Annual Report

Agnes Smith Advice Centre 96 Blackbird Leys Road Oxford OX4 6HS Tel 01865 770206 Fax 01865 771585 www.agnessmith.co.uk Annual Report April 2013 – March 2014 The Agnes Smith Advice Centre is run by an independent registered charity, Blackbird Leys Neighbourhood Support Scheme Ltd. CONTENTS Contents___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Introduction from Co-Chairs_____________________________________________________________ 2 Who’s Who _______________________________________________________________________________ 3 Our Service________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Map of The Leys __________________________________________________________________________ 5 Profile of Blackbird Leys _________________________________________________________________ 6 Treasurer’s Report _______________________________________________________________________ 7 Manager’s Report _________________________________________________________________________ 8 Centre Statistics _________________________________________________________________________ 9-12 Volunteering _____________________________________________________________________________ 13 Case Studies ______________________________________________________________________________ 14 -15 Client Feedback ___________________________________________________________________________16 In the News _______________________________________________________________________________ 17-18 Thank Yous _______________________________________________________________________________ 19 Aims of the Centre Agnes Smith Advice Centre aims to ensure the best practices in the delivery of free, independent, impartial and confidential advice by: Maximising income through welfare benefit take-up Encouraging long-term sustainable plans to tackle debt Enabling people to remain in their own homes Empowering people within their own community 1 INTRODUCTION FROM CO-CHAIRS PAUL DORNAN AND KATE GRIFFIN Blackbird Leys is a strongly rooted community but also one which faces considerable ongoing economic disadvantage. As the consequences of the national recession and cuts in benefits and public services continue, providing an accessible source of advice to the local community remains as important as ever. Recognising this, we have seen a busy year at the centre as we face the future. Our new manager, Clare Charleson, who joined the centre at the start of the year, discusses much of this hard work in her manager’s report on page 8. Advice centres and other agencies across Oxford have been working increasingly closely together as part of the Oxford Advice Agencies Stronger Together (OAAST) partnership. We believe that working together in this way will help us to make the best use of our resources and provide high quality service to our clients whilst remaining proudly independent and locally focussed. This year trustees agreed a new business plan, identifying key aims for 2014-2017 as: 1. To ensure those who need advice in the local area have access to it and improve the accessibility of our service 2. Deliver the highest quality service we can with the resources we have available, including actively responding to rapid changes in the social welfare system expected over this period, resulting from welfare reforms and legal aid cuts 3. To use evidence from the experiences of those contacting the centre for social policy development 4. continue to build close working relationships and work in partnership with other local agencies to provide a better service to the local community 5. Improve the working environment for both workers and clients 6. Protect existing funding and seek new funding to support the service Wider pressures on charitable foundations and cuts to public services make it challenging to cover the core costs of providing an advice service. The charity has had a modest deficit for 2 years, as costs have outstripped our ability to raise core resources. Fortunately, we have been able to draw on our reserves but whilst trustees have accepted this on a short-term basis, in the long term it presents a threat if we cannot cover our costs. Finally, some thank you's. Thanks to the staff team for hard work and dedication over this year, which has involved much change. We are grateful to those volunteers and trustees who have freely given of their time to support the work of the centre. We would especially like to mention Kim Poyser whose sad illness and death robbed the Centre of one of its most dedicated and long- serving volunteers. We are also very grateful to the Centre's supporters in the local community, and for those who have funded our activities – as Fran Bennett notes in the treasurer's report on page 8. In this year trustee Pamela Baker resigned, and we would like to thank her for her contributions to the centre's work. We would also particularly like to thank the manager, Clare Charleson and trustee treasurer Fran Bennett for their huge efforts. 