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Annual Report

SHOPMOBILITY, ST HELIER

Annual Report for 2006/7

Introduction

This is the second full year (third summer) of Shopmobility, St Helier and it has been a time of further expansion.As can be seen by the accounts we continue to make losses on the hire of equipment but this is made up by fund raising and donations from a few generous people and companies.

During the year we arranged with TTS that we could use the States Members’ spaces on non States days providing we left a couple free and this has worked well with no known complaints from the States Members.Fortunately many of our users are holiday makers without cars so the level of car parking is no reflection on the use of the Scheme.

Outside events

We were at La Foire at Trinity, the Rosarians Show at Radier Manor, Liberation Day festivities in Peoples Park, Gorey Fete, the Seaside Festival, the Battle of Flowers and a number of others.No charge was made for these outside events but where people wanted to give a donation we welcomed it!

At Battle we loaned the committee 6 scooters for them to ferry disabled people from the entrance to their seats and we also had 3 in the Parades.It was great fun to take part and see the crowd enjoying themselves.

Our year runs from 1^st October and in the 12 months to then we have had 5,817days of usage and over 800 new users.

Finance

The accounts are attached and as can be seen we have again lost money on chair hire and we rely on fund raising to keep our heads above water!Kevin Keen has prepared these accounts again and we thank him for that.What the figures show is that to provide a service on which people can rely with clean equipment in good condition we need to raise in the region of £40,000 a year.Unlike Schemes in the UK we are only busy in the summer months.From mid-October to mid-March we have our regular Islanders using the Scheme and this brings in little income at £2 a day so we make a large loss on fixed expenses during that period.I believe that we should not fundraise prior to Poppy Day nor in December when there is the Joint Charities Appeal to help those who otherwise would not be able to celebrate Christmas.

Dress Down Day

In April we had an Islandwide Dress Down Day and through the generosity of one person we raised about £5,000.A number of banks, various departments of the States and private companies took part.We asked people to wear yellow and black, our colours and they were “fined” if they didn’t and if they did the same applied as they were not wearing proper office/work clothes!

Helpers

We were approached by both the Prison and Probation services about taking on people who were either about to be released or doing community service.Other than one unsatisfactory probationer we had no offers.We do need more volunteers for the mornings from March to October, inclusive, to assist in the office or to deliver equipment to hotels in Town.One morning a week is all we ask.We cannot afford to employ additional staff and we are sometimes under great pressure to deliver to all who want our services.Only twice have we been unable to supply equipment but that was considered a failure.We are here to provide a service to disabled people and although we are shut on Sundays and most Bank Holidays we go out should we be asked even on those days.We are almost like the Windmill Theatre of old as “We never close”.

General

We have a problem with one of the commercial companies which has now copied much of our forms ofsignage on its equipment, often uses a name which is muddled with ours and gets us a bad name.The more reputable companies cause no problems and we work well with Technicare from whom we purchase most of our equipment.We get asked for a number of small items and we try tokeep some of these here to sell and we make a small profit which all goes to help with our deficit.

Itex Walk

This year we were a beneficiary of the Itex Around the Island Walk and received £4,565.08Kerry Channing, Brian Gray, Frank Cantrell and the writer all took part in the first 10 miles as part of the Lt Governor’s Challenge and enjoyed ourselves in spite of the 3 am start. We drove from the Elizabeth Terminal to St Catherines.Next year most of us will do the second stage and hopefully will do all the Walk over a 4 year period.We will start at St Catherines next year at about 7 am which is fine for most but for me will be a long day as I arrange the start at 3am!!!

Jersey War Tunnels and Durrell

At the end of August we put one scooter at the Jersey War Tunnels following a number of requests to them and it has proved successful and the trial has been converted to a permanent fixture.

At Durrell we provided a ninth scooter and it is not unusual for all to be in use.This enables many people to see the area in comfort and has proved extremely successful since it started 2 years ago.The income we receive may just about pay for the new machines which will be needed in the next couple of years.More repairs are needed than to those based in Sand Street but that is to be expected.

