Alice in Serviceland

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

– The Red Queen, Chapter 2, Alice Through the Looking Glass 

Welcome to the C-Change annual report 2023/24. In recent years it has felt that the Red Queen was right and that not-for-profit social care organisations had to run faster and faster just to stand still in this rapidly changing world. However, there is another way to look through the looking glass. One that focusses on value and purpose, intentions and connections. This requires a conscious effort to potentially do less but do it better.  

This is the approach that characterised the year 2023/24 for C-Change. Out of necessity, by speeding up to get things done we recognised we had let go of some things that were important to us about who we are and how we work. We have spent the year 2023/24 realigning to our core purpose and going back to what we value. 

Everything we do starts with people and relationships and belief that better is possible. We harness that belief and create support teams that reinforce it. We celebrate people creating and living their good lives, and continually strive to do, and be, better.  

The current climate is a tough one for disabled people to live good lives. Austerity, covid, discrimination and the cost-of-living crisis mean that people are struggling to get by. Organisations providing support to people are under immense pressure. 

It is easy to be pulled off course. However, more than ever in times like these it is important to focus on what really matters. Keeping simple, working for people, being accountable, being inquisitive, evolving and improving. Belief is fuel, for as Lewis Carroll wrote, 

The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe that it is possible.