Susie brings Mencap and Wigwam closer together
ESTABLISHING an advocacy role to further assist members and raising the charity’s profile through informative events are two of the aims of incoming Guernsey Mencap chairwoman Susie Gallienne.
She is relinquishing her post as family support coordinator at fellow disability charity Wigwam – a role she has held for six years – in order to take up the position, with long-term Wigwam volunteer Trudi Manning replacing her.
Mrs Gallienne will however still be involved with Wigwam as chairwoman.
Having been Wigwam’s representative on Mencap’s committee for three years, she was confident that she would be able to transition into her role as chairwoman of both charities quickly, and was eager for them to work closely together in order to support their members.
Wigwam supports about 250 families who have children with additional needs, while Mencap has 200 members, each of whom have some form of learning disability.
‘A lot of the support we offer is verbal so it’s quite personal in that sense, we don’t keep much of a written record of any issues that people have as we prefer to see them face-to-face,’ Mrs Gallienne said.
‘It’s a bit like Citizens Advice.’
Regarding Mencap’s short-term future, she hoped to soon employ an advocate who would work eight hours a week and help members on a range of legal matters.
She was also keen to increase the charity’s outreach through more talks and presentations to companies.
‘I want to further narrow the gap between those with learning disabilities and those without, and the best way of doing that is to increase awareness,’ she said.
Financially, the charity has been assisted with funding through a £15,000 rolling grant from the Social Investment Fund, which Mrs Gallienne said had gone towards replacing many of the charity’s white goods – including fridges, washing machines and dishwashers. The goods are often used for educational purposes in training flats.
‘The life cycles of the previous ones we had were coming to an end,’ she said.
‘If it wasn’t for the grant, the cost would have fallen on families.’
She also thanked Valpys for providing a discount on the goods.
She was eager to maintain good relationships with the charity’s partners and sponsors, who she said had been generous with their support in the past.
This included donations to the charity’s seasonal social events, and financial support towards the running costs of its two-bed respite and training flat at Les Grands Courtils.
‘We are in a good place but I think we can develop things further,’ she said.
‘Hopefully by increasing awareness and support we will be able to respond even more effectively to our members’ concerns.’
