Annual Review
&
Accounts
2011/2012
Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Message from the Chair
Neville Baldwin
On behalf of Thurrock CVS, I have the pleasure of presenting this year’s Annual Review.
It has been a busy year for TCVS not least in meeting its objectives which included:



Rebuilding relationships with TVCS and the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sectors
Improving communications with the VCFS, statutory and private sector
Raising the profile of TCVS as the single infrastructure organisation for Thurrock
whilst
Ensuring the financial viability of TCVS, resource centre and generating income
independent of grant funding
I am gratified that great progress has been made to meet all of these objectives but
recognise further work is still needed to fully reach our potential of supporting and helping
the development of the sector.
Within the voluntary, community and faith sector we all know that funding is tighter and
scarcer than ever before. At the same time, we also know that demands for services and
support are greater in these times of financial austerity.
We need, therefore, to ensure that our funders fully understand that for every pound cut up
to eight pounds of services could be lost. This argument of proportionality must be won for
the sake of our communities.
Last year I referred to the Sectors dependency on single funding sources which puts us all in
a vulnerable position, I referred to the longer term and the need to move away from grant
dependency, I expressed the need to become more business-like,. Opportunities for
delivering public services will increase. I believe TCVS can play a pivotal role in this matter
and by developing the capacity I referred to earlier we can explore innovative ideas like the
provision of the brokerage services and developing consortia to bid for larger contracts etc.
Having said this I do recognise the difficulties in increasing the capacity in the sector,
therefore we will need to increase our efforts to support local VCF organisations to deal with
these challenges and help them to strengthen their structures. As a charity ourselves, we
face the same challenges and pressures and it is important that we also continue to plan for
our own development and sustainability.
Notwithstanding the above I am looking forward to being part of the coming year which
promises to be just as busy and full of exciting and rewarding opportunities including working
on initiatives such as Community Hubs, Healthwatch, Community Accounting and the
provision of back office support for our members.
Finally I would take the opportunity to thank Kristina and her staff, board members and
partners for their work and support during the last twelve months without which TVCS would
not have been able to enjoy the progress made this year.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Chief Executive Officer’s Report
Kristina Jackson
The most over used phrase I have heard in the last couple of years is the Chinese
Proverb “we are living in interesting times” - I think we are! The policy and funding
landscape have changed significantly over the past 12-18 months. Some bodies no
longer exist or are in the process of being abolished. The NHS is being fundamentally
restructured, and the VCFS will need to forge new relationships with Clinical
Commissioning Groups. Local Authority finances continue to be a major threat over the
coming years, as Thurrock Council look to take millions off their spending over the next
three years. At the same time, demands for the voluntary, community and faith sector’s
services and support are greater due to these times of financial austerity.
2012/13, Thurrock CVS will continue to support local voluntary, community and faith
organisations by providing information and advice together with strategies to deal with
these challenges and to strengthen their structures. Our main focus will be on:




Commissioning and Procurement – With the refresh of the Compact and the
Public Social Value Act (2012), we will ensure commissioners make their
processes more accessible to the VCFS and takes account of their additional
social value.
Welfare Reforms – Early 2013, Thurrock CVS will start to review the possible
impacts of the welfare reforms.
Co-production – as the local authority move to deliver services in a more
transformed way. Thurrock CVS will ensure involvement of VCFS partners are
there at the start of the process to shape services for their
beneficiaries/communities.
Sector sustainability – we will continue to identify support and training needs
for the sector and work with organisations to deliver services collaboratively or
within a consortium.
Finally, this has been an extremely busy year for Thurrock CVS. In August 2011 the Board of
Trustees took the strategic decisions; for a move away from service provision to concentrate
on infrastructure support and long term financial viability of Thurrock CVS. At the end of
March we sadly saw the end of the very popular Volunteers in Action project and Older
People’s project. I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff past and present for all
their hard work and support and look forward to the challenging but exciting year ahead.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Membership Report 2011-12
By the end of 2011-12 we had over 90 members, compared to 60 members for
previous year 2010-11.
Membership 2011-2012 90
New
Members
22
24%
Old
Members
68
76%
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Figure 1 Taken from 2011 VCS Survey
Service Area
Children 3
3
Young People 3
3
Faith 3
3
Gender Support 3
3
Advocacy 4
4
Older People 4
4
Family 4
4
Community 5
5
Culture 8
8
Support & Advice 8
8
Leisure10
10
Disability 22
22
Figure 2 Taken from 2011 VCS Survey
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Supporting the Voluntary & Community Sector
As part of our infrastructure support role, we supported 34 groups and organisations
during this year with advice on; funding, constitutions, policies, HR and legal. With
the support from Thurrock Council and Awards for All, Thurrock CVS launched a
new refreshed website and database in November 2011. It provides up to date;
news, information and training opportunities. The site allows smaller voluntary
organisations the opportunity of taking their own webpage. During the year, the
database for voluntary and community organisations was updated and now holds in
excess of 500 community groups and organisations within Thurrock. As at 31st
March, the website was receiving over 5000 page views per month. During the year
we distributed 1,800 copies of Speakout .
Training Opportunities
Training can be perceived to be a luxury rather than a
necessity at times of austerity. However, an
organisation that understands their team of volunteers
and staff need to be equipped to meet new challenges
see training is part of the strategy. Growth can require
new skills, revisiting and refreshing previous learning
and building on the experience already in place.
