Grapevine was set up in 1994 as a project of Coventry and Warwickshire Co-operative Development Agency. We separated from CDA and became a charity in our right in 2004 but kept the co-operative ethos.
We have a genuine commitment to staff and ‘user’ involvement in how we are run. We employ people both with and without learning disabilities.
Grapevine is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. We have a Board of Trustees half of whose members have learning disabilities. They are responsible for the governance of Grapevine. We have a full range of policies.
When Grapevine first opened it was no more than friendly drop in centre with ambitions. Today we can offer a much wider range of services all aimed at helping people with a learning disability have better lives.
Since 1994 we have delivered projects funded by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, Comic Relief, Big Lottery, Community Fund, Camelot Foundation, Lloyds TSB, Coventry City Council and the Primary Care Trust.
Our project, the H team, was short listed for a national Community Care award and has twice been featured in the Learning Disability Practice Journal. Our Campaigns team were highly commended in the national Care Services Improvement Partnership Positive Practice Awards.
Grapevine was chosen by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities as one of four sites in the UK to take part in a research programme, ‘Life in the Community’. We were chosen because we are ‘enthusiastic about making the changes needed to enable people with high support needs to be more fully included in their communities’.
We are also currently partners to BILD, delivering training and action learning sets on citizen advocacy to advocacy groups in the Midlands and South East.
Our vision is
- That people with learning disabilities are included in everyday life and enjoy lives enriched by having valued roles and being ‘connected’ to communities
Our purpose is
- To equip our members with the knowledge, skills and experiences that will enable them to be included in everyday life away from segregated settings and services
We achieve this through:
- Empowering people with learning disabilities to lead and organise their own community-based activities and projects
- Enabling people to develop a wider network of relationships, support and activity based in their neighbourhoods and communities
- Supporting people to make choices and exercise their rights.