SPLITZ support service Annual Review 2017-2018
Our Purpose Our Objectives Our charity’s purposes are set out in the objects contained in the company’s Articles of Association. Our objects were reviewed in 2016. The main objects include: • Relieve the needs of children and adults who are in need of care and protection. • Relieve the needs of adults where those needs arise as a result of them experiencing domestic violence, separation or divorce.
Our Aims The aims of our charity are to work with victims, children and perpetrators of domestic abuse; support those who are parenting alone; and work to encourage healthy relationships. Our aims fully reflect the purposes that the charity was set up to further.
Public Benefit In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘public benefit: running a charity. Our main objectives for the year continued to be promoting healthy relationships, preventing family crises and relieving the needs of those affected.
Our Strategies The strategies we use to meet these objectives include: • Providing a range of services that promote healthy relationships and prevent family crises. • Focusing on encouraging healthy relationships, and the impact on family, friends and the wider community. • Working towards applying national standards of service. • Working in partnership with other agencies to ensure the widest range of services are available to best match the needs of the community. • Promoting awareness of healthy relationships, to reduce the likelihood of young people engaging in harmful behaviour.
Our Activities Putting these strategies into action we have four major areas of activity which are: • • • • 2
domestic abuse outreach work; support for children and young people affected by domestic abuse; programmes for perpetrators to help them change their abusive behaviour; mentoring/befriending services to help people move on.
Front cover: art work made by our survivors group illustrating the tree of life
Executive Director’s Report This has been an amazing year! We helped almost fourteen thousand people change their lives! We are determined to end domestic abuse for everyone who comes to us; be they male or female, victim or perpetrator, old or young. Domestic abuse affects so many aspects of people’s lives; mental health, parenting, housing, debt, education, employment, with constant fear and anxiety woven through everything. We help children understand that the behaviour of a perpetrator is not their responsibility; & we help them to find the words to express their confusion and bewilderment and find peace within themselves. Providing services for perpetrators helps to change harmful behaviour. This keeps the safety of victims right at the centre of our work. Robust, well tried programmes are an essential tool in the box. Our service users are on a very difficult part of their journey and it is a privilege to help them find the way forward. Children should be able to go to sleep at night, safe at last. We must continue to work together to enable them to grow into happy, confident, independent young adults. During the year, we were very aware that the local authorities for each of our main geographical areas were putting their domestic abuse services out to tender. We didn’t know whether we would be successful with this or not and a number of important areas of operational development were put on hold on the basis that if our bids were not successful, we would need to reconsider the value of merging two main servers, telephone systems, HR systems, national accreditations and Strategic Plans. I commend our staff and volunteers who, through this challenging year, continued to provide the very best services with professionalism, dedication and determined passion. I am so proud of them all! In the New Year we were able to share with our staff that our bids in Devon and in Wiltshire were successful. How we all survived through the Christmas period with ‘not knowing’ I shall never know! In the forthcoming year we will be implementing the newly shaped services and preparing for the operational developments with great confidence. We look forward to another year where we can face the challenges and changes with the next part of our journey.
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How We Are Governed Splitz Support Service was founded in 1989 and first registered as a charity in 1994. Splitz is governed by a memorandum and articles of association. Splitz was registered as a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (No 3360057), in April 1997, and re-registered as a charity (no 1064764) in October 1997. The charity’s objects are to relieve the needs of children of families who are in need of care and protection by negotiating for the provision of day care and other charitable facilities and by counselling the parents of such children in relation thereto and to relieve the needs of adults where those needs arise as a result of them experiencing domestic violence and abuse, separation or divorce, in the United Kingdom and Europe. In practice the charity furthers its object by the provision of support services to adults and children in southwest England. Board of Trustees Our board of trustees meet 9 times a year and consists of people from a broad spectrum of our community, with a range of business, charity and life skills appropriate to our need. Trustees who served in 2017-2018
Penny Cannings (retired Aug 2017) Ann Cornelius (Chair) Alison Craddock Sue Eley Cindy Ervine LLB (Hons) Annette Foster (aka Taylor) (Vice-chair) Stephen Foster PhD FCA (Treasurer) Mark Lake Rosie MacGregor (retired Oct 2017) Alan MacKenzie Francis Wakem QPM (retired Oct 2017) 4
Governance Achievements & Targets Achievements in 2017-2018
Result
Introduced bye-laws to reinforce and clarify our constitution Review need for further subcommittees Introduce Board evaluation system
New bye-laws in place in Dec 2017
Targets 2018-2019
Result
Review the strategy for the charity Provide stronger oversight through sub-committees Maintain charity accreditation
Publish new strategy by Mar 2019 Sub-committees undertake additional oversight tasks Renew PQASSO at level 2, Investing in Volunteers
Risk sub-committee set up Dec 2017 Evaluation system to be rolled out in 2018
Jason attended the perpetrator programme
I slowly learned the skills to become a non-abuser and began to put them into practice, and over the years I have become a much more balanced individual who can communicate, listen, empathise and accept differences without feeling that I have lost.
