Aireborough Voluntary Services to the Elderly with Disabilities Annual Report 2015/2016 Charity Registration: 1048902 AVSED Annual Report 2015/16 Office Committee Members Suffolk Court Chair Ken Elliott Silver Lane Yeadon Vice Chair Brian Myers LEEDS LS19 7JN Treasurer Neil Moffoot Telephone: 0113 250 1702 Secretary Ann Turner E mail: [email protected] Isabella (Bunty) Burgon-Byrne, Roger Halliwell, Edward Lamb, Wendy Hanson, Graham Downes Website: www.avsed.org.uk (from Oct 2015), Cllr Ryk Downes (in an advisory capacity) Staff Project Coordinating Manager Sarah Lunt Volunteer Recruitment, Training Community Cohesion and and Development Officer (VRTD Diversity Officer (CCD Officer) Officer) Sarah Rogers Sharon Ahmed Activity Support Worker Minibus Driver (part-time) Ella Baxter Don Robertson Minibus Transport and Minibus Transport and Equal Access Organiser Rick Lamb Front page: Ron and Denniss enjoying the Eric Morecambe statue at Morecambe Seafront 2 AVSED Annual Report 2015/16 Mission Statement The primary object of the charity, as set out in the charity’s constitution, is the relief from isolation (without distinction of colour, ethnic origins, nationality, political or religious opinion, sex or sexual orientation) of the older people, many of whom have disabilities, living in the community of Aireborough within the City of Leeds. Aireborough Voluntary Services to the Elderly with Disabilities (AVSED) provides a unique service to the older people of Aireborough, many of whom have various disabilities. Designed to support those who wish to remain living independently at home, AVSED aims to continually update and expand its socialisation and healthy living services to meet the changing needs of Clients. By relieving social isolation and providing Volunteers who care, great improvements should continue to be made in the quality of life of all our Clients and Volunteers. Background Information AVSED is a registered charity (registered in 1995), managed and run by registered Volunteers with the support of six paid staff, and covers an area of approximately 18 square miles. The charity is governed by a constitution Founded in Yeadon in 1992 by a group of caring local people who recognised the loneliness and isolation of older disabled people living in Aireborough, AVSED is run by a Management Committee of nine Volunteers, which by including older people with disabilities, reflects the makeup of the organisation. A local Councillor has been nominated by Leeds City Council to attend Committee meetings and provide support. All Volunteers, and all Clients who pay an annual subscription to receive services from AVSED*, are registered Members of the organisation. Each registered Member may nominate and vote for Management Committee representatives at the Annual General Meeting. A postal vote is arranged if necessary. (*£15 for a single person or £20 for two people living in the same dwelling in 2015/2016) Although AVSED is an independent registered charity, it works within the Leeds Older People’s Neighbourhood Network (around 35 separate organisations spread across the city) and, in particular, with the seven charities within the NW PCT area. The co- ordinators of these organisations meet together on a quarterly basis prior to a meeting with senior staff from Adult Social Care (together with representatives from the Neighbourhood Network organisations in the west of the city) and provide support for each other. 3 AVSED Annual Report 2015/16 Chair’s Report 2015/16 has been a very busy year for all the members, volunteers and staff with an increase in the amount of activities and events that have created a better sense of what AVSED is trying to achieve in the local community. We have secured a new home for AVSED which will be in the ANSA clubhouse in Nunroyd Park: this will provide a Hub for all our planned services and activities. Transferring to this property will give us the “Benefit of Change,” and has been possible with a grant from the ASDA Foundation. We applied to the Department of Transport for a new Minibus under a scheme for the Third Sector, and I am pleased to announce this bid was successful. The new minibus will be delivered later this year. The Management Committee have decided to make AVSED a ‘Charitable Company, Limited by Guarantee’ which will give us a legal identity and help us when applying for future funding. Looking ahead, a great deal was achieved in 2015/2016 and there is much more to be done in the year ahead including finalising our preparations for future funding applications, which will include Leeds Adult Social Care and the Big Lottery. The way we have progressed this year gives me great confidence that we will meet our objectives set for 2016/17: to help older people in Aireborough live a full and involved life by reducing their social isolation. Project C oordinating Manager’s Report 2015/2016 was a year of settled