'It's a lifeline' - Disability organisation has been saved days before closure

A Cumbrian disability organisation saved days before closure by local funders has been described as a "lifeline" by service users.

The Allerdale Disability Association announced its closure due to a lack of funding last month, after 48 years of supporting people with impairments.

Michelle Corlett, says people were "crying down the phone" as they were told they could no longer use their service.

She said: "Our service is essential. When we thought we were going to be closing down, we were phoning clients and they were crying to us down the phone - it was very upsetting, listening to them crying.

"But now we've been able to phone all the clients back and let them know the good news. So our diaries are getting full again."

"We even had our Christmas party early because we thought that was it, now we need to organise another, this one will be a celebration."

More than £60,000 has been given to the association by local funders Sellafield, Cumberland Council and Cumbria Community Foundation.

Clients, with organisation's support, have claimed benefit entitlements of £8.4m. Despite a lack of funding over the last few months, their service has seen an increase of 43% from the previous year to 1,908 users.

Explaining how vital their support is, Michelle added: "People from the older generation struggle to use the computers, they don't have emails. Even with people not as old, we've been helping people open up universal credit accounts because they cannot afford a computer.

"People also need to build trust and feel confident in the person they are giving their information to."

Anne Anderson, says it has been a "lifeline" after losing her husband in 2017, she said: "I enjoy coming here because everybody's friendly. So you make new, new friends by coming. I go out sometimes for dinner with some of the group. But yeah, it means everything."

Anne Morgan, who's been using the service for two years, said: "It was tremendous, it was. I mean, everybody clapped. Everybody was joyful. It's something you look forward to, you know. They're all very, very nice."

The charity - founded by people with impairments - has been supporting people across Cumbria for nearly 50 years.

Centre manager Tracey Parker says they did everything to keep the association afloat, including working for free in the last two months.

She said: "We worked on a voluntary basis because there was no funding for salaries. Thanks to this funding from December, we will get paid again. But we love the organisation.

"It means that much to us that we were more than happy to carry on doing as much as we could to either see it wound up or to be able to continue."

Tracey West, from Sellafield, said: "We put £43,000 towards it to make sure the services carry on for the next 12 months, but money's one thing. There's the other aspects around the resource of how we can support them to be able to strengthen and become more resilient.

"The plan will be that somebody will come in and work with the charity, understand what they might need and what improvements can be made."

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