Community in Action y t i n u Comm n o i t c in a
Annual Review 2010/11
CENTRE ACTIVITIES
QUALITY STANDARDS
CONTENTS
PAGE
Quality Standards and Membership The Centre Team Management & Governance Marketing & Recruitment Volunteers Placements & Supported Volunteering Good Practice The V Project Direct Services & Befriending Mentoring (MAPS) Respect Project Gardening Projects Financial Our Funders Contact Details
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 &11 12 13 14 15 18
MEMBERSHIP As at 1/4/2011, Volunteer Centre Sutton is a member of: • England Volunteering Development Council (London Region) • Greater London Volunteering • London Voluntary Sector Training Consortium • London Voluntary Services Council • National Centre for Voluntary Organisations • National Youth Agency • National Mentoring & Befriending Foundation • South London Change-up Consortium • South London Volunteer Centre Network • The Supported Volunteering Network • Volunteering England And locally — • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Age Concern Sutton Borough Children & Young People’s Integrated Support Panel Sutton Children & Young People Partnership Connexions Executive Board Early Years Forum Mental Health Forum Olympic Forum and Olympic Volunteering Sub-group Safer Sutton for Young People Group Senior Citizens Forum Sutton & Merton PCT — Voluntary Sector Focus Group Sutton Centre for the Voluntary Sector Sutton Compact and Change-up Steering Group Sutton Compact Volunteering Sub-Group Sutton Community Transport Sutton Staying Put Advisory Group The Employment Working Group Voluntary Sector Forum 2
TRUSTEES
The paid staff are responsible for the day-to-day activities, which include brokerage, marketing volunteering, good practice, developing voluntary opportunities, policy response, campaigning and strategic development of volunteering.
The Centre Trustees are legally and financially responsible for the Organisation. They are elected by the members and have a mandate to decide on policy, strategic direction and the activities of the Centre. They meet 6 times a year and are all involved in sub-committee activities.
The staff team at 1 April 2011: Adam Knuckey, Chief Officer Yvonne McPhee JP, Deputy Chief Officer/DS Manager Admin Helen Blythe Finance Co-ordinator Jackie Jenkins, Maintenance * and Noreen Collyer, Finance Volunteer Volunteers Placements & Good Practice Derek Terrell, Volunteers Placements Manager Tammy Blaikie, Good Practice Officer Lorraine Porter, Volunteer Recruitment & Publicity Co-ordinator Candida Cox, Youth Participation Worker Bernie Rowe, Fit for Volunteering Co-ordinator Duncan Laker, Receptionist Lisha Varghese, Administration Assistant
*and Stephen Baker, Keith Donoghue, Vanessa Hudson, Jim Finch, Elsa Glass, Volunteer Interviewers *and Liz Tattersall and Ann Andrews Volunteer Receptionists
Mentoring Chris Parker, Mentoring Manager(CYPISP) Emily Hodge, Mentoring Manager (Looked After Children) Cerys Cotterill, Mentoring Co-ordinator (Peer Mentoring) Helen Gasparelli, Mentoring Co-ordinator (CYPISP) Teresa Martucci, Mentoring Co-ordinator (Leaving Care) Louise Storey, Mentoring Co-ordinator (Schools) Pauline Smith, Mentoring Admin & Finance Officer *and 130 Adult Mentors, 142 Peer Mentors Direct Services Kai Cheong, DS Admin Helen Griffin, DS Volunteers Co-ordinator Karen Lotz, Care Co-ordinator Pauline Warmington, Befriending Co-ordinator * and Janet Tagg and Pamela Webb, Office Volunteers and 150 Direct Service Volunteers Gardening Projects Peter Mitchell, Gardening Manager Kadri Acik, Gardening Co-ordinator Helen Blythe, Gardening Finance & Admin Claire Swettenham, Gardening Admin * and 5 volunteers with additional support needs
Joy Ross MBE, President Jim Finch, Chair Deepak Ohry, Vice-Chair Keith Sillitoe JP, Company Secretary Eric Spalding, Treasurer Jatinder Bhuhi Ted Gates MBE Elsa Glass Ken Green Baji Kapadia Tony Hazeldine CBE With thanks and best wishes to staff and volunteers who left by the close of this financial year Stephen Baker Jane Bulling Alice Fiorica Elsa Glass Meena Kapila Caroline Land Tracey Osborn Peter Stokes
Jatinder Bhuhi Glad Davis Sarah Foss Tracey Harrison Azar Khan John Land David Potter
Wendy Bridges Nadine Elliott Ben Foss Alan Hooper Lynne Laidlaw Serina Metharu Emma Pulsford
Our Vision Our vision is that the London Borough of Sutton becomes a thriving, vibrant hub of volunteering, active citizenship and community activity, where it is recognised by all parties that volunteering and community participation are an essential part of a healthy society. Our Mission To encourage and support everybody who lives in or visits the London Borough of Sutton to volunteer with a positive outcome.
