Dentaid Annual Report 2021 (A4 - single page) - Flipbook - Page 2
2
Chairman’s report
As Dentaid enters its 25th year, we do so off the
back of another challenging time.
I am immensely proud of Andy and the team for
adapting in such a dynamic environment. Like all
charities, the inability to remain closely engaged
with supporters has been very difficult when we
aren’t able to run fundraising events, be present
at the major dental exhibitions and awards
ceremonies, or visit regional meetings. The team
misses the interaction and can’t wait to see more
of you all!
CEO’s report
I have been struck by two things over the
past year:
1. How the crisis has accelerated change. In the
UK, we see growing need for our support and
an immediate opportunity to deploy volunteers
unable to travel abroad who are volunteering on
our mobile dental units providing dental care
for the most vulnerable people in their own
communities.
2. And while we can’t yet travel overseas, we
continue to develop our approach that delivers
holistic, sustainable solutions with our local
partners by funding outreach clinics and providing
equipment that enables them to increase
capacity and provide life-changing dental care for
those with no other access to treatment.
My wife is a practising GDP and so I have seen
first-hand the challenges the profession faces. At
the same time, her joy and satisfaction of serving
on Dentaid’s mobile dental unit in Worthing
might just be the highlight of the year
to date! My thanks to each and
every one of our volunteers for
giving time when life continues to
be so topsy turvy.
Crispin Keanie
This year has been one of contrast, change and
opportunity. The impact of the pandemic was
huge, both financially to our charity and to the
lives of our homeless and vulnerable patients.
Overnight our fundraising events were cancelled,
UK clinics stopped and overseas volunteering
trips postponed. So many people were left without
help in such a difficult time.
Lockdowns overseas meant our dentists could not
travel to rural areas to run our outreach clinics.
And in the UK, people experiencing homelessness
who already often live with the misery of dental
pain had nowhere to turn to access care.
This period has brought about a lot of change
globally and in the worlds of charity and dentistry.
And change brings opportunity. Once we could get
back up and running, we adapted our approach to
provide care for as many people as we can. None
of this would be possible without the help of our
volunteers and supporters, and I thank you all.
However, every week the task gets bigger. We
constantly receive requests for clinics in the UK
to help people experiencing homelessness. We
also continue to receive requests from overseas
projects for equipment and our support.
We help where we can, however,
without funding we can only
meet a small proportion of
requests. With more funding
we can do so much more.
Andy Evans