Sunday 15th July 2012

2009 Sunday 12th July

The Northwest Disability Awareness Day (DAD) held on Sunday 12th July has been hailed a "the biggest and best" in the 18 year history of this annual event. Attracting over 27,000 visitors from across the region and over 280 exhibitors from across the UK and Europe; including two from Spain and Cyprus.

On Saturday the 4th July the launch of DAD 2009 took place in the Golden Square in Warrington Town Centre. This followed a year of planning that included 8 meetings of the management team, 4 for the stewards including 2 health & safety briefings and dozens of other one off meetings, plus months of intense administration and promotion.

The launch was different than the past few years, we held a huge promotional stand inside the shopping mall where we were joined by my colleagues from the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust with the Big Brother Booth. Members of the public of all ages were invited to sit in the big chair and tell the camera what words had they heard to describe people who mental illness.

Due to the honesty of those who took part the results were extremely frank and included; retard, psycho, cuckoo, basket case, nutter and many more. Interestingly this led to the development of their "Stamp Out Stigma" campaign "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names can also hurt me". A DVD has been produced and is used in management and staff training.

We were also joined by the team from Rethink and their national "Time to Change" campaign which is also tackling stigma, discrimination and prejudice faced by mental health service users.

Our team from Warrington Disability Partnership were assisted by several DAD stewards, Ollie Owl was also on hand and we were joined by the Deputy Major of Warrington. During a very busy day we made contact with several thousand people which resulted in a different but effective launch.

Whilst we were in the town centre Dave Connor together with our colleagues from Whizz Kids were running the first of two, day long workshops on wheelchair skills, confidence building and peer support aimed at disabled children and young people.

Sunday saw the start to preparations at the event site Walton Gardens, together with a small team we measured and marked out the locations of the tented village that would take shape over the next six days.

At 8am on Monday morning we arrived on site to find Paul and his team from Florida Marquees already busy, with half of the frame to the huge Arts marquee was already up. We were joined shortly after by the rest of the 20 strong team of volunteers including family and friends, many of whom had taken annual leave to be with us. A new addition to this year's site team was our resident camera man Dave Molynuex. He filmed everything that moved and seemed to pop up everywhere throughout the week.

Early deliveries of the mobile site office and storage area enabled the team to create a base. Pickups from across the town and erecting signage kept everyone busy throughout the first day. Just as Jeff's team from Akme Security arrived at 9pm we were ready to call it a day.

As I arrived at 8am on Tuesday morning I wasn't surprised to find many of our guys already on site and working. We were joined by Wayne and the lads from Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute from Stretton. These lads provide much needed muscle when the security fencing, tables and chairs arrive.

As the hours ticked by we continued to receive delivery after delivery, all timed to perfection by Brun and Caz back in the office. The logistical planning was paying off, toilets, generators, staging, the deliveries just kept on arriving.

Whilst this was going on Derek and his team delivered two workshops in the Hall. The first was a Disability Awareness event which attracted over 100 representatives from local schools. The second attracted employers from across the North West who were there to learn about the range of support available to employers.

Early evening saw the "Festival of Life" which attracted over 120 people who have a learning disability enjoying an interactive evening of craft, song, chill-out and football workshop, culminating in a time of Christian Worship. Once again Dave kept his camera rolling throughout the day.

Wednesday's events kicked off with the Princess Royal Trust Warrington Carers Centre annual "Party in the Park" that provides a well earned break to local carers as they were entertained throughout the afternoon and treated to some delightful refreshments, needless to say our site team finished off the left over's of cream cakes, but they somehow left the fruit!.

Wednesday evening saw a new addition to the line up of DAD Week events when the Arts marquee was transformed into an open air theatre which played host to "Emma" performed by the very talented Heartbreak Theatre Company.

In another marquee nearby we held the first of the two Health & Safety briefings for our stewards and assistants. As the theatre company drove off site we signed over to Akme Security as midnight crept upon us.

You may be thinking by now that I've not mentioned the weather, well true to form for DAD Week it kept us on our toes. Blistering sunshine one hour was mixed with heavy rain storms throughout the week. But as the weekend approached it stayed dry!

Another early morning call got the team started for what was to be one of the busiest Thursdays we had ever seen in a DAD Week.