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Our Services Your steps, your pace Hear to help In 2017-18 we delivered a range of services across the region. Domestic abuse outreach services: including Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVA), helpdesk, and outreach workers. Groups for survivors of domestic abuse. Young people’s services: including specialist young people’s support workers, safeguarding workers and early intervention workers. Groups for young people: including groups delivered in schools. Voluntary domestic abuse perpetrator programmes: including groups for male perpetrators and safety workers to support their partners; and groups for couples. Mentoring and befriending scheme: including volunteer Buddy scheme and Building Bridges programme.
Where to find us
Getting in touch
We had offices in:
There are many ways you can get in touch:
Trowbridge Exeter Barnstaple Cheltenham Swindon (opened Apr 2018) Gloucester (closed Jul 2018) Amesbury (closed Jul 2018) Our offices are normally open between 9 am and 5 pm.
email; letter; text; and phone. We are still working on an online chat option for our website. Visit our website www.splitz.org to find out how to get in touch in your area. Our phone lines are open between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm. Some services are available at other times, see our website for more details.
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Operational Achievements & Targets
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Achievements in 2017-2018
Result
Complete Transforming Leadership process
Positive engagement in Transforming Leadership initiative Work begun on reviewing operational policies Strategy review process begun
Win service contracts in Wiltshire, Devon and Gloucestershire Achieve Leading Light standard in Wiltshire
New contracts won in Devon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Process delayed due to uncertainty
Targets 2018-2019
Result
Achieve Leading Light standard in Wiltshire Contribute to the new strategy action plan Introduce new integrated telephone system Maintain project accreditation
Accreditation achieved by Mar 2019 Publish action plan by Mar 2019 Roll out new system across all sites by Mar 2019 Renew Respect accreditation, Approved Provider Standard
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Service delivery data
Cases closed “needs met”
88%
ä
down from 90%
Female beneficiaries
86%
94%
ä
Satisfaction
up from 91%
Total beneficiaries down 14.6% Disabled beneficiaries
20%
8
ä
13,613
Gloucestershire Services Gloucestershire County Council commission the countywide domestic abuse service delivered as a partnership between GreenSquare and Splitz. The service provides a single access point helpdesk, where individuals who are referred can receive immediate safety-planning advice and an assessment of their risk and needs; Support for victims of domestic abuse assessed as high or medium high risk, through skilled telephone support or face to face from an IDVA, outreach support for medium and standard risk and a range of survivor groupwork programmes. The council also commission a domestic abuse health programme that includes Health IDVAs based in hospitals and a GP awareness programme empowering GPs to ask patients about domestic abuse with direct access to specialist support from GDASS. Gloucestershire County Council continue to fund our Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme and Healthy Relationships courses for men who want to change their harmful behaviour, keeping women and children safe. Gloucestershire OPCC fund the Court IDVA providing specialist support for victims seeking redress through the criminal justice system. The Holly Gazzard Trust continues to support our work in Gloucestershire through funding for support for young people through delivery of the CRUSH programme and awareness raising in schools as well as a pilot programme funding an Independent Stalking Advocate Caseworker (ISAC). The ISAC works closely with the Police and other victim services to highlight the harmful and dangerous nature of stalking as well as directly supporting stalking victims to increase their safety and taking legal action where required. Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programmes remain controversial and grant funding remains difficult. We strongly believe these programmes have a positive role in breaking the cycle of violence. Our programmes in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire continued to provide support for men seeking help to change their harmful behaviour. Our accredited programmes address the significant impact domestic abuse has on victims and their children. We have tested and piloted a range of programmes to meet different needs: • • • •
Men unable to commit to the full programme due to work commitments. Where English is not the first language. People in same sex relationships. Female perpetrators. 9
2016
Devon Services
LeadingLight Three year accreditation by SafeLives
The Devon service is commissioned by Devon County Council and covers the third largest county in the country, with large areas of isolated rural expanses and poor transport links. The core of our work in Devon includes: a single access point helpdesk, where individuals who are referred can receive immediate safety-planning advice and an assessment of their risk and needs; Support for victims of domestic abuse assessed as high or medium risk, through skilled telephone support or face to face from an IDVA; group programmes for men perpetrating abuse against their intimate partner; support for children and young people through our schools work programme; and we also provide a service for our Devon domestic abuse partners, by way of monitoring and providing a response with regard to MASH safeguarding enquiries.
