Inauguration of the Regional Fund Grants Committee
Following on from the National Branch Meeting in March, ten members of the Regional Fund Grants Committee were elected and held their first meeting over the weekend. Here, Tony Ruel and other committee members give their perspective on the first major step towards a more unified CLAPA Community with better regional support.
Inauguration of the Regional Fund Grants Committee
On a sunny day – the hottest day of the year so far! – the members of the newly created Regional Fund Grants Committee met bright eyed and bushy tailed for their inaugural meeting. Some had come from far away and had been up since before the crack of dawn arriving via plane or train or coach and still arrived early or on time whilst others fortunately did not have such a long journey. One had arrived the previous evening and had spent the night in not too salubrious surroundings. All had given up the pleasures of a very warm June Sunday en famille to take part in this exciting new venture.
After a very welcome drink and biscuit reinforcement the meeting was duly opened by Claire Cunniffe, CLAPA’s Director of Regional Development. The Committee is made up of three Branch representatives, two volunteers including Happy Faces Coordinators and Parent Contacts, a representative from Adult Voices, a representative from the Children and Young People Council, one Trustee and two members of CLAPA staff, Claire Cunniffe and Louise Wheeler, CLAPA’s Community Fundraising Manager, who have promised to lend us their experience and invaluable wisdom
The Committee was formed following the announcement in March that funds previously held in separate Branch accounts will be pooled into two funds – a Regional Fund and a Regional Coordinator Fund. The Regional Fund will be used to provide local support and activities to all areas of the country and will be allocated by the Grants Committee. It is important to stress that Branches will still have overall control over how the money is spent and it is envisioned that it will be spent on local support covering everything from Christmas Parties to Happy Faces meet ups. There is initially more money available in the Regional Fund than was spent last year by all the Branches put together so that there will be more than enough funding for Branches to keep on organising activities and events and more. There will also be money available for applications from individuals in parts of the country where presently there are currently no Branches who want to put on activities and events so that the needs of the wholecleft community in the UK can be met.
After outlining the current CLAPA Strategy, Claire went on to speak about the Committee Guidelines and the members soon became involved in a lively discussion on the principles of funding, the Application Form, consulting and feeding back to representatives and reporting requirements.
Having been fortified by lunch, the Officer roles were elected. These are Laura O’Neill as Chair with Sarah Bennett as Vice Chair. Tony Ruel was elected Secretary and Lizz Lee kindly offered to help in the creation of a newsletter, with support from Sarah Bennett.
The Committee then diligently considered the Branch Annual Budgets. Within a very short space of time, the members had gelled and were working conscientiously at the task at hand.
By late afternoon, the first meeting had come to a close, the Committee members having started down a new and thrilling path. It is important to recognise that the Committee members are keenly aware of the perceived effects of change but are eager to be sensitive to the concerns of all our volunteers so that we will achieve consistent support across the country for everyone affected by cleft wherever they may be.
We left National Office, wending our weary way home but buoyed up by the knowledge that a valuable first step has been taken to benefit everyone in the our cleft community.
– Tony Ruel, Adult Voices Member
“I feel totally honoured to be selected for this wonderful grants committee where like minded people with the same aspirations to provide an exemplary service have come together. It is an amazing start to a wonderful journey which will flourish.”
– Mandy Drake-Worth, Volunteer and Parent Contact
“I was very nervous about joining the grants committee at first as I was not sure what to expect as the committee is in its infancy, but after meeting everyone and going through the new plans I quickly realised how exciting the role will be and I feel honoured that I am part of the grants committee. I really feel the new plans will benefit everyone as this is a much more fairer and transparent way of working together to ensure that we can try and deliver the very best to people affected by cleft.”
– Sarah Bennett, South Wales Branch
“I just want to emphasise how positive this new committee will be for everyone concerned. Everyone involved with CLAPA, whether they are a paid representative, a volunteer or on a branch committee, they all want the same thing overall, – that is to provide support to our families affected by clefts and to raise awareness of the condition.
We do this through supporting the many cleft teams, organising confidence building days, transition days etc encouraging more parent contacts, and holding events such as Christmas Parties, sponsored walks and various fundraising events.
We want to make sure that these services and support is availed of everywhere which is not currently the case, as not all areas have a branch. I myself, in the past year have become a parent contact, created Northern Ireland’s first Happy Faces group, and have arranged numerous fundraising events over the awareness week, so far raising £7450 with that total still rising. With the previous process, because NI do not have a branch, we would not have had access to any funding, not even the funds we raised. Although I understand why the change is hard for some to adjust to, this new committee that I will be involved with will most definitely be a very positive change, as it will spread the support of CLAPA throughout the whole of UK.”
– Laura O’Neill, Derry Happy Faces and Regional Grants Committee Chair