Richmond Fellowship took centre stage with their "Mental Health and Well-being" event that included advice and support on employment, a wide range of alternative therapies, healthy eating, drama and general networking and socialising. The most memorable for me were the graffiti artists who produced some stunning pieces that people took away including two DAD master pieces, one is in the Centre for Independent Living and the small piece is in my office at home. But the most memorable moment was watching one of the Thorn Cross lads entertaining everyone with his improvised rapping. The words spelled out a very powerful message about his life, in particular his regrets for getting into trouble.

During the afternoon we had a very special visitor, the Right Honourable Mr Jonathan Shaw MP Minister for Disabled People. He visited the event site and spoke to members of the team. He later praised our work and said that "DAD typifies the strength, tenacity and flexibility of the voluntary sector", he added that it was good to see the results from the joint work involving the voluntary, statutory and private sectors in supporting the event as sponsors and exhibitors. Jonathans kind words gave us all a very timely lift as our energy levels were starting to drop as the week went on.

Thursday evening saw the second "Party in the Park", this time for disabled children and young people. Organised with our partners at Planet Blue the event provided opportunities for disabled children and young people, their brothers and sisters, mums and dads to get involved in a range of arts and sports. One of our new exhibitors Sportstrada set up their fantastic portable sports stadium which was used by nearly everyone who attended. Once again Dave kept his camera rolling throughout the day.

Friday morning saw the arrival of many of the large exhibition units and the fairground and catering vehicles, some weighing in at over 30 tons. During the day we took calls from local and regional radio stations which added to the coverage we received from Teletext, Northwest newspapers, plus advertising on a host of Northwest radio stations as well as the numerous magazines articles, thousands of flyers and posters that had been used during the previous six months.

Friday evening felt like one giant family barbeque; I'm just glad I didn't need to do the cooking. We left that to Anne's team from Walton Hall. Our annual Quiz Night was again led by Quiz Master Graham Horton aka Beanie and attracted nearly 200 guests who had a great night and raised over Ł3,500 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.

Thank goodness that the team from St Johns Ambulance were there to provide first aid cover as my dad Neville was rushed to hospital with serious breathing difficulties. Unfortunately he missed Sunday's big day but he was out of hospital a few days later.

The barbeque was the finale of a week consisting of 12 complimentary events that attracted thousands of visitors. As we left the event site at a little after one o'clock in the morning some of us were running on adrenaline topped up by lots of strong coffee.

Saturday morning started out well, and we got a lie in, ok we were on site at 9am! But it was dry and sunny which provided excellent conditions for our team of over 50 volunteers, made up of the DAD Week team and members from local Lions Clubs led by Pete and Elaine Ives. Pete's white line marking skills have become so professional over the past decade that we are thinking of lending him to Wembley stadium if Warrington Wolves get to the grand final of the Rugby League Challenge Cup.

Just after 12noon everyone downed tools as we eagerly awaited the delivery of customary sausage rolls and doughnuts which gave my wife Pam a refreshing break as she had provided food and drinks to the whole team throughout the week.

As the 2pm Health & Safety briefing started the event site was looking nearly ready and throughout the rest of the afternoon more and more of the outside exhibitors arrived to set up their displays. By 7pm the team was ready for more food with the obligatory Chinese takeaway. Can you have imagined the sense of suspicion when we called a local Fish and Chip Shop to ordered 35 meals and then asked them to deliver it to Walton Gardens!

As we left the park at around 10pm the event site was complete, but it started to rain.........

At 5.30am on Sunday morning as we drove down Chester Road towards Walton Gardens it was evident by the amount of water that was flooding the drains that it had rained heavily throughout the night. As we arrived on site we could see that it had, there were pools of water everywhere, including inside several marquees. This is where the team approach is at its best, with their brushes and forks to open up the ground they set about getting the job done, placing boards where the water wasn't moving and putting down bales of hay at the entrances of the marquees and other busy walkways. After several years of torrential rain we were well prepared.

By 6.45am most of the 80 stewards were registered and ready for the convoy of exhibitors who started to arrive at around 7.15am, by 8.30am there was a traffic jam along Walton Lea Road. By 10am everyone was set up, only three exhibitors had failed to arrive.

Peter Powel our local Town Crier kicked off the proceedings from the Main Arena that was once again 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, many I spoke to had travelled from across the Northwest and UK including Cumbria, North Wales, Merseyside, Manchester, Cheshire, Newcastle, Birmingham and London.

The Arts Marquee attracted huge crowds and it was good to see the new Arts display was popular, the Slice of Life Film Festival was busy, so too was the new Therapy Marquee.

