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Community Chest a partnership initiative Year Seven Report 2013 – 2014 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 More than 2,000 volunteers supported the 85 projects which were funded by the Community Chest in 2013-14 Front Cover: (clockwise) BBOWT Bernwood Forest, Padbury Sports Development, Aston Clinton Community Group, Aylesbury Coffee Morning Club (deaf adults group) at the Healthy Living Centre, Walton Court, Carers Bucks Young Carers Activity Programme, Wendover Scouts. Photographs in this report are either provided by the projects themselves, taken by Grants Panel members or by MJD Photography unless otherwise acknowledged. www.mjdphoto.biz Above left: Working Together, 4th June 2014 – group photo of Community Chest Grant Recipients, Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton www.mjdphoto.biz th right: Sustainability Workshop, 7 February 2014, taken by Luke Clark 2 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14 Contents Chairman’s Report 4 What is the Community Chest? 4 2013-14 milestones 4 Grants panel membership 5 Project Grants 5 Microgrants 5 3YR grants (2011-14) 6 AVYFC Youth Cafés 6 Aylesbury Homeless Action Group 6 Buckingham CAB 7 Chilterns MS Centre 7 Community Impact Bucks 8 Healthy Living Centre CIC 8 Horses Helping People CIC 9 Puzzle Centre 9 Young Carers Bucks 10 Working Together 2014 11 Map 13 Facts, figures and feedback 14 List of grants awarded in year 7 16 3 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 Report from the Grants Panel Chairman It has been an honour to be chairman of the grants panel for the past year. I have learned such a lot from the different organisations that come to us for funding, and I have enjoyed my time on the panel since 2007. I would like to thank the panel for this opportunity, and also to thank Sarah Rothwell, Grants Officer, for her support. Cllr Ranjula Takodra What is the Community Chest? In 2006, Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) transferred its housing stock to the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust (The Trust). Established as part of the transfer arrangements, the two organisations jointly manage this partnership fund. Under the agreement, value added tax (VAT) reclaimed on the Trust’s investment to refurbish their properties will be set aside to fund community projects for ten years. This is match-funded with reclaimed VAT by AVDC. Each partner contributes equally to the agreed budget of £500,000 (including administration costs) each year until 2017. Over the past seven years, the Aylesbury Vale Community Chest has supported community projects run by charities, community groups, clubs, societies, parish councils and social enterprises. During 2013/14, eighty five grants totalling £462,315 were awarded. Since the fund launched in 2007, 551 grants have been awarded, and a total of £3,146,956 distributed to benefit people in Aylesbury Vale. Applications are welcomed from charities, voluntary and community groups, parish councils Cohesive and Strong Communities and social enterprises for projects taking place Safer Communities within Aylesbury Vale which contribute to one or more of our five priority areas. Thriving Economy A full list of 2013-14 grants can be found on pages Sustainable Environment 16-17. Funding is awarded through three grant streams: Health and Wellbeing Micro Grants up to £1,000 are assessed and awarded monthly using a scoring system. Fifty five organisations received microgrants in year seven, with an average value of £860. Project Grants up to £25,000 are reviewed three times a year by a Grants Panel (see page 5), which consists of three AVDC councillors and three representatives from the Trust. Twenty one grants averaging £11,858 were approved in 2013-14. Three Year Revenue Grants (3YR) – up to £20,000 pa. Nine grants averaging £18,444 per year were awarded by the Panel in 2010 for the funding period 2011-14. Recipients of the third and final round of 3YR funding from 2014-17 were decided by the Panel in November 2013. Milestones 2013-14 The three millionth pound of funding was awarded to Joss Searchlight th Their ‘It’s Good to Talk’ support The 500 grant went to groups for families of children with Queens Park Arts Centre cancer, use play, art and talking towards costumes for their therapies, and provide a support community pantomime. network for parents and siblings 4 Community Chest Annual Report, 2013-14 Grants Panel Membership 2013-5 Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust Aylesbury Vale District Council Barry Dale, Management Accountant (to Jan ’14) Cllr Janet Blake, Member for Stewkley Penny Foulds, Head of Finance (from May ’14) Cllr Pam Pearce, Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Member for Newton Longville. Kate Russell, Director of Corporate Resources Cllr Ranjula Takodra, Grants Panel Chairman 2013-14 Masaud Subedar, Head of Community Services Member for Walton Court & Hawkslade Grants Panel Chairman 2014-15 £3.15million of Community Chest funding has contributed to over £25million investment in Aylesbury Vale projects run by voluntary and community groups, charities, parish councils and social enterprises Project Grants Community Chest project applications for one-off funding up to £25,000 are considered by the panel three times each year. These can be for capital projects, for example a new clubhouse at Buckingham West End Bowls Club, or for revenue services, such as running costs for Aylesbury’s SPACE project, providing drop-in support for people at times of life crisis. Twenty one grants were awarded in 2013-14. The Community Chest will provide up to half the cost of a project. In many cases, our grants give a smaller, but still valuable contribution to much larger projects. The leverage on applications for capital projects tends to be higher than those for revenue costs. In 2013- 2014, for every £1 of project grants awarded, revenue projects generated £3.37 of local services, whereas capital projects generated £9.10 of investment in local facilities. 21 Project Grants Awarded £249,020 Total cost of these 21 projects £1,600,115 Revenue projects Revenue projects £116,250 £391,900 Capital projects £132,770 Capital projects £1,208,215 Microgrants These easily accessible grants are reviewed on a monthly basis, with a short application form, and fast turnaround on decisions. From 2014 onwards, the Panel have restricted these grants to applicants with annual income or expenditure under £100,000, who have not previously received three or more microgrants. This is to ensure that in the final three years of the fund, these small grants will remain accessible to new applicants and to small local groups who need this financial support. 5 Community Chest Annual Report 2013-14 In 2013-14, microgrant applicants included sports, arts and social clubs, scout groups, parish councils, community building committees, local projects and small charities. Grants were awarded for a wide range of purposes: improvements and repairs, new equipment, materials, furniture, training sessions, support services and environmental projects. Three Year Revenue Grants (3YR) 2011-14 The following extracts are taken from the end of grant reports received from the nine organisations funded over the past three years. AVYFC youthcafe.info Our grant from the Community Chest has provided the organisation with funding to run and support 4 of our youth projects. The funding received over the 3 years has helped establish the projects and enabled us to engage with many young people in the areas. Each week around 125 young people attend the three Youth Cafés supported through the Community Chest. 32 volunteers supported the three café venues during the three years. Around 600 young people accessed Southcourt Studio projects, either in person or online. The grant money was spent on employing key workers to run three youth cafés and also our recording studio project. The groups are run in Waddesdon, Berryfields and Southcourt Aylesbury. The cafés offer free food and refreshments as well as games and activities to help young people build relationships. The groups run after school so that they have a safe place to be before parents get home from work. The studio is open in the evenings after school for young people to perform, practice and record their music. The online ‘café in a box’ resource pack is used by many more independent youth café venues around the UK, from Penzance to Perth, so this local project has a much wider reach. AVYFC ran an Olympic Café at Aylesbury College during London 2012, and that model is being used to run a Commonwealth Games café at a community hall in Airdrie near Glasgow in Summer 2014. Having the support from AVDC and VAHT has been really significant for us as it helps raise our profile. We have approached other groups for funding for equipment and projects to enhance the cafes and studio and these have often been awarded. We have also been invited along to meetings for networking and further funding information. Aylesbury Homeless Action Group ahag.org.uk More than 350 clients assisted over the three year period. 24 volunteers support the Hub sessions and Winter Warmth emergency night shelter. The grant has enabled us to continue offering the Hub services on a twice-weekly drop-in basis. This is our initial meeting point for all new referrals and allows us to have a full diagnostic interview with clients. It ensures that we can fully risk assess each client before developing a bespoke support package. We are able to offer the Hub as a contact point for other support agencies, such as The Terence Higgins Trust, SMART and Connections Outreach, enabling them to access clients in a safe environment. The Hub has also allowed our night shelter clients a daytime point of contact with case workers. We are continuing to offer a year-round service ensuring that all new referrals are seen as soon as possible.