Our Values -Volunteering is a key ingredient in a healthy, vibrant community. -Volunteering should be easy to access and open to everyone. -The volunteering experience should be a positive one and the principles of good practice should be applied when recruiting and managing volunteers. -Volunteering should be primarily for the benefit of an organisation, individual or individuals (other than the volunteer themselves), the environment or the Community, but we recognise that volunteering can bring significant benefit to the volunteer as well. -Volunteering should not involve financial or material incentives or rewards, but reasonable out of pocket expenses should be reimbursed. 3
THE CENTRE TEAM
STAFF
MANAGEMENT & GOVERNANCE
FROM THE CHAIR Peter Stokes , Chief Officer resigned in December and has moved on to pastures new. The Board was delighted to appoint Adam Knuckey , previously Mentoring Manager as our Interim Chief Officer . We have welcomed one new trustee and three people have expressed an interest , which we expect to bring additional skills to the Board. I would like to thank my fellow trustees for the time and effort they have afforded during the year. The Borough was selected as one of four vanguard areas for “The Big Society” and the Centre has been working actively with the Borough in furtherance of this initiative and the commencement of the European Year of the Volunteer. The climate of change has continued this year and as projects have come to an end, inevitably there have been staff changes. My thanks to our staff and volunteers for their valuable work in what has again been a challenging year . Jim Finch Chair Board of Trustees
CHIEF OFFICER I am thrilled to be writing my first contribution to this report as Chief Officer of the Volunteer Centre Sutton. Having already worked for the organisation since 2007, I feel passionately that we will see the Centre impact the community of Sutton in significant ways as volunteering becomes high on the political agenda. My first few months in post have certainly been tough as we saw the close of our 3 year funded vinvolved project, resulting in a redundancy scenario for the committed team of youth advisors. The project has been a resounding success, despite many challenges along the way, and has created thousands of new opportunities for you people to volunteer over it’s 3 year lifespan. We hope to find new ways of continuing the support of young people in 2011/12. Our Department for Work and Pensions volunteer brokerage scheme also ends this year, having been highlighted in the last annual report as a significant feather in the cap, as our organisation led the scheme across 9 South London Boroughs. We hope to learn lessons from this new approach to volunteer placements, and payment by results paradigm shift that will stand us on strong foundations for the tough financial climate that approaches. We have continued to meet our organisational objectives, providing brokerage, marketing, good practice advice, developing opportunities, policy response and campaigning and strategic development of the third sector in Sutton. As you read on, you will see each department is making a contribution that offers tangible outcomes for volunteers, volunteer involving organisations, and some of Sutton’s most vulnerable and marginalised residents. Some examples of this work has been recognised nationally through awards from prestigious organisations such as The Centre for Social Justice, and Games Aid, and with VCS staff being nominated for other national and local community building awards. I see the role of VCS, as the title of this report suggests, as being a key contributor to an effective community in action! I would like to thank the staff, trustees, our volunteers, partners Adam Knuckey and stakeholders for another great, yet challenging year. Chief Officer 4
Known throughout the Borough of Sutton, Volunteer Centre Sutton is an organisation long recognised by its residents. One reason is the long term, continuous strategy of placing our literature and displays prominently in the public eye. There are now many new ways of promoting the Centre through Social media and its Website etc and VCS has, over this year, acknowledged the importance and value of using these methods to reach out to more potential volunteers and to spread the news about Centre activities. During the past year the website has been increasingly used to promote and inform about our different projects and what is achieved through them. From reporting on the Respect project where young and older people were brought together to share Recipes from the 2nd World War to Adam collecting the Centre for Social Justice award for MAPS (Mentoring and Peer Support) from historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, who went on to sign up to be part of the mentoring project and not forgetting the opportunity to highlight Student Volunteer Week and the awarding of several special Gold Awards to local students. With a new website planned the Centre can begin marketing in new and exciting ways involving everyone at VCS.