2 O’S WHO WHO’S WHO April 2013 – March 2014 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Co-Chair……………………………………………………….…………………………………… Paul Dornan Co-Chair …………………………………………………………………………………………….. Kate Griffin Treasurer ………………………………………………………………………………………… Fran Bennett Company Secretary …………………………………………………………………… Audrey Bronstein Trustee …………………………………………………………… (Resigned Jan 2014) Pamela Baker Trustee …………………………………………………………………………………………….. Elaine Chase Trustee ……………………………………………………………………………………………... Helen Leney Trustee ………………………………………………………………………………………... Beryl Loughran Trustee …………………………………………………………………………………………….. Simon Pitkin Trustee …………………………………………………………………………………………… Cora Spencer STAFF Manager/Advice Worker ……………………………………………………………… Clare Charleson Deputy Manager/Advice Worker ……………………………………………………… Laura Wilson Reception Supervisor/Volunteer Coordinator …………………….…………. Stephen Knight Outreach Advice Worker ………………………………………………………………….… Cathy Wells Outreach Advice Worker ……………………………………………………....………….. Jackie Knight Clerical Worker …………………………………………………………………………… Alison Chapman Cleaner ……………………………………………………………………………………………. Carole Ewers VOLUNTEERS Senior Volunteer Receptionist ……………………………. (deceased Dec 2013) Kim Poyser Volunteer Advisor ……………………………………………………………………………… Laura Court Volunteer Employment Advisor…………………………………………………………..Daniel Smith Volunteer Trainee Advisor …………………………………… (left July 2013) Wayne Prescott Volunteer Receptionist ………………………………………………………………….. Quamrul Islam Volunteer Receptionist ………………………………………………………………….. Latisha Walker Volunteer Receptionist …………………………………………………………………… Jo-Anne Berry 3 OUR SERVICE WHAT WE DO We are a local service for the local community. We are located in the heart of Blackbird Leys, and we are the first port of call for many individuals who do not know where to turn to for advice. We are recognized for our work in helping people who might otherwise fall through the safety net, on everyday issues such as debt, welfare benefits, housing and employment. We offer specialist support in debt and welfare benefits. Our debt advisors help clients tackle their financial problems, including setting up long-term, sustainable repayment plans, or if necessary a debt relief order or bankruptcy. Our benefit advisors help clients with anything from form-filling to challenging decisions by the benefit agencies. We make a real contribution to the community. This year our advisors had 2247 contacts with people who came to us for advice. HOW THE SERVICE WORKS The centre offers a range of services to meet the needs of the local community. We provide a drop- in service to gather brief details of the problem, and assess its urgency and how best to deal with it. We are here in a time of crisis, and can offer emergency help at the drop-in. We offer face-to-face appointments when a client needs more in-depth support. Clients often approach us with multiple issues and complex problems. Our advisors may need several appointments with clients over a period of time in order to resolve their issues. For self-help, we have a wealth of information, forms and leaflets in our reception. Our receptionists are trained to signpost clients elsewhere if the best option is to see another agency better able to deal with their query. REACHING THE COMMUNITY We operate from our office in the heart of Blackbird Leys. We also offer outreach services to people in venues used by the community. We offer home visits for clients who can’t come to our offices because of illness or mobility issues. LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC We provide a free legal advice clinic at the centre, courtesy of Bower and Bailey solicitors. This takes place every other Thursday by appointment only. The legal advisor can offer guidance on all legal issues and point the client in the right direction if they need more in depth legal advice. 4 Our Location MAP OF THE LEYS The Leys Children’s Centre Our Outreach Locations 61-63 Cuddesdon Way Blackbird Leys Oxford OX4 6SB Agnes Smith Advice Centre 96 Blackbird Leys Road Blackbird Leys Oxford OX4 6HS The Farmhouse Nightingale Avenue Greater Leys Oxford OX4 7BU The Clockhouse Long Ground Greater Leys Oxford OX4 7FX PROFILE OF BLACKBIRD LEYS Blackbird Leys is a residential estate on the southern edge of Oxford. It was built in 1958, to provide housing for workers at the Cowley car plant, the main employer in the area at the time. This original development created an estate of approximately 8,000 people. In the late 1980s and 1990s, as a response to the housing problems in the city, the city council made further land available

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