History
2003:
We were awarded a contract to provide a Direct Payments Support Service in Leicestershire.
2004:
We were informed Leicester City Council would be cutting funding from many voluntary organisations. ASPIRE, our leisure opportunities service ‘lost its funding’. Following a generous donation of £10,000 from Kirby and West we were able to continue with the service.
2004:
Honorary Life President, Arthur Sharpe, died. Arthur Sharpe had always warned that it would be a mistakee for mosaic to always rely on local authority contracts. He believed it threatened the independence of a voluntary organisation and it offered an uncertainty. Lessons were learnt from the loss of the ASPIRE funding.
2004:
Launch of Just Writers, a joint project with Just Services, a book of writing by disabled people.
2004:
Currently the services we provide are: Direct Payments, Finance, Information and Help Line, Newsletter, Services to Young People, Antenna Visiting Service, Antenna Counselling Service, Alternative Day Service for 30–65 and ASPIRE which includes day trips, Sunbeam, Overstrand bungalows, Sailability and Holiday Information Database, Independent Life Project.
2006:
In August we started an individual advocacy service in both the City and the County for people with physical and/or sensory impairments, also for people with learning difficulties in the county.
2006:
With funding from a non-recurring grant from Health, we launched ‘Living With…’ a book of 34 articles by disabled people living with a particular medical condition.
2007:
25th Anniversary of the opening of Bungalow One at Overstrand. To celebrate, we had a competition to name the bungalows. Bungalow One was named The Fairway and Bungalow Two became the The Links.
2008:
We began an advocacy service is Rutland.
1 April 2009:
This date has become a turning point of mosaic: shaping disability services. The contract for the Direct Payments Support Service in the City was awarded to another organisation. This reminded us of Arthur Sharps sentiments about local authority funding. The trustees decided it was time to establish some new services which could be funded by Direct Payments and Individual Budgets. These services included ColtonCare@mosaic, Creating Opportunities and the Self Directed Support Service.
31 December 2009:
We hope to have completed the purchase of our new building – 100 years since we bought our first building.
The history of mosaic: shaping disability services is documented in ‘From Strength to Strength’ by Derek Seaton. This is available from the office.