VIC Annual Review for 2016

Our fourth year has once again exceeded our expectations; the purpose of this review is to highlight the main activities and news. All our other news can be viewed in the Newsletters and 2016 New Stories.

• We started the year with news that we had secured funding for 2016 – 2017 from East Lancashire CCG and Heywood Middleton, and Rochdale CCG. Both of the grants were increased which was a lovely surprise to start the year.
• Early in the year 3 year, funding was confirmed with Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to work with the Community Health and Care Services. This funding is to deliver a veterans service within the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams across HMR.
• Over the last 12 months a number of our members have completed their; Mental Health First Aid, 3 – day First Aid, Navigation, Community Reporter Training, Fire Marshal training, and Creative Writing. We currently have members on ICT Functioning, Sign Language and Craft Skills.
• The VIC Singing Group increased their performances this year; in addition to the local supermarkets, residential homes and community events, they have performed in Bury, Accrington and Burnley. They also performed at the Rossendale Festival of Remembrance, St Georges Hall in Blackburn as part of an event to remember Sophie Lancaster and they performed at the annual Shires which is the annual reunion for those who served in the Queens Lancashire Regt.
• In March the Singing Group performed a live concert for special guests at Alder Grange School, Alder Grange students filmed and recorded the concert for making a CD and DVD which we can sell to raise money for VIC.
• At the beginning of the year we received a grant from the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant to extend the opening of the VIC Centre to include Xmas, Easter and weekends.
• We were visited in January by Sally Naden from BBC Radio Lancashire who broadcast her morning show live from the VIC Centre.
• We took over an allotment in Rossendale in January, our members cleared and over the last 10 months they have built raised beds, a shed, Poly Tunnel, and we had our first organic produce grown for the summer. In June the Princes Trust Programme from Rossendale chose our allotment as their community project, where they had a hand-over ceremony with invited guests and families.
• We started a VIC 5 a-side Football team in February that plays in the Blackburn Social Inclusion League. The team strip was sponsored by Lifestylish.com a local home furnishing company.
• This year was the first year we had a full years walk and Social Inclusion trip itinerary.The walks have included many outside of the local areas. We held a sponsored Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge this year and this will become an annual event.
• Our members have enjoyed trips to the national Arboretum, Brockholes nature Reserve, Crosby Beach, Burnley Fire Station, Illuminasia in Blackpool, and the Manchester Science and Industry Museum.
• We held regular Bob Ross painting classes, and the Art Group has exhibited their art work at a number of local galleries and community events.
• We relocated the Positive Art Shop in May to the VIC Centre. The shop achieved its aims as our first Social Enterprise and continues to sell art materials at low prices to the local community.
• In April the Creative Community Hub launched Crafty Chatters, this is a craft group that now meets every week and they have attended a number of craft fairs where they have sold the home made crafts they have made.
• We have worked in partnership with Alternate Forces in Rochdale and have run three team building days; the final day was a competition between two other veteran groups; Forward Assist and Salford Armed Forces Veterans Network. We were robbed….
• We celebrated Armed Forces day for the first time this year in Haslingden with a short ceremony with the new Mayor of Rossendale, we opened our Centre for invited guests and members after the ceremony. Our members also joined many of the other ceremonies across East Lancashire and Greater Manchester.Armed Forces Day will now be celebrated in Rawtenstall and Haslingden each year.
• One of our members Darren Horsnell was nominated in the Britain Has Spirit Awards; he won the regional vote and was entered into the National Vote.The winners were invited to the Awards Ceremony at the Barbican in London.Unfortunately Darren didn’t win.
• However we were nominated for the Soldering Awards and we have been notified we are one of the finalists, and have been invited to meet the Judging Panel at the House of Lords in February and to the Awards Ceremony to be held in London in March….. Fingers crossed.
• VIC held a 24 hour vigil to remember the Somme on the 1st July; we held a service in the morning with readings from three of the local clergy.
• We supported Rossendale Borough Council in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regt Rossendale Freedom Parade in July.
• We signed for our second allotment which is in Middleton and work started in July. Our members that live in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale will be working on this allotment.
• We held our first public AGM in September. Accounts are available on the Charity Commission website and will link to the website.
• We have had a number of organisations using the VIC Centre as outreach; Military Veterans Services, Combat Stress, Inspire, Lancashire Well Being, Shelter and Citizens Advice.
• During the Remembrance period, VIC was particularly busy with the services in Rossendale and Greater Manchester. Our Singing Group performed at the Festival of Remembrance and like last year we organised a small service at the Haslingden Memorial Gardens on Armistice Day. We supported the newly formed Haslingden Branch of Royal British Legion.
• We celebrated two of our oldest members’ birthdays this year; Tommy Norfolk and Lewis Banham both WW2 veterans celebrated their 94th birthdays in November and October.
• We lost two members this year; Maureen Siddall who was one of the first to join the Singing Group and Les Ellis who came to our craft group. Both will be missed. The VIC Singing Group were asked by the family to perform at the Maureen’s’ funeral.
• One of our original trustees Diane Owen retired from the board, she had family commitments and she felt she couldn’t give the same level of support she had given to VIC previously. Diane will be missed by VIC and we wish her well for the future.