacts with other organisations, such as Action for Blind People, the MS Society and the Princes Trust continue to be productive.
A number of press releases have been sent to students local newspapers following the completion of their tuition, and a 600-word article has been submitted to Hearing Concern Magazine (circulation 5,000) for inclusion in their summer issue. We also featured in the Norwood Eye, and agreement was reached for a newspiece in Paddington People (circulation 20,000).
Disability Action in the Borough of Barnet agreed to carry out a mailing to 900 people on our behalf, and another 800 went courtesy of CIIIL, a voluntary organisation in northeast London.
Fundraising
Highlights of the month included an initial meeting with the South London Learning & Skills Council, which was attended by WAACIS" fundraiser Chris Frederick and development officer Cliff Docherty. The meeting was very positive, and will be invaluable in assisting us to put together a formal application for funding.
Unfortunately a decision on our bid for Lottery cash has been delayed until March, and our grant application to Westminster was turned down.