Displays and Distribution Our displays were located throughout the borough in Libraries, Leisure Centres, Shopping Centres Colleges and Supermarkets. Campaigns were focussed on available opportunities and local circumstances. After consulting with our Placements department, it was decided to aim campaigns at the unemployed and professional groups in view of the effect of the economic climate. This was tied in with available opportunities for Magistrates, School Governors, Trustees, Prison Visitors on the database. Efforts were also directed towards the older age group as there was great potential for expanding numbers for volunteering in Sutton; it also fitted in well with available opportunities as well as being able to reach this group through libraries and other venues. One of our goals was to promote volunteering opportunities that emphasised getting involved in the community; especially where the Northern Wards were concerned and various venues were used to advance the idea of the ‘Big Society’ campaign. College promotions were focussed on the benefits volunteering can add to CV’s and highlight the advantage of gaining experience and skills. The number of displays that took place were—11 Library, 6 Leisure Centre, 3 Shopping Centre, 4 College and 3 Supermarket as well as several events attended. Lorraine Porter Marketing & Publicity Co-ordinator 5
MARKETING & RECRUITMENT
Marketing
VOLUNTEERS PLACEMENTS & SUPPORTED VOLUNTEERING
Volunteer Placements The number of people considering volunteering has continued to increase this year with 1091 individuals visiting the Centre to seek a volunteering opportunity; this is an increase of over 6% on the previous year. Of these almost half (476) successfully found a volunteering opportunity as a result of their visit. There are a variety of reasons behind people’s motivation to volunteer, but it seems that the current economic climate and the increased coverage of volunteering through the media are key drivers for the increase, which is expected to continue throughout the coming years. We are very fortunate to have an excellent team of volunteer interviewers to deal with this increase in interest; each spending one day a week meeting and placing potential volunteers. We are now able to offer interviews every weekday and have also run a number of informal ‘dropin’ days, allowing the general public to visit without an appointment. We are able to offer a wide variety of volunteering opportunities to suit all taste and requirements and continually receive details of new opportunities. Whilst some are invariably more popular and exciting than others all provide an ideal, and much needed, opportunity to support the local community. Our volunteers provide a valued service and their commitment is very much appreciated. The national volunteering website (www.do-it.org.uk) allows people to look at volunteering opportunities online; the use of this continues to grow with over 3205 enquiries to VCS throughout the year. This service allows individuals to apply directly for volunteering opportunities but does pose an administrative overhead for our team. We have trained additional people to process these applications to ensure we provide an effective service. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Volunteering programme is a partnership between VCS and JobCentre Plus which ran for part of this year until December 2010. The aim of this project was to offer job seekers who have been unemployed for more than 6 months the opportunity to build on their existing skills and experience by doing voluntary work whilst continuing to seek paid employment. Between April and December 2010, 94 individuals attended a session at the Volunteer Centre introducing the benefits of volunteering and being advised on the best routes into volunteering. Supported Volunteering Throughout the year we were funded to provide a specialised support service for potential volunteers who disclose mental health problems. Unfortunately this funding ended in March 2011 so for the future there will be no dedicated support for this group. We will, however, continue to offer placement interviews to anybody interested in volunteering and will do all we can to support everybody into volunteering. During 2010/11 we interviewed 96 new people with disclosed mental health issues; of these 33 were successfully placed with local organisations undertaking a variety of roles. Additionally, although not specifically funded to support other groups with disability issues, we have seen an increase in the number of volunteers with disabilities. We offer the same level of support to all applicants and will do our best to place them into meaningful volunteering opportunities. However depending on the type and severity of the disability it is not always easy to find an organisation that can provide the support required. Derek Terrell Volunteer Placements Manager 6
GOOD PRACTICE To Improve standards of volunteer management we have supported groups to introduce good practices in volunteer management by providing: One-to-one support (via meetings, telephone and email) offering guidance and support. Good practice training Volunteer Coordinators forums Encouraging groups to sign up to the London Volunteer Management Charter. Promoting the Good Practice throughout the borough via emails, flyers and other local communication channels.
