18/07/2025
To follow on from my previous post two days ago, people have been asking me the contents of the Freedom of Information I requested from Torbay Council on how much money had been granted to Torbay Communities over the last few years. If you aren’t aware of them, they are the largest voluntary, charitable and social enterprise (VCSE) organisation in Torbay. They are very close friends and partners with Torbay Council and were with Jo Williams (former head of Adult Social Care (ASC)) before she was sacked last year. The organisation was funded to be set up by Torbay Council when two leads were made redundant. It was strongly backed by Steve Darling at the time which is one reason he won’t have a bad word said about them or has taken any complaints against them seriously.
Bear in mind when you read the following that it is not just me and my previous organisation which suffered at the hands of this connection but many, many other brilliant, creative, heart-led organisations locally trying to do incredible things with little or no funding which is why I won’t give in. It’s still happening and needs to stop. It’s why I refuse to ‘shut up’ even though Jim Parker (Trustee of Torbay Communities and editor of Torbay Weekly) has told me to previously.
Just a few weeks ago I met with Commissioning at Torbay Council (one was a former director of Torbay Communities) and AGAIN was told there was zero money at Torbay Council or in care services to support mental health and wellbeing. Bear in mind that it took over a YEAR to get them to respond to me and when I asked them the reason for the delay it was blamed on Jo Williams who can’t respond as she’s gone. There was clear blocking of funds and of opportunity taking place.
Here’s the crux of it;
£4,046,933 has been sent Torbay Communities way over the last few years (yes, millions!), including;
£840,000 directly for community builder salaries (not to mention the other hundreds of thousands of pounds not mentioned specifically here relating to individual ‘projects’). Wouldn’t all the brilliant smaller orgs love a regular salary for leading specialist groups, let alone providing stand alone peer support.
£733,128 given to set up a ‘helpline’ and ‘front door’. When this was launched I told anyone who would listen at the time that there CANNOT be just one front door for ASC. Not all will be well enough or inclined to pick up a phone to call a helpline or indeed know it exists. That’s still the case. Numbers of phone calls are very much known locally not to add up. One extremely important front door exists related to a huge gap in mental health services and that’s linked to the Tidy Home Tidy Mind project we’ve been desperately trying to get recognised and picked up on appropriately the last few years to no avail. THE front door! Behind which people can be reached out to! Again we experienced clear blocking and alienation and this area is still being closely watched and investigated so watch this space.
£486,700 given to Torbay Communities for mental health support (go figure!) plus 10k given to ‘lead’ a mental health co-production project that ended up being a farce. A separate £300k was assigned to that project and supposedly remains unspent which means the NHS and ASC have apparently sat on it for over two years. When I asked at the recent commissioning meeting why so when we have a mental health crisis, I was told by commissioners, “Sharon, things move on”. Clearly not fast enough even with a local crisis in care! The captured evidence of that process was asked for by me (bearing in mind I took part in that process) but it never materialised, apparently ‘lost’. The ‘lead’ Simon Sherbersky was subsequently told to ‘lay low’ as he was effecting the reputation of the organisation and hence the following re-brand from TCDT to TC. He seemingly now runs an offshoot (but certainly related if you look at the directors) organisation called Spindl. Or maybe it’s called Swindle, I can’t quite remember which.
£214,000 has been given to Torbay Communities to support asylum seekers in Torbay. Bear in mind there’s a mental health crisis in Torbay for people who currently live and work here and we heartbreakingly have one of the highest su***de rates in the UK.
£257,957 given to support Special Educational Needs. I’m praying this was distributed to those with actual experience and expertise to support appropriately and not swallowed up by the £2.4 million salary costs/activities the organisation currently reports in its returns.
Finally, to those frustrated that Torquay is favoured. You’re right. The following was given to Torbay Communities to spend:
£126,053 benefiting Torquay (£80k+ of that in Melville which has strong links to the Darling family).
£3,870 to Paignton.
£0 to Brixham.
Again, bear in mind that during a good course of the above £4m+ funding stream, Darren Cowell was lead financial officer for Torbay Council alongside being a Trustee at Torbay Communities. A complete conflict of interest. It was pointed out at the time and I was threatened to be sued but clearly nothing came of it as it was true. This Freedom of Information clearly shows the impact of this conflict.
There is so much more to share and much more that is coming to light. It so needs to happen. If Torbay is to move forward with true collaboration, cooperation, openness and transparency, it needs to find the courage to admit its wrongs, start communicating efficiently and work together to make incredible change that I’ve seen trying to get off the ground by so many great individuals and groups for so long. We all deserve to not just survive but thrive. We need and want opportunity for all, not just a select few 🙂💕🙏
