2008 Sunday 6th JulyAfter a year of planning meetings and months of intense administration, preparation and promotion the launch of DAD 2008 took place in the Warrington Town Centre featuring an extravaganza of Art with live music and dance attended by several thousand people. The mayor' of Warrington and Hilden opened the proceedings and we were joined by guests from Hilden Warringtons twin town. The months of work led by Phil, Holly and the various artists paid off when they produced act after act of crowd pulling performances including the experienced 'January'- winner of Granada TV's 2007 Northwest Talent Show, St Helens based Flavour, Manchester based Melody Maker and Warrington's own Mencap team. During the day the show attracted thousands of shoppers one gentlemen had traveled from Stoke with his wife and her friend decided that the free show was better than shopping and sat with us till the end. The three of them promised to visit DAD the following week and I can report that they did. Sunday saw the start to preparations at the event site with a small team measuring and marking out the locations of the tented village that would take shape over the next five days. Monday morning was a contrast on last year with sunshine and good ground providing better conditions for the twenty strong team of volunteers including Wayne and his Team from Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute, family and friends, many of whom had taken annual leave to be with us at the park. Early deliveries of the mobile site office and storage area enabled the team to create a base from which we worked from throughout the week. Pickups and erecting signage kept everyone busy throughout the first day and due to the fine weather Paul's team from Florida Marquees made short work of erecting four of the twelve marquees used for the main event. During the day we recieved calls from 3 local and regional radio stations which added to the coverage we received the week before including a page on the Teletext, 16 Northwest newspapers, 4 more radio interviews, plus advertising on 8 northwest radio stations as well as the numerous magazines articles, 80,000 flyers and 4,000 posters that had been used during the previous six months. Throughout Tuesday we received delivery after delivery, all timed to perfection by Brun and Caz back in the office. The logistical planning was paying off, with lorry load after lorry load of tables, chairs, toilets, fencing, generators, staging, the deliveries just kept on arriving. Whilst this was going on Derek and his team delivered two workshops in the Hall which attracted record numbers of representatives from local schools and employers eager to hear from our team of specialist presenters. Wednesday saw the completion of the largest Marquee which was used for most of the weeks remaining events. The Arts Marquee as it's known hosts seating for up to four hundred people, a huge stage, dance floor, lighting and sound system. The Princess Royal Trust Warrington Carers Centre were the first team to use this facility for their annual Party in the Park that provided a well earned break to local carers who were entertained and treated to strawberries, cream and drinks. Members of the Site Team made short work of the strawberries that were left over and with a huge tub of ice cream courtesy our friends from the Lewis's ice cream van in the park, the team thought they were at Wimbledon! Wednesday evening saw a second Party in the Park this time for disabled children and young people. Organised by our partners at Planet Blue the party provided opportunities to get involved in performing arts or sports. In another marquee we held the first of two Health & Safety meetings for our stewards and assistants where we met some people for the first time since DAD 2007. They must enjoy it! Because thankfully they keep coming back each year. Richmond Fellowship took centre stage on Thursday with their "Making Recovery a Reality" event that included advice and support on employment, a wide range of alternative therapies (this was well used by members of the Site Team), drama, art, music and general networking and socialising. Thursday evening saw the return of our colleagues from the Liverpool Diocesan with their Festival of Life for people who have a learning disability. Nearly one hundred and fifty people engaged in music, crafts and sports helping to create a unique atmosphere enjoyed by all. Friday saw the arrival of many of the large exhibition and catering units, some weighing in at over 30 tons. Up in the Hall we were joined by over 30 members of the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust's Joint Service Users and Carers Forum, Chief Executive Simon Barber, Director of Nursing , Governance and Performance Ray Walker and Director of Adult and Children's Services John Kelly. The meeting focussed on issues relating to care, recovery and social inclusion. By the end of