GOOD PRACTICE
This year has been a busy year for the Good Practice project as we have developed a small enthusiastic team of Good Practice volunteers, enabling us to continue to offer high level support and training to Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIO’s) in the Sutton borough.
In 2010 –April 2011 we held 15 Volunteer Management training sessions delivered by a number of consultants and Good Practice specialists, subjects included volunteers and the law, motivations for volunteering and promoting your opportunities & organisation,. 69 organisations attended our training sessions We continue to receive great feedback about our training sessions. All the sessions are interactive and delegates have said how much they appreciate the professionalism of the staff, and the chance for peer learning from other attendees. Comment from Organisation “It would be a great loss to many businesses and organisations, such as my own, to lose this invaluable service. The Volunteer Centre provides an essential link between organisations who need invaluable voluntary support and individuals who want to do something valuable with their time in their community” Results from our annual monitoring analysis have shown • • •
Improved effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of VIOs. Improved positive experience of volunteering by VIO’s and Volunteers. VIO has increased capacity for more VIO activities/greater service provision.
Tammy Blaikie-Gould Good Practice Officer
7
Vinvolved The Vinvolved Team South London have been working for 3 years with young people aged 16-25 and Volunteer Involving Organisations to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for young people and to enable young people to try volunteering. We are a team of 8 workers based across Sutton, Kingston, Richmond, Bromley, Croydon and Merton. 2010-11 has been the final year of our project and we are celebrating the fact that we have met, and in most cases, far exceeded our project targets. This translates into many young people involved in volunteering, better volunteering opportunities for young people, and improved practice in volunteering management. In an evaluation of the project 90% said that the provision of youth focussed services was helpful and 90% said they would probably want similar provision again.
Over the year the team have achieved: Creation of opportunities: Target Actual Short term Part time Long term
1072 1374 77
1996 3096 83
Young people who volunteered: 875 During a very busy 2010-11 we held our biggest celebration to date at Tigertiger in Croydon where we officially launched the DVD made, written, filmed, and edited, by our young volunteers all about youth volunteering. Everyone received a goody bag with V team south London branded goodies inside, the young people had certificates presented to them by the deputy mayor of Croydon, and we heard what an impact volunteering has had for organisations and young people alike. We also hosted the Vbus at Carshalton College in November as well as doing our second Gift of Time event in Sutton’s St Nicholas Centre just before Christmas. The team have been delivering training on good practice with young volunteers, recruiting new volunteering opportunities, interviewing LOTS of young people and matching them up with suitable opportunities. They have visited schools, sat on a Police advisory committee, had stalls at careers fairs, met with their Youth Action Teams, created publicity and celebrated with each young person who reached a volunteering milestone. Celebrating achievement This year we have awarded 93 Vfifty certificates for 50 hours of volunteering. We have also awarded 12 Vimpact certificates for over 100 hours of volunteering! What a difference the young people of South London are making! Emma Pulsford V Manager 8
Direct services has an excellent team of 122 volunteers who are from all walks of life. It is because of their varied backgrounds that they are able to contribute to a wide range of service user requests which enrich the lives of the Sutton residents that our organisation assists. The staff team in Direct Services are very grateful to our volunteers for their resourcefulness, their sense of humour at difficult times and of course their dedication to supporting our service users. We offer training and on-going support throughout the year by way of regular newsletters and telephone contact. A comment from the Volunteer Survey 2010: “’I am always treated courteously and professionally whenever I have reason to telephone or visit. Thank you”
Direct Service Users Direct Services has continued to provide help to Sutton residents who are older, and/or disabled, funded by the London Borough of Sutton. A variety of services are offered by our dedicated team of volunteers including transport, shopping, escorting, pension and prescription collection,. Help may be given as a one-off, for a short period of time or long term. We continue to have a problem with cancellations once a job has been set up – almost 15,000 jobs were completed but a further 2,600 were cancelled This continues to reflect the complicated needs of our service uses due to frailty, disability or other special needs. The Sutton Hearing Aid Remedial Project – SHARP – provides a service to individuals in their homes, in Care Homes and Day Centers. NHS hearing aids are cleaned, re-tubed and new batteries provided. This year our SHARP volunteers have completed over 50 support visits.