28% up
3404 referrals
38%
since 2014
high risk
In Devon
42%
over 60 years of age
7.5%
referrals from older people
BME beneficiaries
8% local BME population 10
ä
Demand
Male beneficiaries
ď‚€
7%
rising to
18% in the over 60s
5%
During this year we have also undertaken a number of partnership projects, which provide added value to our commissioned service.
Operation Encompass We have jointly delivered training to school professionals across Devon, with Early Help, MASH and the Police, using our age appropriate TALK toolkits. Contact TALK Book Contact TALK was developed in partnership with North Devon Against Domestic Abuse, and is another in the TALK suite. The toolkit offers helpful information and advice for victims around managing child contact with their abuser, and also managing the child/ren’s safety and well-being.
Enc ou
ragi ng
Healt hy Con tact
POSITIVE CONTACT
A family resource
Helping Children Recover Book With funding from Recovery Devon we worked with children and young people who has suffered from domestic abuse to develop a book about their journey, their feelings and their thoughts about domestic abuse. This is being followed by courses in schools where we will use the books as a resource. Places of Safety Working with partners we successfully developed a delivered a housing project, funded by DCLG. Our Housing IDVA trained housing professionals and worked with the district councils to set up Places of Safety in Devon, with wrap-around support. South Devon and Dartmoor DSVA Forum Working with the local Community Safety Partnership we led on setting up a new forum for the area. It has generated a lot of support and energy from agencies in the area to be involved and to contribute.
An art and poetry book celebrating & aiding children and young people’s journey to recovery.
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Wiltshire Services Wiltshire Council and Wiltshire and Swindon police and crime commissioner commissioned the outreach, IDVA and children’s support services. These services were delivered in the Wiltshire Council local authority area only. The core of our work involved: a single access point helpdesk, where individuals who are referred can receive immediate safety-planning advice and an assessment of their risk and needs; support for victims of domestic abuse assessed as high or medium high risk, through skilled telephone support or face to face from an IDVA, outreach support for medium and standard risk; and support for children and young people at Child in Need or Child Protection level.
31%
ä
2112 adult referrals
Demand
high risk
287 child referrals
27% up since 2015
1485
Children
in households where there was domestic abuse
Male beneficiaries
ď‚€
5%
BME beneficiaries
5%
White European
16.5%
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Older beneficiaries
4%
Splitz also delivers grant funded and sub-contracted services in Wiltshire TeenzTalk A schools programme delivered weekly throughout the term to young people identified by the school as in need of additional support to understand healthy positive relationships. Funded by the Blagrave Trust. Buddy Scheme An accredited volunteering programme providing emotional and practical support to standard risk victims of domestic abuse and providing training and personal development opportunities to volunteers. Funded by The Henry Smith Charity. Turnaround A domestic violence perpetrator programme (DVPP) that helps keep women and children safe through working with abusive partners/ex-partners in a Respect Accredited group programme, to change their behaviour. Ex/Partners receive bespoke support from a Women’s Safety Worker. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Recovering Together A DVPP aimed at serving military personnel based on Salisbury Plain. Sub-contracted from Spurgeons Children’s Charity. Building Bridges Administered through Wiltshire Community Foundation provides support to unemployed women to develop skills to help them move closer to employment. Funded by European Social Fund and Big Lottery.
