HVA Annual Report 2016-17

Annual Review 2016–17 Working with volunteers and communities in Hastings and St Leonards

growing groups ‌ making links staying strong

What is HVA? Our overall aim The overall purpose of Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA) is to enhance the quality of life of people in the Hastings area by promoting the principle and practice of voluntary action by both individuals and organised groups, and by supporting the development of local initiatives to meet community needs.

A very interesting event. Well thought out content while allowing ample networking opportunities. Excellent delivery and extremely well organised. Great use of technology to engage and get live feedback.�

Our specific aims l

To provide services that help Voluntary and Community groups operate effectively and deliver quality services.

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To identify local needs and work with communities and other agencies to develop appropriate action.

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To develop effective networks and collaboration between organisations and groups working within the community.

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To enable voluntary and community sector views to be represented in an effective and accountable way.

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To ensure that the voluntary and community sector can work in strategic partnership with other sectors.

I came away from our meeting feeling so positive about the possibilities in Hastings, and really reassured that there is someone as knowledgeable and helpful as you on hand to offer advice.�

Keira Smalley Action Tutoring

Lucie Mason Tomorrow’s People

Our values The work of HVA is guided by a set of values which help to determine work priorities and the overall style of working. HVA recognises that Hastings is a diverse town and that everyone has a contribution to make and a right to equality of opportunity.

HVA believes that: l

no person should suffer oppression or lack of opportunity based on race or ethnic origin, gender, faith, sexual identity, disability, age, education or economic achievement,

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all people should have the opportunity to collectively play an active part in their community,

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all people have rights to social justice and to participate in decision-making processes and local action,

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priority should be given to working with people whose full participation in society is limited by economic and social disadvantage.

What does HVA do?

Hastings Voluntary Action helps charities, community groups and social enterprises in Hastings and St Leonards to start up, grow and thrive.

HVA is an essential voice and does a great job in providing support, campaigning, and leading on projects.�

Catherine Orbach Culture Shift

Our services include: Providing information Keeping groups up to date with the latest news, finding out what is on offer to voluntary groups and promoting the activities of organisations that join HVA. Funding advice Delivering expert advice on where to find funding and how to increase your chances of success when applying for funding.

Community accountancy Helping groups to set up their financial processes and procedures, providing independent examinations of accounts, and a payroll service for employers.

Group support Assisting groups to start up and create their governing documents; advising groups on good practice and helping them to overcome problems.

Training Facilitating a range of training sessions to improve the skills and knowledge of voluntary sector staff, volunteers and trustees.

Representation We work with groups to develop a stronger voice for the voluntary and community sector within Hastings and across East Sussex.

Chair’s report 2016–17

As Chair of the HVA Trustee Board I am pleased to introduce this Annual Review which summarises our work during the last year. The Voluntary and Community Sector continues to operate in a challenging environment and the importance of an organisation like HVA in providing infrastructure support and advice cannot be over-stated. We help organisations manage risk and navigate the complex and sometimes difficult funding situation. Our work has levered in millions of pounds of investment, contributed to the regeneration of the Borough, and delivered services to its most vulnerable residents.

The diversity of our activity has increased but our values have not changed. We aim to ‘narrow the gap’ between those who plan services and those who receive them. We work to enable strong and lasting partnerships between sectors, and we assist communities to do those things they think most important.

Whether it is helping a new community group set up and obtain its first small grant or leading a large body such as the East Sussex Strategic Partnership, HVA has played a role.

During the period of this review we have also taken the time to look at our future direction and to develop a new strategic plan taking into account the views of our members, of staff, of volunteers and of Trustees. Our new 5 year plan emphasises this vision and role.

Jackson Hall, Portland Place, Hastings TN34 1QN Tel: 01424 444010 Email: admin@hvauk.org

www.hastingsvoluntaryaction.org.uk Charity Nº 802632 Company Nº 2409902

I hope that in reading this document you will get a flavour of the range and diversity of HVA’s work. On behalf of the member organisations of HVA I would like to end this report by offering our collective thanks to HVA staff, volunteers, and Trustees all of whom have worked so incredibly hard, often in difficult circumstances, to deliver the work and services of Hastings Voluntary Action.

Mike Cornish, Chair Hastings Voluntary Action

Our key achievements 2016–2017

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Development During 2016/17 HVA has:

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Represented the Voluntary and Community Sector on key economic and regeneration bodies to offer continuing input to the strategic regeneration of the Borough.

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Developed new volunteer befriending schemes through our Building Stronger Bridges project to provide support for vulnerable or socially isolated residents.

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Developed innovative programmes of activity through our Chances 4 Change and Team Well Fit programmes to promote positive mental health, healthy eating and increased physical activity.

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Delivered a local service to enable advice and support to be available to victims of ‘hate crime’ and other incidents involving discrimination.

Supported the development of East Sussex Recovery Alliance, enabling them to grow in size, recruit new members of staff and deliver services in their new premises.

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Supported the continuing development of Educating Futures Trust – an education charity which delivers a range of services for children and their families and enables partnership activity between schools and academies.

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Provided project management support to the Links Project providing a weekly “one stop shop” offering support and advice for asylum seekers, refugees and new migrant communities.

