News
In March 2010, we were delighted ro receive a donation from Waitrose, Lymington for £255. The presentation was made to Ken outside their store.
HIWCF Grant April 2010Our Treasurer, Mike, applied for a ‘Grassroots Grant’ from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation to help with our running costs and to develop our Easy-
Last summer several members of NFAFA had fun carrying out ‘mystery shopping’ access audits for Hampshire County Council. We visited libraries, a registry office, museums and other public buildings to see how accessible they were, to identify any access problems, and to see how helpful the members of staff were.
Exbury Ramble with Hampshire Roamability
In May 2010, members of NFAFA joined Hampshire Roamability for a ramble and a picnic at Exbury Gardens. The weather was cold but dry and the azaleas and rhododendrons put on a magnificent show for us. It was a great day out; our thanks to Mave from Roamability for organising the ramble and keeping us all in order – more or less anyway!
The NFAFA AGM was held at Brockenhurst Village Hall on 15 June. The Annual Report and accounts were approved and elections to the committee were held.
Our excellent guest speakers were Jenny and Andy Clarke, founders of the charity,Woofability, which trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities.
Our excellent guest speakers were Jenny and Andy Clarke, founders of the charity,Woofability, which trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities.
Several members helped at the NFAFA stall at the Pennington Picnic on Sunday 25 July. The Picnic is an annual community event, organised by a local councillor, Paul Hickman. We were blessed with a warm, fine day and lots of pleasant company.
The National Park’s only Coastal Ranger, Leanne Atkinson, was the guest speaker at NFAFA’s September open meeting. The National Park coastline stretches for 26 miles from Hurst Spit to Calshot Spit and includes the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve.
Members gathered at The Potting Shed Tearooms again this year for a very pleasant traditional Christmas lunch. The food was excellent and the company very convivial.
Winners of the second annual NFAFA Awards were presented with their certificates by the Chairman of New Forest District Council, Councillor Pat Wyeth, at a ceremony on December 15th.
Everton Nurseries, near Lymington, were the overall winner of this year’s awards.
Death of Brian Chapman - December 2010
We are very sad to report the death of Brian Chapman, a past chairman of NFAFA. Brian worked hard to establish NFAFA, developing its constitution and setting it up as a charity. He showed a great determination to make a difference to the lives of others, particularly people with disabilities. We are very grateful to him and his wife Maggie for all their hard work and commitment over many years. Our thoughts are with Maggie and her family.
Phil Marshall, Countryside Manager for the National Trust (NT) in the New Forest area, was the guest speaker at the NFAFA open meeting in March. He talked about the land that the NT owns in this area and how they are working to improve access.
Our AGM was held at Brockenhurst Village Hall again this year on the 14th June. The Annual Report and accounts were approved and elections to the committee were held. After a short break for hot drinks, homemade cakes and conversations, we reconvened to hear our guest speaker, Jacki Keable talk about the New Forest Disability Information Service (NFDIS).
HIWCF Grant April 2011
We have been successful this year in obtaining a grant from Red Nose Day Community Cash, which is administered by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation. This will be a great help with our running costs, insurance and projects, particularly at this time when funding is so difficult to come by.
Thank you very much to Comic Relief and HIWCF for your support.
On a fine day in May, eight members gathered at Blashford Lakes Wildlife Reserve near Ringwood, for our first ‘open air’ meeting. We enjoyed a very sociable picnic, followed by a talk about the Reserve by Bob Chapman, Senior Reserves Officer for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT).
Mary wins national award from Disabled Motoring UK September 2011
Mary Lewis, our ex-chairman, has won an award from Disabled Motoring UK.for the Best Accessible Accommodation. The award was for her cottages in Lymington, Bench Cottage and Little Cottage. She was judged not only on the accessibility of her cottages, but also on the friendliness and real consideration she shows her guests. Well done Mary.
Chris Chisholm, a Trustee from the Jumbulance Trust, gave an interesting talk about accessible holidays and about the work of her charity which organises holidays for people with severe disabilities, or who have life-
We also had an introduction to ‘changing places’ toilets with Dan Stoneman
Waitrose Donation
NFAFA was delighted to be chosen as a charity for the ‘Green Disk scheme’ earlier this year. In November 2011, we were very grateful to receive a donation from Waitrose, Lymington for £544. The photo shows Ken receiving the cheque from Poppy, their charity coordinator.
We held an additional meeting in November 2011. Our guest speaker, Gordon Smith, corporate information manager at Hampshire County Council, is responsible for the local consultation on the changes to the new Blue Badge scheme which starts in January 2012. A lively debate followed his presentation.
Sixteen members enjoyed our Christmas lunch at the Sway Manor Hotel. It was a very pleasant occasion, with good company and excellent food.
The third annual NFAFA Awards, sponsored by New Forest District Council (NFDC) were held at Appletree Court in Lyndhurst. Certificates were presented to the winners by Councillor John Penwarden, Chairman of NFDC.