Supporting nt Motivati Vibra Engaging ng Enabling Excitin g Stimulatin g Sustainable Northumberland CVA Annual Review 2016-17 Celebrating 30 years of providing support to the voluntary and community sector Our Vision: Our dedicated staff team has seen some changes over the past year. Maureen Shepherd and Erin Supporting Communities, Enabling People Le Gallez have left the team, and Michelle Cadby, Leanne Brown and Rachel Lewis have come onboard. Our Mission: Our Current Staff Team: To engage, stimulate and inspire the creation and VCS SUPPORT SERVICES: development of strong, sustainable and vibrant communities in Northumberland and the surrounding Ann Atkinson areas Assembly Development Officer [email protected] Our Guiding Values: Jackie Auld Information & Communications Officer We believe that people and communities are at the [email protected] heart of what we do Michelle Cadby We have a passion and reputation that means we can Development Officer - Volunteering and do make a difference [email protected] Carolyn Fothergill We have a firm belief that everyone has something to Development Officer - Projects offer and can make a valuable contribution [email protected] We have a conviction that the voluntary and Marc Johnson community sector plays a crucial role in society and is Development Officer - Funding firmly fixed at the heart of civil society [email protected] We believe that our staff are our greatest asset EMPLOYABILITY: We endeavor to be a catalyst for positive change Leanne Brown Bridge Support Assistant We believe in a high quality of provision and delivery [email protected] of services Lisa Wackett Programmes Co-ordinator We believe in making a difference by breaking cycles [email protected] of disadvantage and marginalization within the community WORKING WITH OLDER PEOPLE: Karen Cox Our Themes and Objectives: Re:Action Project Co-ordinator THEME: Group Development & Funding Advice [email protected] OBJECTIVE: Capacity building, engagement and development FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION: Providing high quality support that is founded on sound knowledge and understanding of community needs, that Simon Baker strengthens and empowers voluntary and community groups Administrator at a local level. [email protected] THEME: Volunteering Rachel Lewis OBJECTIVE: Employability & volunteering Finance Officer Creating opportunities for individuals to engage with the labour [email protected] market or make a valuable contribution to society through volunteering activities. Our Trustees: THEME: Voice & Influence Rodney James: Chair OBJECTIVE: Representation & influencing Joe Jackson: Vice Chair Helping to shape and inform local planning and policy Sue Ashmore development that affects the VCSE sector. Mark Fitton THEME: Community Development Mary Hindmarsh OBJECTIVE: Partnership & collaboration Philip Kramer (retired during this year) Working with other organisations and sectors to build a society Paul Lawrence that is stronger, where people are inspired to make a positive Val Tyler difference to their communities. Jean Wright The Chair’s Report: As our Annual I must record our many thanks Review points out, to Anne and her staff for their we are celebrating conscientiousness and for their 30 years of commitment, not only to the providing support organisation, but also to the to the voluntary and voluntary and community sector community sector. In in Northumberland. Also, many those years we have thanks to the trustees for the been able to help time they have given to this countless numbers organisation over the year. of organisations and The trustees would like to individuals, initially record their thanks to Mr Philip in the old district of Kramer, who has retired this Wansbeck and now across the whole County of year from the board, for all his support and for the Northumberland. helpful advice he has given us over many years. Although many annual reviews these days all seem To our funders, we say thank you. To those who to tell the same story about the challenging times, have worked with us in partnership and for those particularly with regard to increasing difficulties in who have used our services and have benefited securing funding (which also applies to ourselves), from us being there, we also say thank you. it is pleasing to read the statistics in ours about the number of people we’ve been able to support I hope you enjoy reading this review and can see and help with limited resources. Our support has that by our work, we have contributed to making a enabled those people to make a difference in their difference to people in our beautiful county. own organisations or with their own communities. We are at the moment measuring the financial impact we are having in our communities using Rose Regeneration’s Social Value Engine and we estimate that for every £1 of the overall cost for the Rodney James year of our commissioned VCS Support Services, Chair we contribute over £5 into the community. That is a great investment for Northumberland County Contents: Council, who awarded us the commission in 2014, Page since it allows the organisations we have supported Chair’s Report 1 to improve their own impact in the services they deliver direct to their communities. Chief Executive’s Report 2 We also carry out some direct delivery work through Celebrating 30 years 3 our Working with Older People projects (page 10) and Employability projects (page 12). We have Group Development & Funding Support 4 used the same Social Value Engine tool to measure the ratio of cost to value of the work we do with Grant giving: Our Funds 7 older people on our Assisted Shopping Scheme and Digital Inclusion sessions and estimate that for every Memberships 7 £1 of funding received for this work, we made a contribution into the community of over £16. Volunteering 8 Although as an organisation we support, contribute Working with Older People 10 to, and also champion the value of the voluntary sector at a strategic level, as our Annual Review Employability 12 indicates, at the heart of our work it is the individual who matters. I am pleased to say that in all the Voice & Influence 14 years I have been associated with the organisation, this is the principle that is at the forefront of our work Back Office Services 16 - i.e. ‘the individual is important and they matter’. Accounts Inside back cover Even though I will not be around when we celebrate our 60th anniversary, I do hope that this will still be the guiding light for the organisation then. Northumberland CVA Annual Review 2016-17 : 1 The Chief Executive’s Report: s would be There is no doubt that changes will continue throughout Aexpected in the coming years, not just in the voluntary sector but public celebrating 30 years, and private sectors too. It is also true to say that a lot of looking back over big changes are afoot at present. We may see political time makes for change at local government level, devolution may bring interesting reading. change and Brexit will inevitably result in massive change; Northumberland CVA not least the ending of funding that provides many VCS has gone through many organisations in Northumberland with a resource that is changes since we were not available from other sources. established in 1987, We do not intend to stand still. We will continue to be under the name of innovative and evolve, continue to develop and work Wansbeck Council for in partnership, both within the VCS and the public and Voluntary Service. private sector. We will ensure those organisations that We have seen funding increase and decrease, staffing require our support and help to grow and develop have the levels grow and decline, organisations either thrive expertise, knowledge and skills which our knowledgeable or survive, and sadly in recent times we have seen and experienced staff can and do deliver. From supporting longer established organisations disappearing. Despite organisations to ensure their future sustainability to these changes, our mission has always remained the delivering employability programmes, from offering same; “To engage, stimulate and inspire the creation bespoke support services to providing knowledge and and development of strong sustainable and vibrant information, we will continue to do what we do best to communities in Northumberland and surrounding areas” ensure the VCS in Northumberland can grow. Looking through old newsletters, monitoring and None of this would be possible without the hard work and evaluations and old annual reports/reviews, reminds us dedication of my staff team. They continue to give their how much we have done and achieved for the voluntary heart and soul to their work and they remain dedicated and community sector in Northumberland, and how much and supportive, and without them the sector would be a our services have changed to meet the changing needs of poorer place. My Chair and board continue to support the sector. me through the good times and the challenging times, often having to make difficult decisions but ones that have We have always been an organisation that moves with ensured our sustainability and I would like to thank them the times; we have generated income through contracts for their support. and tenders since 1999, long before the government recognised this as a means of income for the VCS. I know I won’t be here in another 30 years, but We have achieved a number of national awards for Northumberland CVA will continue to provide our innovative and outstanding work in the sector and our communities and voluntary organisations in consistently achieved our national quality standards Northumberland with a qualitative service, for as long as for nine years running. Over the past three years we we are able and our services are required.