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Embedded the successful (and award winning!) Clean Seas Please campaign to ensure Hastings continues to exceed the EU Bathing Water standard – crucial to local tourism and image of the town.

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Provided briefings to partnerships and inductions to new strategic leaders to profile the achievements and challenges of the local Voluntary Sector.

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Advised on Community Asset transfers to enable voluntary organisations to have access to premises or land or register a building as a community asset.

Our key achievements 2016–2017 continued

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Support During 2016/17 HVA has:

in depth support to 207 charities, community groups and social enterprises on a range of issues including funding, community accountancy, governance and committee skills, human resources, building management, and policies.

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Helped to lever in over £2,950,000 for the Hastings area, and created or sustained at least 29 jobs.

Helped groups access relevant and up to date statistical information to support quality funding proposals.

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Facilitated 26 training sessions on a range of issues including funding, finance, committee skills, communication, and representation.

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Operated Jackson Hall as a Community Hub for the sector, housing HVA’s own services and offering affordable high quality accommodation to 8 other voluntary organisations, and a mailbox service to 26 more.

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Provided space to local groups for over 500 meetings (either free or low cost), as well as equipment loans, hot desking and ‘virtual office’ facilities.

Chaired the Fisheries Local Action Group and supported the successful application for our local fishing industry to receive funding for crucial infrastructure projects via a new FLAG 2 programme.

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Supported NHS Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group’s small grants scheme, part of the CCG’s Healthy Hastings and Rother programme to tackle health inequality in the area.

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Undertook local consultation to support a new £900,000 CCG funding programme to support local Community Assets.

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Supported the Foreshore Trust grant-making process which has distributed over £50,000 of grant to local groups.

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Continued to provide the voluntary and community sector with fast, accurate and up to date information through our newsletter, ebulletins, website, Facebook and Twitter. In March 2017, over 1200 people received our newsletter and HVA had over 2000 Facebook friends and over 1300 Twitter followers!

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Maintained a comprehensive database of local organisations and published a ‘real time’ version available on HVA’s website.

We have regularly used this information to profile the social and economic impact of the sector.

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As part of Volunteer Centre East Sussex, HVA helped Hastings organisations to recruit and retain volunteers, and organised Volunteer Co-ordinators’ Networking Forums.

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Led a programme of Community Engagement across East Sussex to advise on strengthening and supporting Community Resilience.

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Collaboration During 2016/17 HVA has:

Continued to facilitate the Hastings Community Network, and organised open sector-wide HCN networking events focussed on key topics chosen by the community.

Facilitated the Hastings Community Network Executive to discuss current issues affecting the voluntary sector and ensure that representation happens in an accountable and transparent way.

Developed the Hastings Youth Partnership to increase opportunities for young people and enable collaboration between organisations.

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Offered facilities to enable new networks and forums to develop including new support groups.

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Been an active member of the countywide SpeakUp forum, VCS regional bodies, and our national association NAVCA.

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Supported the continuing development of the Community University partnership Programme (CUPP).

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Held focus groups to gather the in-depth experiences of patients and service users.

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Provided mediation support to enable organisations to function effectively and support the effective delivery arrangements in partnerships and consortia.

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Acted as an “honest broker� by bringing groups together to support partnership or consortia bidding to bring additional investment to the local area.

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Championed and collaborated on a multi-million pound bid for Hastings and Bexhill to become a Community Led Local Development Area.

Our key achievements 2016–2017 continued

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Influence During 2016/17 HVA has:

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Chaired the East Sussex Strategic Partnership bringing together the Public Private and Voluntary Sectors to progress key strategic issues at a County-wide level.

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Been part of the East Sussex County Council liaison group to provide the sector’s views at a strategic level to East Sussex County Council.

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Supported voluntary sector representatives on 12 partnerships, including health, education and learning, regeneration and economic development, and community safety partnerships, and (via SpeakUp, pictured below) on relevant countywide bodies.

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Produced regular briefings and ‘position’ statements so that representation and networking takes place in as transparent way as possible.

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Gathered views and fed into key consultation exercises at a local, county wide regional and national level.

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Served on the Hastings Academies Trust board to support the raising of educational attainment in Hastings and St Leonards.

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Provided regular briefing and training opportunities to public sector bodies, government ministers and civil servants to ensure that policy makers develop an understanding of the local sector and its issues.

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Helped public sector bodies to recruit new community members onto their partnerships and engagement structures.

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Acted as a member of the Hastings Executive Delivery Group bringing together the leaders of the public, private and voluntary sector for the Hastings Area.