Bristol service We have been working with the University of Bristol on an evaluation of the effectiveness of perpetrator programmes. This programme takes place in Bristol and is being supported by the NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group.
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In Their Own Words
P P
Buddy scheme
Amazing service - has helped me deal with a lot of issues. Has given me someone to talk to. A Buddy helps rebuild your life. Helped build up my confidence. Have already recommended a friend.
I found the Buddy very kind and helpful, extremelt supportive, never judgemental and very good at making me feel positive about what I was achieving.
I’d recommend the Buddy Scheme to others. It’s helped me find a brighter future.
Domestic abuse service
They were always available. Very responsive service, dedicated staff. Services gone at the pace I needed. They have gone above and beyond for me. Thank you for all your help and support and for listening to me when I was so down.
High risk service
I now know healthy relationships moving forward for me and the baby.
Handouts and talking through support very helpful during this stressful time of court process.
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The service has been invaluable. I don’t think I would be here without all the help Splitz has offered.
I always received a call back if my call couldn’t be answered at the time. I would absolutely recommend this. It really helped me get through a really difficult time.
P
Very good service. Definitely recommend for other males to find support. I didn’t know that I could go to a refuge until my worker said. She helped me to find a refuge space and my children and I are now safe and happy.
Our Team Helpdesk
Support Workers
Volunteers
Our helpdesk team will listen to you and help you access the right support, first time. They will try to contact everyone who has been referred and allocate them to a worker in their area.
Our specialist support workers are highly trained to help you find a way through at a pace you can manage. We won’t hurry you to make a decision or impose choices on you. We recognise how important it is for you to feel empowered during this process.
Our highly trained team of dedicated volunteers provide a fantastic service. We are extremely grateful for the time they devote to their role.
Senior Management Team Our senior management team is responsible for the day-to-day management of the activities of the charity. As well as providing guidance and support to the teams they are responsible for implementing the charity’s strategy and enforcing its policies. The senior management team includes: Fran Lewis MBE FRSA FCMI - Executive Director Rachel Wetton BA PCG Soc Pol - Operations Manager Chrissy Stower - Devon Services Manager The Finance Manager and HR Manager are often also in attendance. The senior management team meet monthly.
Team Meetings Project teams meet according to their own schedule. They use these occasions to discuss new opportunities and offer feedback on matters of interest. Splitz holds an Away Day every year to 18 months as a forum to discuss particular topics and as an opportunity for volunteers, employees and trustees to meet and have fun together. We aim to hold an Away Day in late 2018 to discuss our new strategy and action plan.
Leading Transformation meeting Jan 2018
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Value for Money Splitz is proud to be recognised as a Living Wage Employer. Our lowest pay grade is over ÂŁ10 per hour. The pay ratio is 4:1, with the highest paid member of staff earning only 4 times the lowest.
Accreditation Our services and governance are accredited and recognised by many external awarding bodies. We have retained our Disability Confident Employer mark and next year we will be externally accredited. The systems and procedures we have in place for managing volunteers was accredited in 2016, and is due renewal next year.
Total paid employees
Total volunteers
118
27
94 at 1 April 2018
24 at 1 April 2018
Staff retention
80% target: 80%
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In Their Own Words Poem by a man who completed the perpetrator programme With rage, fear and anger as well as emotional abuse, I controlled my family, I controlled my roost. I was king and all would obey, And if they didn’t there was hell to pay. I believed this was how to run my life, But all it did was push away my wife. The time I knew it all had to end Was the day I lost my very best friend. I knew the things I had done were wrong, I knew that this had gone on too long. But how to stop? Could I be changed? Could my whole way of thinking be re-arranged. So I signed up to group and in I came, Full of remorse, guilt and shame. First day was hard bearing my soul, But I knew I must to reach my goal. Module after module came and went, The man that I was, I came to resent. But with each week a new lesson was learnt, I realised my behaviour could be unlearnt. Now I have come to my final week, And words of wisdom from me you all seek. So stay out of your head, step in your partners shoes But most important of all change has to start with you. So I now leave here a man reborn, Never returning to my old ways this I have sworn. The possibilities ahead are endless and the chances are rife, So I bid u all goodbye and good luck as I start my new life.