staff levels at AVSED which was a great relief to both myself and the Trustees. Sharon hit the ground running in her new role as CCD Officer, and both Ella and Sarah Rogers were already flying in their new roles by mid 2015. It was fantastic to have the opportunity and the time in the latter part of 2015 to actually put parts of the business and strategic plan in action and start planning for the future of AVSED when I knew the day to day running was in safe hands. As you can see from the rest of the Report we achieved an incredible amount during the year, which is due to the hard work and dedication of both Staff and Volunteers. It is quite exhausting in fact remembering it all! We are satisfying, and in fact exceeding, the expectations of our funders in terms of the targets we have achieved and the impact of our services on local older people. We also show a high level of satisfaction amongst our members and volunteers, which is the whole purpose of our organisation. At a time when charities are under scrutiny in the media for various practices like cold calling and financial mismanagement, I am very proud to say we have always, and always will be, fully transparent in our charity management, aims and objectives. Here is to a bright future for AVSED. 4 AVSED Annual Report 2015/16 AVSED Finance During 2015/2016 we received a contract, grants and donations from all the organisations and individuals listed below: Contract: Adult Social Care, Leeds City Council – year 1 of a 3 x 1 year rolling contract to provide services for older people in Aireborough. We have had confirmation this contract has now been extended until March 2017, with assurance Leeds City Council have a strong commitment to continuing their support of the Leeds Older People’s Neighbourhood Networks. Grants: The Big Lottery Fund Grant – Fourth Year (of five) grant entitled ‘Socialising Seniors’ to allow us to enhance the capacity of AVSED to help more older people in Aireborough Frank Parkinson Yorkshire Trust – Fourth Year (of five) grant to part-pay the monthly lease-hire charges for our Renault minibus Horsforth Live at Home Scheme (lead scheme in a three-way partnership with Otley Action for Older People) – funding additional services for people with low-level memory loss Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales – second year (of 2) grant to pay for the salary of our part-time minibus driver The Department of Transport – successful in a grant application for a new minibus, which should be with us mid to late 2016. This is a gift in kind rather than a cash donation and the minibus will be created to our specifications. Leeds Community Foundation – grant for our Winter Buddies Scheme Green Hall Foundation – grant for 50% of the salary of our part time minibus driver for 1 year. Asda Foundation – grant for £15,067.00 towards building a new office to facilitate our premises move Picture to Right: Sarah Leonard from Asda Guiseley Live at Home presenting the cheque to Ken on a foggy morning Fundraising: AVSED Office Staff – ran the 10k Abbey Dash in November 2015 and raised £1250 (see right) David Elliott – completed the Brownlee Triathlon at Harewood House and raised £342.50 Gift Aid – from individual contributers who had completed a Gift Aid Form, plus from the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (which we were eligible to apply for this year as we have successfully applied for Gift Aid for the last 2 years) which allowed us to claim 25% on cash donations of £20 or under, even if a gift aid form had not been completed. Will Writing Scheme – Morrish Solicitors in Yeadon 5 raised £300 during May 2015 with a will writing scheme AVSED Annual Report 2015/16 Asda – ‘Chosen by you..given by Us’ green token collection scheme at the Guiseley Live at Home Store. We received the most tokens of the 3 competing organisations and were given a cheque for £200 (picture left, Sarah receiving the cheque from Sarah Leonard, the Community Life Champion at the store) Health and Wellbeing Fair – raised £197 Guiseley Art Club – raised £200 for AVSED through sales at their annual exhibition (picture right, Sarah receiving the cheque from Michael Hillas, Chairman) YAODs – Yeadon Amateur Operatic and Dramatics Society raised a total £217.91 during 3 bucket collections (picture right shows the Christmas Carol singing and collection at High Trees Garden Centre, and picture left shows Ella receiving the donation cheque from Malcolm Kleiman, the Vice Chairman of YAODS ) AVSED Christmas Raffle – raised £220 (Cora helping Sarah to draw the raffle numbers at Cuppa and Company) Donations: Kind donations in memory of the following former AVSED members: Connie Norton, Sybil Firth, Shirley Battersby, Gordon Dunn, Douglas Richardson and Mary Kellegher Individual Donations: many small and large donations from members, volunteers, family/carers and supporters of AVSED, too many to list.