Income and expenditure WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM East Sussex County Council (ESCC) Generic Infrastructure 78,000 Tudor Trust - for Hastings Community Network 55,000 NHS Hastings & Rother Clinical Commissioning Group 22,404 ESCC Chances 4 Change 37,318 ESCC Triple P 17,359 ESCC Community Assets into Activity 30,391 ESCC Growing Community Resilience 22,404 Hastings Borough Council Safer Hastings Partnership – 10,681 Crime Reduction Activities Hastings Borough Council Community Partnership Fund 15,000 Environment Agency 16,328 Office rental and earned income 146,025 Other HVA projects and restricted income 294,082 held for other groups Total income: £744,992

For further information about the work of HVA, contact: Hastings Voluntary Action Jackson Hall, Portland Place Hastings TN34 1QN Tel: 01424 444010 Charity Nº 802632 Company Nº 2409902

HOW THE MONEY WAS SPENT Group Support, Funding, Information 175,882 & Strategic Development Networking, Representation & Youth Partnership 51,120 ESCC Chances 4 Change (public health) 58,170 ESCC Triple P 17,359 ESCC Community Assets Into Activity (Team Well Fit) 27,211 ESCC Growing Community Resilience 34,905 Hastings Borough Council Safer Hastings Partnership - 18,938 Crime Reduction Activities Running costs of Jackson Hall 20,145 Office running costs 16,346 Governance and management 14,361 Other HVA projects and funds 256,718 administered for other groups Total expenditure £691,155

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2017 Unrestricted funds Designated funds Restricted funds Net assets

HVA’s Management Committee confirms that this income and expenditure account represents a summary extracted from the annual accounts for the financial year April 2016 to March 2017. The full accounts were approved by the Management Committee and will be submitted to the Charities Commission and the Register of Companies. This financial summary is for information only and may not contain sufficient details to allow a full understanding of the financial affairs of HVA.

31.03.16 52,148 10,000 251,650 £313,798

31.03.17 64,926 10,000 292,709 £367,635

Auditor’s Statement: I have examined the financial summary contained in this report. In my opinion it is consistent with the financial statements of HVA for the year ended 31 March 2017.

Ashdown Hurrey, 20 Havelock Road, Hastings TN34 1BP Full accounts including the Auditor’s report and Director’s report can be obtained from HVA, Jackson Hall, Portland Place, Hastings TN34 1QN.

HVA current projects Our current projects include: l Chances 4 Change (improving public health), l Team Well Fit (increasing physical activity) l Hate Crime service (supporting those affected by hate crime), l Fisheries Local Action Group (supporting the fishing community), l Big Local North East Hastings (a resident-led 10 year project in North East Hastings) – Away Day pictured below, l Volunteer Centre East Sussex (promoting volunteering).

We also provide significant support for l the LINKS project (supporting asylum seekers, refugees and new migrant communities) and l East Sussex Recovery Alliance (ESRA) (peer led recovery organisation).

Membership Hastings Voluntary Action is proud to be a user led organisation, with membership open to charities, community groups, social enterprises and other not-for-profit organisations that operate in Hastings.

Our Trustee Board is directly elected from our members. A strong membership is important to us and reflects the diversity of the sector including groups working in the fields of health and social welfare, environment, arts and leisure, sport, education, community action and self-help.

We have worked hard to keep membership free and have negotiated additional benefits or discount for our members.

For further information about membership of HVA, call 01424 444010 or visit www.hastingsvoluntaryaction.org.uk

Who are we?

STAFF & VOLUNTEER TEAM 2016–17 Steve Manwaring – Director Su Barnicoat – Chances 4 Change Community Development Worker Lisa Bartholomew – Big Local Administrator (from Jul 2017) John Humphries – Information Officer Carolyn Jackson – Hastings Community Network Administrator (until Dec 2016) James Leathers – Hastings Community Network Co-ordinator (from Jan 2017) Oliver Leonard – HVA volunteer (from Aug 2016) Donna Meenan – Group Support Worker (from April to Aug 2016) Keith Miller – Finance & Payroll Officer Jan Papworth – Big Local Community Development Worker (from Jul 2017) Tracy Perry – HVA volunteer Rachel Rutty – Lead Administrator Sarita Sharma – Administrator

TRUSTEES 2016–17 Sue Adey, Royal Voluntary Service (until May 2017) Mike Cornish, Winterbourne Close Residents Association Graham Goode, Friends of Horizons Ken Hales, Hastings & St Leonards Seniors’ Forum

Louise South – Team Well Fit Co-ordinator

James Johnson, Friends of Africa and the Caribbean in England (FACE) (from January 2017)

Peter Thorpe – Deputy Director

Ann Kramer, Women’s Voice (from April 2017)

Jocelyn Tilbrook – Community Development Worker

Graham Morrow, Optivo Housing Association

Marc Turczanski – Hate Crime Officer Tanya Vice – Project Officer Catherine Watson – Community Engagement and Representation Manager (until Aug 2016) Pat Weaver – Community Accountancy & Group Support Worker

Paris Nolan, Hastings & Rother Rainbow Alliance (until November 2016) Oliver Prandstaetter, Level Access CIC (from November 2016) Dr Tariq Rajbee, Islamic Information Centre (until August 2016) Roger Sweetman, Southwater Area Community Centre

MAIN FUNDERS 2016–17 East Sussex County Council Hastings Borough Council NHS Hastings & Rother Clinical Commissioning Group Tudor Trust

growing groups ‌ making links staying strong

www.hastingsvoluntaryaction.org.uk

Jackson Hall, Portland Place, Hastings TN34 1QN Tel: 01424 444010 Email: admin@hvauk.org