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COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT
1st. JANUARY to 31st. DECEMBER 2008
It has been another very active year for the charity. Bob has ended his employment with the Prison Service, so the bulk of the secretarial work is now conducted from his home. We all thought that there would be serious problems in maintaining contact with members and reps. at the various establishments, in seeking to make their applications for support, but surprisingly, it has not been the case. Bob's new location soon became well-known and the work of the committee has been virtually unaffected by the change
Bob tries to give the impression that Avril presents no problems to the change of location, because he is the obvious head of the family. In fact we all know better than that, so we are grateful to Avril, for her help and indulgence. For those of you who may still be confused by Bob's change of address, take heart. The two stalwarts Paul and John continue to take care of all the work which still arrives at the Hornby Road site. They also carry out other ongoing work at the old office, as well as being in regular contact with Bob. We are grateful to them, for their hard work.
You may be aware that the PSCF chairman is a trainee computer user - and will never get beyond that stage. He will condemn modern electronic communication as "rubbish", and then extol the virtues of the African bush mail runner. However, even his values are regularly shattered by the skills of our Vice Chairman, Peter. He presents us with examples of his quite complex computer statistics. They contain valuable information on such matters as the changes in membership numbers at all establishments, and comparisons between prisons of a similar size. We are very Grateful, Peter.
At the last Annual meeting, we told you that the membership had made no calls on the use of our exhibition trailer, since the summer of 2005. Clearly, the trailer's days were at an end, so the committee decided to dispose of both the trailer and the mini-bus which had been used to move it around the Country. Both vehicles had seen better days and, as some are aware, had become rather aged. Thankfully we were able to dispose of them at reasonable prices. They were sold to an individual who carries -out a collection service for local hospices, in his spare time, so even the sale had a charitable connection. An additional and quite valuable saving resulted, when we disposed of the rented garage. We therefore no longer have those annual costs, either for the upkeep of the vehicles or the premises.
Those of you, who are regular supporters of the AGM's, are aware of the yearly appeals we make in our search for the following year's accommodation. This year, we had reached September, and Bob had just started to twitch, when a relief -column appeared through the mist- and we were saved. We are always grateful when a prison establishment offers to look after us, but it is a pleasant and quite welcome change for most of us, when we can meet our friends, free from the curbs and restraints which are a necessary feature of most secure premises. The setting for today's meeting comes via the good offices of our representative at HMP Leicester Graham Cooper, who has links with the charity Riding for the Disabled. Our hosts today have links with the same charity and, when Graham approached them about helping us with the AGM, they were pleased to do so. Bob made a preliminary visit and his report to the committee was very positive, so here we are! Graham has our thanks, for literally saving the day- and we are very grateful to the carriage driving school proprietors, for kindness towards us.
We open our short review of the year's work, with the case of a baby boy who was born with a deformed skull. Leicester prison which launched the appeal, told us that the deformity could be corrected, during the very early period of the Child's life, by fitting a specially designed helmet. In common with the Child's parents and the prison staff, the committee were appalled when we heard that the NHS primary care trust had adjudged the treatment to be of a cosmetic nature, therefore they could not help towards the cost of the helmet to assist the child. When you have recovered from hearing such an awful statement, let me assure you that we treated the matter as an emergency and made an immediate donation. This with the funds already collected, was sufficient to purchase the helmet and commence treatment immediately. We are pleased, nay delighted, to tell you that progress has been excellent and the child's head is assuming normal shape. It is yet another of those cases, when we wonder what would have happened, if the committee had not had access to your monthly contribtions. I understand that photographs of this case will be on display today.
Our next case concerns, Robbie Jones, a two-year-old boy in Durham, whose problems began when he contracted meningitis. Complications developed and he lost one of his legs above the knee and the other, below the knee. He has also lost the tops of his fingers, totally on one hand, and two on the other. Clearly, the young fellow is going to need prosthetic limbs for the whole of his life, and they will need to be renewed on a regular basis, when he is growing up . The Prison Service Charity Fund is committed to the support of people like this little chap and the local fundraisers can rest assured that their applications to us in support of their local efforts will not go unanswered. We are glad to give that support because, historically, cases of this nature reflect the very medical needs on which our charity was founded.
A slightly unusual situation occurred at one establishment. It involved a lady in need of medical treatment who had attempted to pay the full treatment costs from her own finances, but found her savings to be insufficient. The prison took up the case and they, in turn, were unable to meet the full costs. They sought our help and were delighted when we provided a third sum, which allowed the treatment to go ahead.
