This Is Jersey

NINE individuals or groups have been shortlisted to receive a Flybe Island Heroes bursary.

The winner in each category – Sport, Education and Charity – will receive £10,000 in cash and travel vouchers. Today we present the three shortlisted in the Charity category in the award scheme, run in association with the Jersey Evening Post.

The five judges are Guernsey’s former Southampton and England footballer Matt Le Tissier, Association of Jersey Charities chairman Advocate Chris Renouf; Education, Sport and Culture assistant director Derek de la Haye; Flybe general manager for market development Ian Taylor; and JEP marketing manager David Edwards.
Readers can vote an unlimited number of times using original voting forms which will be printed in Saturday’s JEP.

The winners, who will receive a £5,000 cash prize and £5,000 in Flybe travel vouchers, will be invited to attend a prizegiving ceremony at Government House on 9 December.

• Picture: Judges Ian Taylor, Matt Le Tissier and David Edwards

Driving for the Disabled
‘IT has changed my life’ is a remark that Pam Evans has heard many times from clients she has helped through this organisation, which for the second year running makes the shortlist for this award.

Having suffered a stroke, which left her paralysed down one side of her body, Pam subsequently set up the charity just over 12 months ago as she wanted to boost a disabled person’s independence through helping them to drive.

‘During this time we have successfully assessed 25 clients with a variety of different physical disabilities including cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, and those who have had a stroke,’ she said. ‘This is a greatly needed and successful project provided in Jersey and gives disabled people renewed independence as well as ensuring more safety on our roads.’

Using a specially adapted car, a person will be supported in either learning how to drive for the first time or in returning to driving safely. ‘This improves their self esteem, confidence, and the possibility of getting work,’ added Pam. If successful in gaining the bursary, the charity will be able to broaden its service.

‘Because we are unable to take our clients on a private test track, we have to take them straight on to the road. To minimise the risks involved we wish to provide a driving rig, laptop, and printer, which will give us evidence of their suitability to drive, and reaction times.

‘We will need to bring expert assessors to Jersey and send our two assessors for training in the UK and to various mobility centres and exhibitions. We also hope to subsidise our assessments and driving lessons as many of our clients are living on limited funds.’

• Picture: Driving instructor Kerry Dorrington with driver Dan Dicker – one of 25 clients to have benefited from the service so far.  Picture by Peter Mourant (00600645)

Holidays for Heroes
MOVED by the plight of so many service personnel leaving conflicts badly injured, Richard and Dawn Woodhouse, with the help of friends, set about creating this charity.

Five months later they have already raised enough money to welcome six soldiers, who were injured while on active duty, to the Island for a free week-long holiday. ‘The main objective is to raise funds to provide a holiday for service personnel, injured in mind or body while on active service, because the people we bring over are not in a position to afford one,’ said Mr Woodhouse.

The charity uses the Welfare Service of the Veterans Agency, the Not Forgotten Association, the Royal British Legion, and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Families Association to identify personnel to receive the holidays and next year they hope to raise £100,000 to fund over 200 breaks.

‘The support and generosity of Islanders and businesses has been brilliant and we had so many offers of help when people heard what we were doing. ‘What we’ve achieved already has been beyond our wildest dreams but we don’t want to be a one year wonder. The bursary would be a fantastic help in achieving our goals for 2009.

‘We had a successful launch and gained a lot of experience from running the first two weeks of holidays but we had never thought about budgeting for the children of personnel to come on the trip.
‘We now think that it’s quite an important aspect and so we hope that can be a project for next year.
‘It’s been a bit of a learning curve over the last few months but we hope to get better and better.’

• Picture: Soldiers arrive for a free holiday in Jersey in August courtesy of the new charity. Picture by Jon Guegan (00584226)

The LIFE project
RUN by the Outreach Department of the Jersey Women’s Refuge, the Learning to Incorporate Freedom and Empowerment project has already been described as a ‘lifesaver’ by one participant.

Designed to help women who have experienced domestic abuse, it is a relatively new scheme introduced in September but already the uptake has been encouraging. ‘We haven’t advertised the course but simply offered it to clients and we’ve already run it twice with around seven people each time,’ said Refuge manager Lorna Kearney.

With one in four women said to experience domestic violence, the six-week guided support group encourages women to ‘share experiences and knowledge and help each other to recognise and accept that they are not at fault’. The overall purpose is to help women focus on ‘restoring their fragile self-esteem while looking to a more positive future for themselves and their families’.

‘This type of course is something women at the refuge have always been asking for so it’s brilliant that we are now able to deliver it. We’re thrilled with how it’s going, it’s been remarkable, and the feedback we’ve had from the women on the course has been amazing.

‘They have gained a lot of strength in sharing their experiences and more understanding of this subject really enables people to move on with their life which is essential. ‘The Outreach Department relies purely on fund-raising so if we were successful in receiving the bursary we hope we could take this project to a new level and bring over an expert teacher to give specialised staff training because we believe it is a valuable community project.’

• Picture: Jersey Women’s Refuge manager Lorna Kearny would like to bring over an expert teacher to take the course to a new level. Picture by Tony Pike (00600768)

Article posted on 14th November, 2008 - 2.53pm