the afternoon the event site was coming to life just in time for the arrival of a special guest Mark Harper MP Shadow Minister for Disabled People who was accompanied by local parliamentary candidate David Mowat and Councillor Paul Kennedy. After a tour of the event site Mr Harper spent time with members of the site, management and administration teams. Each had their own story to tell him about their involvement. As he left Mr Harper stated that his visit had left him "inspired" about what can be achieved by the voluntary sector whilst working in partnership with other organisations from the voluntary, statutory and private sector. Dave praised the hard work and dedication of the team. He paid special tribute to Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute, Warrington Sea Cadets T.S Obdurate, Lions International, Warrington Rotary Club, Woolston Church of the Ascension Youth Club and dozens of other likeminded people and said that without their support we couldn’t run the event. Friday evening saw record attendance at the annual Quiz Night and BBQ in the Park with Graham as Quiz Master. The two hundred guests had a great night and raised over £3,500 for Warrington Disability Partnership, half of which came from the auction with lots donated by local businesses, including Millercare who donated a top of the range four wheeled electric scooter. I must mention the support we received from Tom, James, Naomi and Lucy in writing out to dozens of potential partners and Anne from Walton Hall who also arranged to secure donations from many of her suppliers. Saturday morning started out very wet and windy but it didn't deter the team of volunteers made up of members from local Lions Clubs and the site team. The list of tasks included white line marking for the exhibitor areas, nearly 500 tables, 1000 chairs, the main arena, signage, fencing and dozens of smaller tasks which bring the event site to life. At around lunch time the cloud cover gave way to brilliant sunshine which seemed to be a signal for dozens of Sunday's outside exhibitors to arrive including the climbing wall, archery and shooting. At 2pm we held the final Health & Safety briefing for our stewards and by 6pm the team was ready for some hot food with the obligatory Chinese takeaway. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when we first called our local Fish and Chip Shop, ordered 35 meals and then asked if they would deliver to a park! As we left the park at around 10pm the event site was set ready for the big day. At around 4am I could hear the rain beating down on the conservatory located outside our bedroom window. I encouraged my wife Pam to get out of bed to check how heavy it was and it wasn't good news. "It looks like it's been raining all night" she said. We arrived on site at 5.45am. Terry, Gavin, Tommy, Graham and several other stewards had already arrived. By 6.20am most of the 80 stewards were registering in for the day ahead. At around 7.15am the first exhibitors started to arrive, by 8.30am there was a steady stream of cars arriving by the minute, but it felt very calm, too calm! I thought that the rain had put people off but I should have known better and by 9.40am the stewards were reporting full attendance in their areas and by 10am it was confirmed that only 4 spaces were empty from over 500 that had been reserved. Peter Powel our local Town Crier kicked off the proceedings from the Main Arena that was being co-ordinated by Jim and Vee from Radio General. Throughout the day a constant stream of people made their way from the car parks, bus and park and ride drop-off points. During one visit to the main car park my attention was drawn to the coaches from Birmingham, Blackpool, Lancaster, North Wales, Newcastle and I spoke with visitors who have travelled from across the Northwest and UK including Cumbria, North Wales, Merseyside, Manchester and Cheshire and as far afield as Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol, London, Kent, Suffolk and Osaka in Japan. During my usual trips round the site I saw that dozens of visitors were attracted to the Future Chairs stand which was exhibiting the world's lightest wheelchair. All Terrain Mobility Solutions were also attracting lots of interest with their unique wheelchairs. The Arts Marquee was pack out every time I visited, and the Slice of Life Film Festival was pulling in the crowds. Despite the intermittent heavy rain showers and blistering sunshine many of the exhibitors suggested that the mixed weather actually encouraged the 22,000 visitors to spend time outside and inside the marquees in equal measures. Veterans of DAD stated that they had record numbers of contacts with the visitors. At 1pm I welcomed guests to the VIP and Sponsors Reception which is held in the Hall. This is our chance to say "Thank You" to our sponsors and supporters. We were joined at the event by TNG who were launching their work in the North West