DIRECT SERVICES & BEFRIENDING
Volunteers
Befriending and Tele-friend Projects The Befriending scheme continues to flourish and currently 35 befrienders visit housebound elderly people in their own homes for an hour or so once a week. Ten new befrienders have joined us in the year and have been matched with their befriendees. All agree it is a very enjoyable, worthwhile and rewarding experience. In the spring, the Volunteer Centre held a tea party with entertainment at Belsize Court for befrienders and the people that they visit and everyone had a lovely afternoon out. The existing Tele-Friend links still continue. One befriender said “The lady I go to see is always so pleased to see me-that feels really good!”
Yvonne McPhee Direct Services Manager 9
MENTORING
Mentoring And Peer Support (MAPS) is the mentoring wing of the VCS. VCS have been delivering a high standard of mentoring for 15 years and have grown this project to award winning status, collecting the prestigious ‘Centre for Social Justice Award 2010’ and the ‘GamesAid Award 2010’. Both awards were to recognise the genuine care and investment provided for both young people and volunteers whilst marrying this with a robust framework for ensuring what we do makes a real difference. “MAPS’ hard work and the excellence of everything they have produced is truly remarkable. I have never seen a local project produce work of such a consistent calibre, and as an outside observer, it comes as little surprise to me that the lives of young people are so radically transformed by the MAPS experience, given the evident care and thought that goes into selecting, matching and training mentors.” - CSJ: Zoe Briance. This year MAPS have been able to boast over 120 volunteer adult mentors and 110 peer mentors who gave up their time every week for a whole year, and have impacted the lives of over 300 young people in the London Borough of Sutton. MAPS have a wonderful team of 6 dedicated Coordinators who ensure that volunteers are supported and young people’s lives are positively changed. MAPS have 5 streams of mentoring plus have delivered 2 courses for targeted young people. Inclusion Mentoring: Young people reach the inclusion stream of mentoring via the Children & Young People’s Integrated Support Panel (CYPISP). This is a multi-agency, borough run, focal point where all services working with young people within the borough refer a young person in need to the panel. From here the panel are in a position to ensure a young person receives a positive package of support which may include a number of diverse services, of which 60 young people aged between 5-18 receive inclusion mentoring throughout the year. These young people sit between stages 2b-3 on the Child Concern Framework and mentoring aims to address the myriad of issues presented through this ‘catch all’ referral route. LAC Mentoring: MAPS Looked After Children (LAC) Mentoring offers an independent volunteer mentor to young people who constantly have people coming in and out of their lives because they are in the care system, or are looked after by people other than their birth parents. All of these children face similar issues of attachment, separation, a lack of privacy and identity. Statistically, looked after children do not perform well academically, and have an increased risk in offending behaviour and addictions. MAPS seeks to challenge looked after children to beat the statistics and realise their full potential as individuals, overcoming the hurdles they have had to face in their lives so far. We seek to build self-esteem in the young people they work with and help them to establish their own identity among the often confusing and complex lives of looked after children. 10
*MAPS own annual report I available on request.