Improvements

The great news is that in Sand Street TTS is installing new toilets and including one especially for the disabled which will require a RADAR key.We keep a supply in Sand Street and loan them out for a deposit so if they are not returned we can purchase replacements.The new toilets will be a vast improvement on the existing 30 year old ones.

Scooter regulations

In the UK there is talk of class 3 machines having to be registered.These are the ones which go at more than 4 mph.In Jersey these are not permitted to travel other than on the road and they must have a speedometer, a horn and a method of switching them so that they have a maximum of 4 mph if used on a pavement.We don’t have any of these as we think that 4 mph is quite fast enough for use in Town, either on the pavements or on the roads.We are grateful to Alan Muir, head of DVS, for advising us of the regulations in Jersey which can be seen by going to the Links on our website

Website

During September we launched our new website kindly donated by WebReality.It is a vast improvement on our old one which had not be altered since our opening two and a half years ago.With the new site we can add newsletters and other items.It will also be easier for those wishing to book on line to use.Donations can be made through PayPal.The address is still www.shopmobility.org.jeWe are also grateful to Jersey Telecom for their help with the initial costs and rental for broadband.We are, however, looking for someone or a company to offer to pay the broadband rental of £17.99 per calendar month.We need broadband as there is to be a national registration form on line and it will not be practical to continue to use my home machine and transfer by DVD.

Fundraising:old mobile phones and books

Wehave been approached by PhoneAid and if we can collect old mobile phones we will receive £3 for each and when we have 100 we will receive a further £100 in vouchers.If you have any old mobiles please let us have them in Sand Street or ring and we will collect when passing (if you live in Jersey!)

We now have a selection of second hand books for sale at 50p or larger donation if thought fit.We can take any books to increase our selection and will collect if you can’t get them to Sand Street.

Other Schemes - proposed

Shopmobility is expanding not only here but also in the UK and Europe.We have been asked to advise on a proposed mall development in Guernsey and are suggesting that there should be a Scheme in Sark.Discussions are also taking place about the possibility of a Scheme in St Malo.We will not be running any of these but giving advice on how to open one in liaison with the NFSUK. .If St Malo should open it may be the start of a network throughout France and who knows where it will go from there!!

Thanks

As ever thanks are due to our 2 staff, Keith and Liz, who do so much through thick and thin to ensure we provide a service to all who need it.Tricia Bradley of the CI Co-op has again done much to help and we trust we will be able to rely on her in the future now that our Vice-Chairman has taken over as Chief Executive of that organisation. Angela and Sue come in once a week to help in the office and we need more people like them.Colin Farnham delivers and collects as necessary. Finally to Nigel Blake who keeps us in the mind of the Parish. Thanks are due to all. As has been mentioned earlier we could not do without our sponsors who are listed at the end of this Annual Report.Some gave us money to enable us to open and some continue to do so.Thanks to all, please keep giving us your money so that we can provide the service which is so obviously needed on the Island.The States is criticised by many, usually unfairly.We would like to offer our sincere thanks to TTS and its staff for providing the facilities in Sand Street to allow the Scheme to operate for the benefit of both Islanders and Tourists.

Trustees

The Trustees are all prepared to stand for a further year and are:

Edward Trevor, Chairman, Jim Hopley, Vice Chairman, Angela Trigg, Secretary, Pam Trevor, Treasurer, Kevin Keen, Accountant, Deputy Jackie Hilton, Kate Sallis and Kerry Channing.Nigel Blake represents the Parish of St Helier. Nominations will be requested on the agenda and notice of the AGM and all members with a membership number beginning with an M are eligible to stand.

Sponsors

Channel Islands Co-operative SocietyRotary Club de la Manche

The Parish of St HelierTourism Development Fund

Channel Island TradersThe ASHA Foundation

The Fox Group of CompaniesMcDonalds

Voisin Department StoreMoore Stevens

Insignier de BeaufortEFG (Offshore)

Boots the ChemistAbbey (National)

KPMGAu Caprice

TechnicareRomerils

Jersey TelecomBritish Home Stores

Polio Support SocietyMy Supplement Store

Royal Bank of CanadaEmpire Catering

Carey OlsenBarnes Publishing

SecuricorIsland Health Supplies

Numerous individuals

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