Fundraising Bike Ride Across the Dolomites

Once a year we all gather for our Agency Day. Last year we were delighted to be joined by Karin Whittaker.

In July, Karin rode her mountain bike in a trip across the Dolomites to raise money in memory of her son Tristan. Tristan had been helped by our services and Karin chose this extremely energetic way to show her appreciation. She presented us with a cheque for £1200.

It is a great boost to us all to know that the work we do is appreciated and for someone to go to such efforts to thank us. Our congratulations and thanks go to Karin for her fantastic effort in completing the trip and raising so much. We hope we can find a way for Karin to continue to be involved with Independence Trust.

 

Independence Trust, GAMH and Share become Independence Trust.

Gloucestershire Drug and Alcohol Service, Gloucestershire Association of Mental Health and Share Young Peoples Counselling Service have merged to become one.

As our Chief Executive, Peter Steel told us at our Agency Day, he and others have been working over the last twelve months to create one identity that represents all three. Peter’s presentation on the day set out an exciting vision of how much we can achieve as one integrated agency.

All of the staff have lived and worked through huge changes. None of us now work for quite the same agency that we joined.

This is a chance to collectively pause for breath and think “what are we passionate about in our work?” and “what is it we do that makes such a difference to the lives of our clients?” These are the things we want to keep hold of and not lose.

Why Independence Trust? We come to work each day because we believe that wherever possible our clients should be encouraged and supported to lead independent, fulfilled lives and that they should be free from prejudice and ignorance. That was the reason for having Independence in our name.

 

Independence Trust recognised as “Investors in Volunteers”

Independence Trust has recently been nationally recognised for its volunteering achievements by successfully gaining the Investors in Volunteers award.

This award represents the organisations positive and inclusive attitude to volunteers and the ways in which we recruit, train and support our volunteer teams.

We offer comprehensive training and continuing support to all volunteers within the organisation. We recognise that different people have different skills and everyone develops their competencies at different rates, so we endeavour to tailor our management of volunteers to respond to their needs. Our volunteer teams are diverse and enthusiastic and reflect the values of our organisation. Many of our volunteers give us their time and energy for free because they believe in the work we do and want to contribute to the services in their community that support people that are marginalised and vulnerable.