2nd October 2020

Our charity's AGM went digital for the first time on Wednesday 30^th September. Due to Covid-19, we used Zoom to host the event.

Over 30 people connected to the virtual meeting to hear newly incumbent interim CEO Alex Brooks-Johnson and Chair Antonia Hopkins talk about the performance of our charity and its exciting plans.

The AGM was told that Guild Care had been performing well in the last financial year up until January 2020, when the whole world changed. Some key highlights for the previous year 2019/20 included:

• Care homes contributing £793,913 towards Guild Care community services
• Home care providing 1,075 hours of personal and domestic care
• Over 8,000 customer places provided in its remodeled older people’s day service the ‘Friendship Club’
• Expanded its dementia respite provision delivering 5,411 respite care sessions
• Provided 1,715 sessions to older people with learning disabilities (GOLD)
• 10,354 hours of respite through range of activities out of school for children with learning disabilities and their families
• 8,388 sessions of support and care to adults with learning disabilities at our Fitzalan Howard and Birkdale centres
• Volunteer-led accessible minibus transport service assisted 500 passengers a week at a cost of £111,791 to Guild Care.
• Outreach team supported 1,036 people
• Charity shops raised £944,286

In his speech interim CEO Alex Brooks-Johnson explained the current position of the charity. He commented: “Guild Care survived a world war, three global recessions and countless local challenges along the way. When Covid-19 came along we reacted quickly and put robust plans in place to protect Guild Care and as a result, protect the people we serve.

“It’s an honour and privilege to be asked to lead the organisation through these challenging times, but now we are facing big questions.  Who do we need to help now, and in what way? Are there people in Worthing and the surrounding area that are crying out for something else? Are we providing what the community really needs? Is Guild Care, as a charity, is providing support to those that really need it, in the way they want it?” 

Ever since the first wave of Covid-19 began to subside, our Senior Leadership Team has been busy planning, putting together strategic plans for the next 18 months and making provisions for a second wave.

Alex continued: “The next 18 months is about creating some stability in terms of people, our finances and our direction. We have made sure we are in the best possible shape financially and we have the most appropriate staffing structure.

“What the second wave of Covid has helped us realise is that while it’s essential to have a plan, we have and have scoped out various scenarios including the most likely, it’s important to remain flexible and open to change. We’ve tried to involve as many people as possible in these plans so that everyone feels a sense of ownership of them and that they are produced with frontline knowledge, a client’s voice and expertise at the core.”

Alex also paid tribute to the staff at Guild Care who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. He concluded: “I want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff in our care homes, home care, support services and head office for the incredible job they have done over the past nine months.”

You can watch a recording of the AGM below.

Timings
Chairman's Address - 04:23
Questions - 21:21
Annual Accounts - 26:17
Questions - 49:38
Voting - 53:42
CEO Address - 1:01:03
Volunteering Update - 1:14:27
Retail Update - 1:19:47