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Financial Report Income This year our income rose by a massive 13%. This was largely due to increased contract income. Our major contract income streams were for: • Domestic abuse services for Devon County Council • Domestic abuse services for Gloucestershire County Council • Perpetrator programmes for Gloucestershire County Council • Domestic abuse services for with Wiltshire Council
Income
£2.48m
Up 13%
Contract income
£1.98m
Up 18%
Grant income
£0.50m
Dn 4%
Grant income fell by 4%, which reflects the difficulty in raising grant income and the impact of our total income. We are extremely grateful to all of our funders for their continued support. Our 4 largest grants came from: • The Big Lottery Fund • Exeter City Council • NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group • The Blagrave Trust
Expenditure For some funds the money carried forward isn’t classed as deferred income, which accounts for the surplus this year. All of the surplus is designated for projects and activities continuing in 2017-18. The majority of expenditure (£2.42m: 98.9%) was on the activities of the charity. We spent a small amount (£25,700: 1%) on raising funds. This was mostly staff costs. A minimal amount of income (£9,280: 0.003%) was spent on Governance.
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Expenditure
£2.44m
Up 13%
Reserves
£0.21m
Up 0%
The charity maintains a healthy financial position. Income and expenditure are managed through strong fundraising strategies and stringent financial controls. Income has exceeded expectation with additional grant income, new contracts and contract extensions. As such we continue to hold a large amount of deferred income, which is used to generate a small amount of interest. We ended the year with a surplus of £35,409. This is income carried forward that is not designated as deferred income. These funds are designated for projects continuing in 2018-19.
Reserves Reserves are needed to cover unforeseen costs like redundancy payments should a service not be funded or temporary funding of services while new funds are sought, and to cover unplanned emergencies and other unforeseen expenditure. The trustees consider that the ideal level of reserves as at 31 March 2018 would remain at between £100,000 and £225,000. Splitz had £210,000 of free reserves in March 2018. This situation is largely attributable to ongoing growth of the reserves fund in line with income growth over the past 5 years. Fundraising Splitz employed a fundraiser on contract for part of the year. No funds raised are paid in commission to any person or organisation. All funds raised by Splitz staff, or on behalf of Splitz, are for the sole use of Splitz in delivering its charitable benefit. We may allocate the funds to a specific project or piece of work with the agreement of the donor. However, unsolicited
donations or small donations with no restricted purpose will be allocated to the crisis fund for that geographical area, and used for the direct benefit of our service users Investments Investments are made in accordance with the charity's Articles of Association and Investment Policy. Having considered the available options, the trustees decided to invest in commercial common investment funds (high interest bank accounts and short term deposit accounts). The trustees consider the overall return on investments and deposits to be very disappointing. Pay The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually. Pay is not mapped to any national scale, but when pay is increased it is usually in line with the national cost of living increase or NJC increase as funds permit. Pay is not currently benchmarked, as it has been difficult to find the right group of similar charities to benchmark against. 19
Thank You Thank you to everyone who supported us Building Bridges Hollie Gazzard Trust Morrisons Foundation Noel Buxton Trust Recovery Devon The Big Lottery Fund The Blagrave Trust The Henry Smith Charity The Linnet Trust Spurgeons Children’s Charity Terry Evans Police and Crime Commissioner Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Wiltshire NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group Department for Communities and Local Government Devon County Council Exeter City Council Gloucestershire County Council North Devon Council Safer Devon Partnership Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership Wiltshire Council and everyone else who has helped in other ways
Splitz Support Service Oak House, Epsom Square, White Horse Business Park, Trowbridge, BA14 0XG Registered charity - 1064764 Company limited by guarantee - 3360057 Tel: 01225 777724 www.splitz.org September 2018