VIC Annual Review for 2020
This reviews some of the main highlights of our activities and news from 2020. This year’s review of our activities has been impacted by the COVID Pandemic and National lockdown at the end of the March and therefore we haven’t been able to do many of the activities as our other years. We had to change how we operated during the last nine months of the year, however we have been just as busy and we’ve looked at the delivery of many of our projects.
All our other news can also be viewed in the Newsletters and New Stories on our website www.veteransincommunities.org .
We started the first quarter of the year as we normally would have;

• In January to the beginning of March we started our first walks of the year; Jumbles reservoir, Hog Low Pike, Grain Reservoir and Blackstone Edge
• We received a donation of £1334.00 from three of COOP branches in Rossendale.
• Our members travelled to meet the members of other veteran groups at the Wings Centre in Preston.
• We continued with our successful Bob Ross classes at the VIC Centre.
• Members completed our first course of the year; Lifesavers run by Lancashire Adult Learners.
• Veterans In Production replaced the gates of the centre using recycled pallets.
• We attended the Pendle INT Development Event with a number of other providers.
• We received confirmation we had been successful in gaining the Bronze Award by the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme.
• At the end of March the VIC Centre went into lockdown as part of the nationwide response to the COVID pandemic.
• Our outreach team became one of many other organisations who worked remotely; our members and referrals became a telephone information, support and advice service. After the initial lockdown our team returned to work and although the centre remained locked down, VIC we were able to meet members by appointment only at the VIC Centre.
• The office remained open throughout the year but with only a small team who became the single point of contact to take referrals from partner organisations and deal with the day-to-day operations of VIC .
• VIC offered some of our resources to support Positive Start with the delivery of food to those in shielding and those who were vulnerable.
• Our volunteer members were proactive in their areas with checking on our members, delivering food and welfare checks.
• We reacted quickly to the changes of not meeting face-to-face or having our centre based activities, so all our meetings, Bob Ross classes and the Choir utilised the Zoom virtual platform.
• Some members continued with going out into the community and helped with some maintenance of our members gardens whilst keeping COVID safe.
• All the Remembrance services, VE and VJ day celebrations were cancelled so some of our members dressed the VIC Centre and held a two minute silence whilst socially distancing. We would normally have invited the community to join us after but this wasn’t possible due to restrictions.
• When the COVID testing stations arrived in Rossendale and Hyndburn in May, we supported by visiting the military and giving them cakes and coffee as a small gesture of support.
• We started a 12 week on-line photography course for our members using Zoom in June.
• During the lockdown we were able to do some changes to the VIC Centre and a new office by building a partition wall in the old IT Room.
• Once lockdown was lifted our members returned to the allotment and cleared and planted a crop of vegetables.
• The VIC Choir was unable to perform publically during 2020, but they continued to practice using Zoom and performed a number of songs to celebrate the NHS, and a VE Day special using Zoom.
• Our fundraising activities were heavily affected by the COVID pandemic but we were successful with some COVID funding for charities to offset some of our lost revenue.
• We received confirmation in August we had been successful in gaining the Silver Award by the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme.
• We were visited by the Sara Britcliffe MP for Haslingden and Hyndburn in August; she replaced Graham Jones as our local MP. She has pledged her support to VIC.
• We opened the Sandbag Café in September after many of the members who had been shielding and in vulnerable groups were allowed to join social groups again as the Government lifted some of the restrictions. Many of these were given tablets from the Veterans Should Not Be Forgotten programme and received training on their use. Sadly we had to suspend this in November due to Greater Manchester moving into tier four.
• The Veterans In Production team who could access the VIC Centre launched our WW1 soldier silhouettes to coincide with Remembrance. These were so successful and these will be carried over into 2021 along with a range of other silhouettes.
• We were contacted during Lockdown to help out with some community work for those in East Lancashire who were shielded and in vulnerable groups.
• The Hyndburn Veterans Drop-in had to close during the lockdown, however we were only able to open again in June but only one day a week. When Lancashire went into a higher Tier and we were unable to sell any of the VIC products, but we were able to keep open as a support group for our members only.
• We launched an art competition in August with the Veterans Art Organisation to showcase some art, photography, sculptures, short stories and sculptures that members produced during Lockdown. We expect this to become an annual competition with entries from veterans all over the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA.
• This year has seen a greater number of Xmas hampers going out to veterans and our members. The RBL got 240 boxes donated by the Compass Group, and VIC we involved in distributing these to a number of the football clubs supporting veteran’s programmes. We distributed in excess of 300 food hampers to our members throughout this year. This couldn’t have made possible without the support of donations and food we received and other organisations who supported our members.
• VIC supported the COVID Vaccination Programme in Rossendale and Hyndburn by providing car park marshals and this will continued into 2021.
• MEG Training, a local logistics training company has supported us by advertising the charity on all their training vehicles.
• Sadly we lost 6 members this year; Doug Hocken, Tracey Vick, Carl Rivers, Bob Graham, Peter Maffett and Derek Cullen. WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.