Dosh’s 10 Commitments for 2021/2022
By Steve Raw, Managing Director & Joanne Davies, Charityworks Graduate
With the start of the new financial year comes the opportunity to look back on what we achieved in 2020/2021 and to set out what we will set out to do in the coming year.
2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and it was no different for Dosh. We had to adapt to the new and challenging conditions that corona virus brought about.
Nevertheless, Dosh adjusted to life during the pandemic extremely well, continuing to advocate for the people we support and visiting almost 80% of the people we support every three months, whether online or in person.
Moreover, we continued to improve and expand Dosh, using our three strategic aims as our guiding principles.
Those aims were: to have an impact and make sure all our work makes a positive, valuable difference for people with a learning disability,
To keep strong values and to support people as well as make business decisions that fit with our values and vision.
To influence the world around us through partnering with other organisations to share our knowledge and experience as well as speaking up for the people we support.
Dosh did excellently in making sure that we achieved those aims.
In regards to having a positive, valuable impact, 92% of the people we support said they were happy or very happy with the support they get from Dosh. To see the full results from the annual survey, click here.
In regards to keeping strong values, Dosh took a two-pronged approach, introducing a “Dosh Values” course for new staff to give them a strong sense of what Dosh stands for. We also promoted the people we support’s individual independence and control over their money, with 87% of the people we support saying that they can use their money to do what they want.
In regards to having an influence on the world around us, Dosh provided consultancy and training for other organisations, including care providers, local supporters and advisors.
So now, building on our successes from the last year, Dosh would now like to make 10 new commitments. Our new commitments are:
10 Commitments for Dosh in 2020-2021
1. 
Budget management
We will continue to exercise caution and control over our Budget and Budgetary management.
We will continue to review how we monitor, evaluate and report on our management accounts, so that we become financially stronger and more sustainable. Dosh will also consider Growth vs Consolidation during this business cycle.
2. Leadership
We will be the leader in our field for Holacracy, self-leadership and team-leadership
Building sel
f-leadership and self-organising teams to enable dynamic and flexible leadership, growth and development to be at the centre of our culture.
3. Financial advocacy
What does financial advocacy mean now? How do we act as financial advocates for someone?
During 2021 – 22 we need to continue to ask this question and check in with the people we support so that we continue to provide the support peo
ple want rather than what we think people want. How does that shape our external communications, the image we want to give and the research/projects/consultancy/campaigns we undertake?
4. Quality Assurance & Control
Knowing we are doing a good job and ensuring consistency and quality as we grow
We will review our quality strategy and introduce specific roles in the team to take a lead on managing and developing quality across Dosh.
5. Impact Measurement and Management
Knowing what makes a difference so we can have a greater impact
Dosh will develop its own impact management project to review and develop the positive impact we can have, alongside providing support and resources (both physical and equipment) to the Thera Group’s Impact Management strategy.
6. Financial and digital access:
Promoting better access to money for the people we support
We will look to create better access to spending money and cards for people we support who may not have capacity for banking/spending and inclusion in digital and online payments and spending. One of a number of research projects we will progress during 21/22.
7. Co
mmunication
How we communicate with our stakeholders.
With clearer/smarter data and information management we will find the best method, style and media to connect with people
8.Wellbeing
Supporting staff wellbeing, diversity and engagement
We believe our employee wellbeing can directly improve the mental and physical health of the workforce, with general health being linked to increased levels of productivity, performance and retention and reduced absence. During this business year we will celebrate diversity, ensure wellness & wellbeing and active engagement with our colleagues.
9. Risk Management
Making smart business decisions and being well managed
We will develop our business and management policies and operational processes including when someone is no longer supported or passes away, how we deal with complaints and how we report our performance. This will give clear oversight so that we make conscious, clearly recorded decisions.
- Thera Trust support
We will add value to Thera Trust
This will include:
- Research and pilot projects
- Impact management
- Social media
- Membership of committees and communication groups
- Leadership Development and Training
- Input into policies & procedures
- Supporting ‘Open Innovation’ and collaboration across the Group
To understand more about the Dosh 10 Commitments, watch our youtube video!
Dosh 10 Commitments v2 – YouTube
Angela Atkin April 6th, 2021
Posted In: News and Blogs, Uncategorized
Tags: blog, improvement, promise, strategy
Impact, Values and Influence: Our Strategy for 2020-21
By Meike Beckford, Lead Director
While we have been busy adapting our support to lockdown conditions with Coronavirus, we’ve been a little quiet on our other projects. We are now lucky enough to have our teams set up to work from home and in between continuing our core payments and advocacy work, we have been turning our attention back to our goals for the coming year.
When we started planning for 2020-21, we thought about what was really important in our work. How do we make a difference and achieve our mission to give people more independence and control over their money? We wanted to make sure that, whatever new opportunities and developments came our way, we remained focused on our core mission.
To do this, we came up with 3 strategic themes:
1. Impact
Making sure all our work makes a positive, valuable difference for people with a learning disability.
2. Values
Supporting people and making business decisions that fit with our values and vision, for example to promote people’s independence and control.
3. Influence
Partnering with other organisations to share our knowledge and experience and speak up for the people we support.
We want to use this direction to help us make decisions about what we do over the coming year. How we decide which projects to take on, which areas to work in and how best to support people. So, this year, we’ll be asking:
Impact: how will this positively impact the people we support?
Values: how are we acting and what are we speaking up for?
Influence: how does this grow our voice to achieve our mission for people we support?
This isn’t something we can achieve alone, so we are excited to be working with our partners including the people we support and their families and circles of support; the over 200 support providers we work with across the country; social services and healthcare professionals; financial services and benefits agencies. We look forward to sharing our projects with you and welcome any ideas you’d like to share with us.
This is all working towards achieving our purpose to empower, give voice to and enable each person with a learning disability to be more independent and have more control over their money so they can live the life they choose.
Read more about our vision and purpose with the Dosh Promise.
Meike Beckford May 15th, 2020
Posted In: News and Blogs, Uncategorized