At 1pm the Mayor of Warrington Councillor Brian Axford started this year's Pulse Sponsored Walk/push which saw dozens of people taking part to raise thousands of pounds for their favourite charity. Thanks to Anne and John Thorpe and their team.

At 1.15pm I welcomed guests to the VIP and Sponsors Reception which is held in the Hall. This was our chance to say "Thank You" to our sponsors and supporters. We were joined at the event by our partners from Rethink who gave us an update on their national "Time to Change" campaign. It was great to see that June and Eddie Clements were well enough to join us. They have both been part of the DAD Week team for many years but due to ill health they weren't able to make it during the week.

Throughout the day it was reported that over 23,000 visitors had joined us, which added to the thousands who had visited the DAD Week events equalled the best attendance figures.

At 4.30pm I presented the best exhibitor awards to Diabetic UK - 'Best Voluntary Sector Exhibitor', Environment Agency" - 'Best Statutory Exhibitor' and newcomers Bradley Autos - 'Best Business Exhibitor'.

During the day I attempted to speak with each exhibitor, I was most impressed to hear what attracted our exhibitors from Spain and Cyprus. They both said that they had seen the website and felt that being present would give them exposure to thousands of people, their potential customers. Great answer! I also made sure I spoke with the team from Gowrings Mobility. They had unfortunately gone into liquidation weeks before DAD, but the new owners felt it necessary to be there.

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, trodden down the rutted grass and headed up to the hall for the Stewards Debrief and a well earned pint and some hot food. But before we got inside the hall up popped Dave Molynuex again, yes he hadn't stopped filming all week. He lined everyone up for one final picture of DAD'S Army.

After the pint and food, and lots of constructive debate which should help iron out the one or two problems we faced during the day I was about to bring the meeting to a close when Dave stunned me into silence when he presented me with a framed picture of "DAD'S Army" that he had taken only an hour before. Each time I look at it reminds me of what a great team we have, and how many young people are now involved. They are our stewards and leaders of DAD events to come.

At around 10.30pm we left the park in the safe hands of the guys from Akme for one final time and headed off home knowing that thousands of people had had a great day out, many will have been inspired and better informed, and as a by-product over one hundred charities had raised over Ł50,000 in the process.

I don't remember going to bed, but at 8.30am on Monday morning we were back, the now depleted team of 12 was back, whilst others returned to their day jobs. During the day Wayne and the lads from Thorn Cross picked up all of the hay that we put down the day before and in reverse order to the week 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, Grahams Stewards Control Point, the lock-up and my office.

Brun had worked her magic again, her planning had been perfect and by 4.30pm the site was entirely clear, well nearly. Unfortunately Keith's team of park rangers still had to clear up the remains of a tree that had been knocked down by a reversing wagon. Sorry!

As you can see DAD 2009 was a huge community event that successfully involved over 230 volunteers, including dozens of family and friends of Warrington Disability Partnership, Lions and Rotary Clubs, Tina and her team from HMS Obdurate Warrington Sea Cadets, Wayne and the lads from Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute, Brian and his team from Dial a Ride, St John Ambulance, Phil and Steve from Warrington Radio and hundreds of other volunteers involved with the exhibitors.

Before I close I would also 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), Cheshire Deafness Support for our BSL interpreters, Warrington Borough Transport for the free bus service, Chris and his team from Relay Transport for assistance with moving the Shopmobility scooters and wheelchairs, George and our 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 our sponsors for the financial support, especially our friend Stephen Broomhead and his team from the North West Regional Development Agency, our partners who organised events during DAD Week, advertisers who support the DAD programme and everyone who donated anything to the events, our exhibitors and visitors.

My final thanks go to the Site Team Terry, Gavin, Tommy, Graham, Pam, Tom, John, Bob, Colin, Mark, Rob, Steve, Wayne and his team from Thorn Cross and last but not least our honouree team member Mr Keith Webb Manager of the Walton Hall Estate. I appreciate that many of the site and admin team had worked up to 140 hours each during the 10 days of DAD 2009. It's no wonder that the Right Honourable Mr Jonathan Shaw Minister for Disabled People said that "DAD typifies the strength, tenacity and flexibility of the voluntary sector". Hear hear.

Thanks again, and until next year.

Kindest regards.

Dave Thompson. MBE. DL

Previous Years