Chris Parker MAPS Manager 11
MENTORING
Leaving Care Mentoring: MAPS have supported 15 young people through this stream of mentoring, supporting young people as they transition from being looked after to independent living. Mentoring offers whole new experiences in life from learning to swim to the more challenging issues such as living in a new community. The mentor equips the mentee with tools to assist them now and in their future, with help to write a C.V. or supporting them into further education. Those who leave care and go on to university are only a tiny proportion, just 6 % in England, which is why teaching life skills to this group, is so important. These life skills vary, taking into consideration the young person’s needs. Schools Mentoring: We work with 5 secondary schools in the Borough: Stanley Park, Cheam High, Overton Grange, Carshalton Boys and Glenthorne High each having 5 active places per year. The project is funded by Connexions and Sutton Education Business Partnership. Together we endeavor to deliver a service to meet the needs of the individual mentee, to equip and support the mentor with skills, guidance and resources to give young people the confidence and skills they need to find their path, achieve goals and deal with life’s challenges. A direct quote from a year 11 student this year; “Mentoring has helped me see that although I cannot change my circumstances I can change the way I deal with them. I am now calmer, focused and more motivated ready for my GCSEs” Peer Mentoring Peer mentoring trains and encourages young people to become effective at supporting and positively influencing those younger than themselves. Peer mentors help year 7 students with the transition from primary to secondary school, improve self- esteem, reduce exclusion and build a positive identity. This year MAPS Peer mentoring stream has trained a total of 110 peer mentors in Overton Grange, Carshalton High School for girls, Carshalton Boys Sports College and Greenshaw High, and resourcing them to effectively mentor young people in their school. Throughout the year, we have also provided team-building sessions and professional support sessions from the Peer Mentoring Coordinator and an opportunity for young people to join a steering group which develops leadership skills and enhances experience on CV. This year has also seen the production of MAPS’ Mini Mentoring Resource which was designed by peer mentors as a resource to help young people’s mentoring time together. Navigate: Navigate is a 6 week course for young people at risk of exclusion from education, focusing on identity, motivation, communication, relationships and aspirations. The course uses unique and holistic methods of group work and interaction, with the aim of building confidence and motivation to achieve full potential. This year MAPS have reached 135 young people through this project with 92% of young people rating this project as either ‘Good’ or’Excellent’. Making Tracks: Making tracks is the new name for our Drum ‘n’ Didge project which has taken the borough by storm. This year, funded through ‘Summer Uni’ and the BIG lottery’s ‘Awards for All’, we have been able to deliver this project to almost 40 vulnerable young people in Sutton. All have been able to explore musical and artistic expression learning the rudiments of percussion and didgeridoo alongside engaging in their own identity through aboriginal story telling – painting their journey in life onto their didgeridoo. This in turn nurtures aspiration and builds a positive identity for their future.
RESPECT
RESPECT Respect is an intergenerational project funded by Safer Sutton Partnership. During 2010/11 we worked with 98 young people and 152 older people from the community, engaging them in 6 different projects. Our targets were to engage 68 young people and 112 older people, so we feel pleased to have exceeded these numbers. We worked with Sutton’s Youth Offending Team for the first time and undertook a 6 week project with 5 young offenders at Hepworth Court sheltered housing. Working with young offenders in the Respect environment was a learning experience but one that we enjoyed. Many different activities were undertaken during the year. One of these was a fun day at Westcroft where 50 school boys and 80 members of the Evergreens enjoyed activities including tennis, bowling, badminton and line dancing as well as having structured discussions between the two groups to give each a better understanding of the other.
