About Signpost
Our History
Signpost was founded in 1999 to help alleviate the stress and anxiety of personal problems by offering a help resource centre.
Its aim was to provide information enabling clients to make an informed choice from the help available and to offer a caring, helping hand. At that time, few homes had access to the Internet and it was difficult to obtain information.
We were fortunate that we were awarded a grant from the Millennium Lottery Fund and a grant from Wychavon Council. This, together with gifts from local businesses, set us on our feet financially, and enabled us to have training. We were also fortunate that Mr. Peter Keil gave us use of offices, rent free, until his death in 2002.
Post 2002 we were situated temporarily in the Gordon Russell building and then at the Police Station until the new offices at Russell Square were ready. Wychavon gave us use of these ideally situated premises, which we use in conjunction with Broadway Parish Council.
Broadway is “out on a limb” as far as the larger Charities are concerned and over the years we have offered our premises to various groups so that residents can access help nearer to their home.
Signpost hosts a monthly Bereavement café, bi-monthly Age UK Wyvern Dementia well-being sessions, monthly Citizens Advice drop-in sessions, and regular CPR & Defibrillator courses by local First Responder Robin Farnworth.
We were successful in applying for a grant from the Mid Counties Co-op towards building a new website, and more recently we were awarded £20,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, these funds will secure our Administrator position for the next 2 years. Additionally we are provided a grant from the Broadway Parish Council and assistance from Wychavon Council.
Our Signpost volunteers, all undertake at least one Rota duty a month and participate in Members meetings. As a small independent Charity, members are fully involved in any decisions. There is a Board of Trustees, which include local businessmen , Treasurer and one or two members.
In 2025 Signpost became a Wychavon Health and Wellbeing Rural Hub, we offer a helpful and caring resource to personal problems by providing information which help individuals to make informed choices. We are open as a drop-in every Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 1pm, Blue Badge applications and assistance with form filling is by appointment, to make an appointment, please call 01386 859029 or email info@signpost.info
Although information is now more easily accessed there are still many in the community who do not know how to obtain it and where to go, especially when they are faced with a major problem. We will do our best to find out their options, what is available and who to contact. In many cases we find that the ability to talk through a problem, knowing what is said will remain confidential actually enables the client to come to their own decision.
In 2024 Signpost Broadway received the Kings Award for Voluntary Service, The MBE for volunteer groups which is the highest award given to volunteer groups across the UK.
Helen Rushmore, Chair, said “I am thrilled that our charity’s work has been recognised with this prestigious award. This is a wonderful recognition of twenty-five years of dedicated and selfless service by our volunteers to the residents of Broadway and the surrounding villages.”
Signpost offers a wide and diverse range of services to the community, delivered exclusively by volunteers in a caring and empowering manner. Some of these include: enabling clients to solve problems (whether social, economic or health-related) in a confidential, safe space; providing urgent, critical support for people in crisis; offering health-related training courses; combating loneliness by creating social interaction opportunities through the Volunteer Hub; helping the grieving with a Bereavement Drop in cafe; assistance with IT, official forms and applications; assisting the local Foodbank and providing office space for other helping agencies including Relate; Citizens Advice; West Mercia Police and Age UK.
