The Old Post Centre Newhall Voluntary Organisations

Contact the Elderly

When older people live alone, without family or friends living nearby, loneliness can become their only companion. Many prefer to live independently, yet it can be a hard and lonely road. Small local groups use volunteer drivers who each pick up 1 or 2 elderly people from their own homes. They take them to the home of a volunteer host where the volunteers and older people spend a few hours together with afternoon tea, usually on a Sunday. - Read more

Dementia Research Group

The Dementia Research Centre, based at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, is one of the UK's leading centres for clinical research into dementia, and the hospital is the lead centre for trialling new drugs to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (which causes the majority of dementia). The Dementia Research Centre is part of the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at the UCL Institute of Neurology. - Read more

Help the Aged

On 1 April 2009 the four national Age Concerns in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland joined with Help the Aged to create four new national charities dedicated to improving the lives of older people. We all speak with one voice on behalf of all older people. We are listening to what older people want as we improve our services and activities so that we can achieve our vision of a world in which older people flourish. - Read more

Independant Age RUKBA

We work to keep thousands of older people independent and out of poverty by providing them with practical support, financial help and lifelong friendship. We have over 140 years' experience of supporting older people at home. In addition to regular payments, we provide a range of other support and services including: volunteer visitor support; grants for emergencies and equipment; hospital stay packs and bedding. Our work is undertaken by 1200 volunteers who support and befriend beneficiaries. - Read more

Derbyshire Friend

derbyshireFRIEND (df) has been a central character in the local gay community since its launch in 1983. Originally the organisation, set up and run by enthusiastic volunteers from the local gay community, aimed to help other lesbians, gay men and bisexuals come to terms with coming out and meeting other lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. To this day that core aim still hasn't changed. We are also frequently contacted by people who feel that they have difficulties relating to transvestism and transgenderism. A unique feature of df is its befriending service, whereby callers are able to gain support and friendship from our volunteers. df is also becoming the central support organisation for most lesbian, gay and bisexual organisations in Derbyshire offering our services in time and resources to groups, such as Choices Youth Group and the University LGB Group. - Read more

AbilityNet

AbilityNet is a registered national charity (charity no. 1067673).with over 20 years experience helping people adapt and adjust their information and communications technology (ICT). We're unique in what we do, working across the UK and beyond. Our special expertise is ensuring that whatever your age, health condition, disability or situation you find exactly the right way to adapt or adjust your ICT to make it easier to use. There are a confusing number of adaptations that change frequently, and a huge range of prices. We'll always point out the low cost and free solutions first and let you try various solutions, so you avoid making costly mistakes. - Read more

Action for Blind People

Action for Blind People is one of the largest charities in the UK providing free and confidential support for blind and partially sighted people in all aspects of their lives. We are dynamic and have a reputation for talking less and doing more. Driven by the needs of visually impaired people, we deliver what people say they need, not just what we think they need. Our mission is to inspire change and create opportunities to enable people with sight loss to have equal voice and equal choice. - Read more

British Council for Disabled People BCODP

Established in 1981, The British Council of Disabled People (BCODP) acts as a co-ordinating and representative body for disabled people and organisations controlled by disabled people. We now have 130 member groups and many hundreds of individual members covering about 400,000 disabled people in all. We are the genuinely representative voice of disabled people in the United Kingdom. One relevant objective of BCODP is to provide information and support to our member groups and to disabled people to help them organise themselves into campaigning organisations to work together to achieve change. Our web presence is an important vehicle for carrying out that objective. - Read more

Disabled Information Advice Line DIAL UK

Welcome to DIAL UK, a national organisation for a network of approximately 120 local disability information and advice services run by and for disabled people. Last year DIALs helped over a quarter of a million disabled people. DIAL information and advice services are based throughout the UK and provide information and advice to disabled people and others on all aspects of living with a disability. All DIAL services are currently working to meet strict new quality standards. - Read more