providing employment and training support to disabled people. By 2pm I was back on the event site and getting great reports from our exhibitors, many of whom were nearly out of leaflets, promotional and fundraising materials. At 4.30pm I presented the best exhibitor awards to The Petty Pool Trust - 'Best Voluntary Sector Exhibitor', 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust - 'Best Statutory Exhibitor' and Polar Ford - 'Best Business Exhibitor'. I would also like to pay special thanks to the two guys from Gowrings Mobility, their co-operation, understanding and infectious personalities were an example of what team work is all about. Thanks guys. Just before I left the main arena I surprised one of our longstanding friends and supporters Pete Pinnington from WIRE FM. I presented Pete with a "Mad About DAD" tee shirt as he and his partner are expecting their first baby soon. Not to be outdone Pete turned the tables on me as he invited forward Frank Antrobus, a local artist who had painted a portrait of me! I was and still am very humbled and honoured that Frank had considered me worthy of his efforts. Just at this moment the heavens opened which helped draw a quick ending to DAD 2008. Well that's from the visitors point of view, for the team the work had just began. Between 5.15pm and 7pm our stewards marshalled over 400 vehicles onto and off the event site and by 7.45pm we had taken down the signs, gathered in the tables, chairs, fencing, 100 fire extinguishers, picked up most of the rubbish and litter, and heading up to the hall for the Stewards Debrief and a well earned pint. At around 10.30pm we left the park in the safe hands of the guys from Northwest Guards Security and headed off home knowing that thousands of people had had a great day out, many were inspired and better informed and as a by-product over one hundred charities had raised over £35,000 in the process. At 8.30am Monday morning we were back, well the now depleted team was back whilst others were back to their day jobs. During the day Wayne and the lads from Thorn Cross picked up over 30 bales of straw that we put down to help with the soft ground. In reverse order to the week before the companies arrived to take back the marquees, tables, chairs, toilets, fencing, generators, staging, fire extinguishers, skips and finally the site units that had been used as Pam's Kitchen, Graham and Eddies Lock-up and mine and Terry's office. By 6.30pm it didn't seem like 10 days had past when we were setting up for the launch in Warrington's Golden Square. Together we looked back on the hours and hours of setting up the site and marquees for the week's events, rearranging for the next event and finally DAD 2008. Before I close on DAD 2008 I would like to thank a few more people, Sue and Penny at Skillzone for this great website, Keith, Karen and their team at the Butty Shop on Chester Road for providing free breakfasts for the site team (now we are all on diets for the next month), my wife Pam for keeping us going with hot and cold drinks, toasties and burgers, (as you can see we really do need to go on diets), St John Ambulance Service, Warrington Borough Transport for the free bus service, Relay Transport for assistance with moving the Shopmobility scooters and wheelchairs, George and his team at Shopmobility for cleaning the equipment after it was returned in such a muddy state, Jayne, Brun, Caz, Dave, Lynda and the team at WDP for their admin and logistical skills plus the mammoth task of cleaning and storing the DAD items which were returned to the Centre for Independent Living, our stewards and support staff including Lions and Rotary clubs, our sponsors for the financial support, everyone who support the DAD week programme or who donated anything to the events, everyone of our exhibitors and visitors. My final thanks go to the Site Team Terry, Gavin, Tommy, Graham, Pam, Phil, Do, Holly, John, Bob, Colin, Mark, Rob, Vinnie, Eddie, June and last but not least our honouree team member Mr Keith Webb Manager of the Walton Hall Estate. I estimated that many of the site and admin team had worked up to 140 hours each during the 10 days of DAD 2008. I am sure that the 27,000 who were involved in this years DAD events believe that our team deserves the Queens Award for Voluntary Services, don't you? But I suppose the final words should be left to our visitors. The following words were taken from the Graffitti Wall co-ordinated by Sue and Pat:
And the one I'm not sure about
I look forward to working with you all next year. Kindest regards. Dave PS. As the dust has settled after DAD 2008 (or should that be the mud has dried) we have received dozens of emails, letters and phone calls complimenting the team on a great event. We have also received calls from organisations interested in running a DAD event in Birmingham and Bristol. Watch this website for further details. |
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