Line Dancing
Circuit training
Another project was the making of a promotional DVD by a group of older and young people to show potential participants the value of the project and give new participants and/or partner organisations an understanding of the types of activities that are possible and the positive outcomes achieved. In the summer a group of young people wanting to volunteer during the holidays met with a group from Sutton Seniors Forum to create a new game to bridge the generation gap. Written from scratch by the diversely-aged group, the ‘Inter-Generation Game’ is a board game featuring 250 questions that are relevant to old and young alike such as ‘Who would you rather be the Queen, the Prime Minister or a movie star and why?’ and ‘Which group of people are you most wary of in society for your own personal safety?’ Playing the game is not only fun but also acts as a catalyst for frank and interesting discussions leading to a better understanding of each other by the participants. Councillor Simon Wales, executive member for communities and the voluntary sector said ”It can be difficult for young and older people to strike up a conversation — which can lead to misunderstanding and preconceptions. Initiatives like this do a lot of good by providing an innovative way to break the ice and show just how much common ground there is.” Candida Cox & Nicola Kelly Youthwork Co-ordinators 12
Funded by Sutton Housing Partnership, the centre runs a garden maintenance service for older and vulnerable Council tenants in the London Borough of Sutton. A paid workforce manages a team of volunteers with additional support needs providing meaningful work experience.
Outputs 300 tenants received 5 visits during April to September 2010, additional visits were made during the winter months to those properties where it had been identified that trees needed cutting/ pruning or there was some general garden maintenance required eg. Bushes/brambles removed. This winter our team of two gardeners took on thirteen garden clearances. These are always labour intensive, requiring many hours of hard labour and multiple visits to the recycling centre. One of many gardens TGMS tackle
Breakdown of work completed between April 2010 and March 2011 Main List Apr 2010/Sept 2010 1367 visits were made. Jobs completed:
Winter Programme Oct 2010/Mar 2011 40 properties were visited Jobs completed:
Front lawn Front hedge Rear lawn Rear hedge
699 726 776 399
Hedge reduction Bushes Garden clearance Other
7 9 13 13
Total
2600
Total
42
SUTTON GARDEN ENTERPRISES LIMITED Seventeen ongoing regular maintenance contracts were secured. In addition to garden services we have incorporated tree felling, garden fencing, shed building and jet washing. Claire Swettenham our Gardening Administrator has noticed a year on year increase in enquiries. Sutton High Street Redevelopment: Sutton Garden Enterprises recently secured a contract erecting trellis and stocking the flower beds at Trinity Square, Sutton Town Centre. We are hopeful in securing future projects with Sutton Town Centre and providing meaningful work experience for a team of volunteers with additional support needs. Trinity Square Flower Beds Peter Mitchell Gardening Manager
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GARDENING PROJECTS
TENANTS GARDENING MAINTENANCE SCHEME
FINANCIAL
The figures presented in this Review have been summarised from the accounts of Volunteer Centre Sutton for the year ended 31 March 2011, which have been audited by Myrus Smith. The accounts presented here may not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the affairs of the charity. For further information, the full accounts, the auditor’s report on these accounts and the trustees report should be consulted: copies of these can be obtained on request from Volunteer Centre Sutton.
Review of the Financial Year As reported elsewhere, we made further progress against the objectives for volunteering in the London Borough of Sutton which underpin our strategic plan and in financial terms, we enjoyed another satisfactory year as shown by the summarised figures below. Revenues for the year from all sources of £1,023,631 represented an increase of £60,954 on those of the previous year. Our principal individual source of funding remains the London Borough of Sutton, to whom we again express our grateful thanks. This core funding was supplemented during the year by funding for specific projects from a number of sources in particular: Direct Services Practical support, Befriending, Transport funded by the London Borough of Sutton and donations: funding in aggregate of £109,363 Mentoring funded by Children in Need (Peer Mentoring), Looked After Children & Leaving Care Teams (Care Leavers Mentoring), Connexions (Schools Mentoring), Sutton Education Business Partnership & 3 High Schools (Adult Mentoring in Schools), Children & Young People’s Inclusion Support Panel & Alternative Provision (mentoring for young people referred by CYPISP) plus National award s prize money: funding in aggregate of £266,953. Gardening Projects funded by Sutton Housing Partnership and donations: funding in aggregate of £73,381. Youthwork