Disability Sport England

Disability Sport Events (DSE) create participation opportunities for disabled people with all impairments. We provide events in various sports which allow athletes to follow the pathways to international success. Founded in 1961, our knowledge and experience is respected worldwide. This means, we welcome international athletes at some events in our established annual events programme. DSE ensures that from grass roots level to international standard, disabled sportspeople can participate in sport. We are actively increasing sporting prowess from beginners, who want to develop their talent, to top British disabled sports people, who get high competition at our events. - Read more

Epilepsy Action (British Epilepsy Association)

Epilepsy Action aims to improve the quality of life and promote the interests of people living with epilepsy. The driving force for the creation of British Epilepsy Association (BEA) came from the work of Dame Evelyn Fox, who was General Secretary of the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH now known as MIND) in the late 1940s, and Dr Tyler Fox (no relation) who was Medical Director of the Epilepsy Colony at Lingfield in Surrey. The third member of the group was Irene Gairdner, a social science graduate from the London School of Economics. Since May 2002, BEA has worked under the name Epilepsy Action. However, its aims are still the same as those in 1950, namely to improve the quality of life for people with epilepsy. As well as campaigning to improve epilepsy services and raise awareness of the condition, Epilepsy Action offers assistance to people in a number of ways including a national network of branches, accredited volunteers, regular regional conferences, an Epilepsy Helpline and website. - Read more

The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS)

The National Deaf Children's Society was founded in London on 15 December 1944 by a handful of parents of deaf children concerned about the impact of the 1944 Education Act on their schooling. 2002 saw the merger of NDCS and Friends for Young Deaf People, resulting in the creation of the NDCS youth wing. The merger allows NDCS to provide a seamless service supporting families with deaf children from birth to 25. To this day, NDCS's Visions and Values reflect the fact that it remains essentially a parents' organisation, dedicated to the needs of all deaf children, their families and carers. - Read more

Headway

Headway is a charity set up to give help and support to people affected by brain injury. It does this in a number of ways. A network of local Groups and Branches throughout the UK and Channel Islands offers a wide range of services, including rehabilitation programmes, carer support, social re integration, community outreach and respite care. The services available will vary, depending on local needs and resources. Headway UK provides support to the local Groups and Branches and helps to deliver high quality services through guidance on policies, procedures, standards and training. - Read more

MENCAP

Mencap is the voice of learning disability. Everything we do is about valuing and supporting people with a learning disability and their families and carers. We have 6,800 committed staff working all across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These include everyone from support staff working directly with people with a learning disability in support services to staff working in other important areas such as campaigning and administrative roles. We also have many staff members with a learning disability. All members of affiliated local groups, which are themselves independently run charities, are also members of Royal Mencap Society. Our individual membership and membership through local groups is currently around 50,000 people. - Read more

MIND

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress. Mental health problems can affect anyone, rich or poor, young or old, shattering the lives of those affected and the lives of the people close to them. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. Each year more than 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals and over 4,000 people take their own lives. Mind is the best known charity for mental health, and we have a rich tradition of working to improve lives. We now have a chance to build on that reputation, to seize the moment and to change the faces of mental health. Our broad use of funding from the public, trusts and companies (but not pharmaceutical companies) allows us to take an independent stance. - Read more

Rethink

We were founded over 30 years ago to give a voice to people affected by severe mental illness and today, with over 8,300 members, we remain determined that this voice will continue to be heard. We help over 48,000 people every year through our services, support groups and by providing information on mental health problems. Our website receives almost 300,000 visitors every year. Our aim is to make a practical and positive difference by providing hope and empowerment through effective services, information and support to all those who need us. People who use our services and their carers are at the heart of our vision and we believe that all those who experience severe mental illness are entitled to be treated with respect and as equal citizens. We carry out research which informs both our own and national mental health policy and actively campaign for change through greater awareness and understanding. And we are dedicated to creating a world where prejudice and discrimination are eliminated. - Read more