Westbank Annual Review 2022 - 2023 Looking back on my first full year as CEO of Westbank, I am incredibly proud of the tremendous hard work that has allowed the Charity to continue to grow and thrive, building on the transformative work we started in 2021 post pandemic and achieving some significant milestones. For me, and the charity as a whole, 2022- 23 has been a landmark year. Our dedicated, hardworking and loyal colleagues have been bold and creative and we are now providing even more health and wellbeing services, and care for carers of all ages in communities across the whole of Devon. I am incredibly proud to share some of their achievements from the past year in this report as we continued to develop and transform our services, reaching out to support a wider community in more engaging and innovative ways. All whilst maintaining our focus on holistic, multigenerational service delivery. One of my most powerful observations from the year has been how everyone who works and volunteers for Westbank supports each other, and our shared aims. This was particularly evident in Autumn 2022 when the cost-of-living crisis started to hit home. Our team moved swiftly, and with little budget, to create Warmwell – our incredibly successful initiative that provided a warm space, nutritious lunches and cost of living advice for our local community. Without the dedication and commitment from both our colleagues and our army of volunteers, who are of course the beating heart of our charity, it would not be possible to do what we do. This great teamwork is a big part of how we have been able to do so much in the past year, and it extends beyond Westbank. We are so fortunate to work with commissioners and stakeholders who share our ethos and to whom we are very grateful. I also want to thank our Board of Trustees who generously volunteer their time, sharing their wisdom and expertise to help drive the charity forward. It's 37 years since Westbank was established and our commitment to the Devon community is unabated. We aim to improve our reach in 2023-24 with more projects to care for those who care, combat loneliness, enrich people’s lives, and improve our community’s health & wellbeing and help them maintain their independence. These new health and well-being initiatives have been made possible by our improved communication and fundraising channels and I look forward to telling you about them next year. Sarah Hicks, CEO Annual Review 2022 - 2023