On 6 November 2025, we welcomed over 100 attendees to our Annual General Meeting at Glide House. It was a special milestone this year, marking 25 years of Darnall Well Being, and we’re grateful to Gripple for giving us their building for the event. The event combined the formal AGM with a special celebration of our history, achievements, and community impact.
Highlights from the AGM
- Formal Business (for the year April 2024-March 2025):
- Approval of last year’s minutes and financial report.
- Election and re-election of trustees, including welcoming new Board members Natalie Jones and Andrew Snelling.
- Financial overview was given by Milda Hameed.
- Impact Report was presented by Fran Arnold and Natalie Duffy:
- Darnall Welll Being supported over 700 people through groups, volunteering, and one-to-one support, with an additional 679 people receiving lighter-touch support. That’s nearly 1,400 people whose wellbeing we’ve directly helped to improve.
- We delivered over 80 dementia sessions, 16 Green Social Prescribing walks, and expanded our social prescribing 1-1 team with two new link workers, Maisie and Rahimah.
- Volunteers contributed 1,000+ hours just to supporting our groups, and this time is calculated to have an annual economic value of over £25,500. Volunteers gave still more time to attending training, representing us at events, and helping us with admin work.
- Wider projects included Welcome Places, Green Social Prescribing, SYNC youth engagement initiatives, and Discover Darnall work.
Our Impact Report was available to pick up and read at the AGM. You can also read it online here:
Celebrating 25 Years
Speakers at the AGM reflected on our journey from pioneering social prescribing in the late 1990s to becoming a trusted community anchor today. Founding GP Dr Jack Czauderna and first worker Lesley Carver shared inspiring stories of early health walks, buddy schemes, and creative activities that shaped our ethos of “working with, not for” the community.
We also heard from:
- Public Health partner Lynn Brandon, who highlighted our role as a “leading light” in tackling health inequalities.
- Former staff member Yvonne Witter, who shared her journey from volunteer to health trainer with Darnall Well Being, and how that experience has positively influenced her career since.
- The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Safiya Saeed, who praised our diversity, representation, and volunteer power.
And we shared a video made for the event, sharing stories from people who have been involved with Darnall Well Being over the past 25 years in different ways:
Celebration
After the speeches and a minute’s silence to remember those we have lost during the past 25 years, we went to enjoy a buffet together, whilst being entertained by singing from JoJanGles dementia choir, and games run by our own “Lord & Lady Wellbeing”!
Looking Ahead
Despite funding challenges, our commitment to health, wellbeing, and community empowerment remains stronger than ever. We continue to adapt, innovate, and collaborate to meet local needs.
Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to our staff, volunteers, trustees, partners, friends and funders – and to everyone who joined us to celebrate this incredible milestone. Here’s to the next 25 years of making a difference together!