funded by Children’s Workforce Development, LBS Youth Service, Safer Sutton Partnership and vinvolved: funding in aggregate of £218,003. Supported Volunteering funded by the London Borough of Sutton : funding in aggregate of £20,196. Volunteer Broker Programme funded by the Department of Works and Pensions: funding in aggregate of £115,394. Good Practice funded by City Bridges Trust: funding in aggregate of £32,265. Small grants from a variety of sources: in aggregate of £6,146. We extend our thanks to all of these organisations for their funding that also contributes towards core Centre costs, which would not otherwise have been fully covered, thereby enabling us to maintain our core service levels. We are alert to the finite nature of project funding and continue to explore new sources to enable us both to make appropriate developments to our service provision and to put in place new funding to replace that coming to an end. We would also like to record our thanks to the Robin Hood Hotel and its customers whose fundraising activities generated a further £1,800 during the year, bringing the total raised by them on our behalf over the last few years to some £29,254. Finally we received donations from the users of our core services which are entirely at their discretion and which are really appreciated. Incoming Resources Grants receivable Other Income
Resources Expended Cost of generating funds Charitable activities Governance costs
2011 990,793
2010 930,340
32,838
32,337
1,023,631
962,677
9,192 972,340 6,742 988,274
15,267 982,259 4,233 1,001,759
SOURCE OF INCOME 2010—2011 Net Incoming Resources Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds
45,371 (10,014) 35,357
(23,112) (15,970) (39,082)
Eric Spalding Treasurer 14
OUR FUNDERS
OUR FUNDERS With thanks to all our funders for their ongoing support THE LONDON BOROUGH OF SUTTON
• • • • • • • • • •
Volunteers Placements Befriending Transport Practical Help Involve 2 Evolve Leaving Care Mentoring Looked After Children Mentoring Alternative Provision Mentoring Schools Mentoring Supported Volunteering for volunteers with mental health issues
RESPECT
TENANTS GARDENING MAINTENANCE SCHEME
PEER MENTORING
MENTORING IN SCHOOLS
LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN
CITY BRIDGES Good Practice in Volunteer Management
Youth Volunteering Individual donations and staff and customers of the Robin Hood Hotel 15
Volunteer Centre Sutton encourages users, volunteers and the general public to make suggestions and comments about the activities of the Centre, which should be addressed to: The Chief Officer, 31 West Street, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1SJ General enquiries & Volunteers Placements
(020) 8661 5900 (with answerphone)
Direct Services
(020) 8661 5901 (with answerphone)
Mentoring
(020) 8661 5904 (with answerphone)
Gardening
(020) 8722 8921(with answerphone)
Facsimile Email Website
(020) 8642 7242 vcsutton@vcsutton.org.uk www.vcsutton.org.uk
Volunteer Centre Sutton ACCEPTS that in society certain groups or individuals are denied equality on the grounds of race, gender,
marital status and civil partnership, caring responsibilities, disability, gender re-assignment, age, social class, sexual orientation and religion or belief or any other factor irrelevant to the purpose in view. WELCOMES and complies with the statutory requirements laid down in:
the Equality Act 2010; the National Minimum Wage Act 1998; the Human Rights Act Nov 1998; the Gender Recognition Act 2004; the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, as amended;* the Disability Discrimination Act 2005;* the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006;* the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 and 1986 amendment; the Asylum & Immigration Act 1996; the codes of practice of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) * Complies with such provisions as remain in force following the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 RECOGNISES that it has moral and social responsibilities that go beyond the provisions of the above-
mentioned Acts and Regulations, and that it should support and contribute to the wider process of change through all aspects of its work and practices in order to eliminate discrimination and promote equality and diversity. IS COMMITTED to taking positive steps to ensure that:
• • • • •
all people are treated with dignity and respect, valuing the diversity of all. equality of opportunity and diversity is promoted. services are accessible, appropriate and delivered fairly to all. the mix of its employees, volunteers and management committees reflects, as far as possible, the broad mix of the population of Sutton. traditionally disadvantaged sections of the community are encouraged to participate in policy decisions about, and the management of the services provided. Volunteer Centre Sutton operates an Equality and Diversity Policy and CRB checks staff and volunteers where appropriate to protect vulnerable people Volunteer Centre Sutton is the operational name of Sutton Borough Volunteer Bureau Registered Charity No. 1048978 - A company limited by guarantee in England and Wales No. 3088644 16