Well-nigh all our grant applications are submitted by uniformed Prison staff who, of course, comprise the bulk of our membership. Nevertheless, we were pleased to support an appeal by a probation officer member at a northern prison, who had raised two hundred pounds amongst the prison staff, for a local hospice.
Another appeal which we supported, and we thought may interest you, came from the Midlands area office where a member had collected funds for a children's hospice. He was still paying us the old monthly rate of one pound and he asked if he could increase it. We supported his hospice appeal and helped him to update his membership fee.
We sent a cheque to a PE officer at Brockhill, to complement the funds he had raised, again for a children's hospice. He arranged for the full amount to be presented to the children, by members of Aston Villa football team. He told us that it was a very successful event and Brockhill gained a good deal of publicity. One applicant told us that he had raised money by approaching staff at the annual Christmas party. He didn't tell us if his supporters were in full control of their faculties at the time- and we chose not to ask- but it seemed a good idea.
Support for your local branches of Air Ambulance is as popular as ever; the application lists at our monthly meetings usually contain at least one such appeal. In fact, based on the level of support you are giving to the helicopters, we believe we shall soon own one, ere long. Seriously, it is a charity of which we all approve.
One application concerned a lady who was off work due to illness. Staff had raised funds to pay her housekeeping costs and they asked us for help. The staff efforts were laudable and praiseworthy, but the money was not for medical treatment or equipment, so we could not help. Our response was fully explained by Bob, as is usual in such cases. In another case, the only address for the appeal was in America. We asked for more information and were told that money was needed, to pay for an unusual medical problem and again we were unable to help. Other appeals which we could not support, included Seafarers UK and the NSPCC, as they had no medical connotation.
Before we leave the subject of appeals, we have to draw your attention to the growing tendency, whereby applicants are asking us to double the sum they have raised, virtually as a matter of course. In fact, we have never declared this to be our policy, but we accept that the habit, like Topsy, has just "growed". The awful credit-crunch has not yet affected our finances, and we trust that it never will, but other charity concerns have lost almost unbelievable sums of money by investing in high-risk institutions and they can be expected to make titanic efforts to recoup their losses. If only for that reason, we urge you to keep your appeals to us at sensible levels. Please do not set your targets AFTER you have completed your local collections, otherwise we will have to be wary. Having said that, we shall always do our best for you, whenever we can.
We are pleased to tell you that the DVD project has been a success. There was a slight delay as it neared completion, when Bob told me that extra time was needed for what he called - "further efforts to complete some of the artwork" - don't ask, because I didn't. We as a committee, are always grateful to the people who respond so readily, when we seek help. In this case, that help was both swift and of a very high standard. We wish, formally, to express our gratitude to all concerned, Chris Burns, Lindsay Davidson and John White. We, would also like to express our thanks, to the people and the locations, that assisted us by offering themselves and their facilities for the filming. A special thank you must go to the film maker, Mike McNally from Deerbolt, who it must be said, did the charity proud. The early users of the DVD tell us that it carries a strong message about the work of our charity and clarifies the sort of help we give, to those in need. The management at some establishments have given time for it to be shown at staff meetings; tell your management.
Many of you may not be aware that 2008 marked 20 years existence for our charity. The first meeting was held in Liverpool prison, on the 21st. November in the Governor's office, when six of us decided to launch the undertaking, with the money remaining from the Baby Faye Watling Appeal. Many prisons had helped us with that appeal and we wanted to use the remaining funds, in a way which would help those benefactors and show our gratitude. I am not sure how the idea germinated, but I can assure you that none of those at the meeting had any idea that it would develop as it has. I offer you those brief facts, because one of the six people at that meeting, and the person who gallantly volunteered to be the treasurer of the new charity, was a certain higher executive officer named Cathy Smith. The same lady has occupied the post of treasurer for the whole of those twenty years and I know you will all be pleased to join me now, in congratulating Cathy, on her outstanding work and her being made a member of The Excellent Order of the British Empire, in the new years honours list.
It is only right for you to know that the sponsor for Cathy's award was none other than Phillip Wheatley, the Director - General of the Prison Service. He was aware of Cathy's dedication to the charity and told your chairman that the award gave him great pleasure, because he knew it was well-earned and totally justified.
Thank you for your attendance today and for your continued involvement in the work of the charity.
Nevill Joseph.
Chairman.
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