In 2011/12 TCVS ran 5 courses covering a variety of subjects which build the
capacity within an organisation. TCVS are active partners within the ACE training
partnership and raise awareness for training requirements for VCFS organisations.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Working in Partnership & Representing the Sector
A majority of our time this year has been spent rebuilding relationship with Voluntary
& Statutory Partners and we have attended a high volume of meetings (155). A trawl
through the diaries tells me that ….
In September 2011 we brought together a partnership of 5 voluntary organisations to
bid for Cabinet Office Transforming Local Infrastructure fund. Although we were
unsuccessful, the process of working together with other organisations carrying out
similar work was an invaluable experience.
After listening to the views of the sector regarding the Compact (2007), we requested
that the Compact be refreshed in November 2011, to better reflect the commitments
set out in the national Compact. We wanted the new document to be more focused
on the key issues where clarity of expectation was needed within public services and
within the voluntary sector, to enable to create a positive culture to nurture joint
working.
December 2011 Thurrock CVS facilitated a series of feedback sessions to enable
voluntary sector groups and organisations express their views on the Early Offer of
Help strategy. A collective response was submitted, raising our concerns around,
early intervention not being part of the strategy, timescales for consultation and the
commissioning processes. We were delighted to hear the process was delayed until
June 2012.
January 2012 Thurrock CVS took over as host of Thurrock LINk, after their previous
host CEMVO went into administration.
January 2012 saw the first meeting of Joint Strategic Forum, bringing together
Voluntary Sector Representatives, Senior Council Officers and elected members,
portfolio holders. The group have worked together on issues around Procurement,
highlighting the hurdles faced by the VCFS in tendering processes. As a result
training is scheduled for 15th & 22nd January 2013 for VCFS and Statutory partners to
have a better understanding of the commissioning and procurement process and for
commissioners and procurement officers to hear some of the issues faced from the
VCFS.
February 2012 the Managed Network Executive Group was established.
Representatives from a wide range of voluntary sector organisations covering
different service areas come together to share a joint understanding of issues
affecting the sector and communities in Thurrock.
These are just a few edited highlights of the financial year, but hopefully it gives a
sense of the diverse volume of work that TCVS gets through.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Feedback on the
“Thurrock CVS Transforming Local Infrastructure Survey.”
In early October 2011 we asked voluntary and community organisations in Thurrock
to complete the above survey. Due to external pressure we could only allow a very
limited response time, however we were pleased with the response and would like to
thank the 34 groups that completed the survey in such a short space of time.
The number of completed survey forms prevents a detailed report drawing
conclusions from the answers as the response was too small to be statistically
significant; however we felt it important to inform the groups that took the time and
trouble to complete the survey of the results obtained.
No of groups responding
32 (2 responses received after compilation)
No of groups part of a wider organisation
9
No of groups operating only in Thurrock
23
No of groups operating throughout the
whole of Thurrock
16
(9) all groups
No of groups not registered as a charity
(7) Thurrock only groups
Average time group established
23.41 years
Total No of volunteers
546 (Ave 17 per group)
Total No volunteer hours
85,274
Value of volunteer hours at minimum
wage. 85,274 x £6.85
£584,126
Ave hrs per year per volunteer
156 (3 hrs per wk)
No of groups with no paid staff
17 (53%)
No of paid staff living in Thurrock
202 (75%)
Total Income for all 32 groups
£10,058,255
Total grants from Thurrock Council/ NHS
£1,966,469
Money levered in from outside
organisations or earned income
£8,091,787 (80%)
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Money spent in Thurrock (suppliers + wages)
£3,411,458
Money spent in Thurrock over & above
Thurrock/NHS grants
£1,444,989
Thurrock only group income (2 groups
£3,065,970
omitted to prevent skew)
Money levered into Thurrock by Thurrock
only groups(2 groups omitted to prevent skew)
£2,214,376
Total grants from Thurrock Council/NHS to
Thurrock only groups (2 groups omitted to
£851,591
prevent skew)
Money spent in Thurrock by Thurrock only
groups (suppliers + wages 2 groups omitted to
£2,641,305 (3:1 ratio to grants)
prevent skew)
No of groups without website
4
No of groups owning their own premises
4
No of groups renting premises
13
No of Groups using private house
5
No of groups using donated premises
4
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
The LINk has continued this year to maintain the principles for which LINks were
established, by monitoring Health and Social Care on behalf of our Community. This
year has been a difficult one due to the situation which arose early in the year when the
LINk host organisation (CEMVO) went into liquidation, resulting in the LINk project being
in danger of folding. An emergency members and stakeholders meeting was called and
it was voted unanimously that the offer from CVS to host the project for the remainder of
this year should be accepted. This relationship has been very successful, and has
resulted in the LINk project manager sitting within the CVS office allowing closer working
relationships between the LINk and the third sector organisations.
Our Management Committee is made up of individual Thurrock residents from a variety
of backgrounds, representatives from interested groups and the LINk Project Manager.
They have monitored and supported the various actions, events and working practices
of Thurrock LINk.
We have again tackled some specific issues throughout the year and have undertaken
surveys and valuable public engagement exercises. We are justly proud that all the work
we undertake is at the express bidding of local residents and their involvement is of
course paramount.
Local Involvement is nothing if local people are not involved. A lot of our time is spent
out in the Community, whether it’s an information stand at a community event, speaking
at a local group, handing out information outside a supermarket, chatting with people in
a library or cafe, or meeting with Health and Social Care professionals.
We have continued to distribute our information leaflets and questionnaires throughout
this year even though we are in a transition period, working towards Healthwatch
Thurrock which is the new body taking over the LINk projects across the country, due to
be in place and operational in April 2013. As a result of this planned transition, Mike
Riley LINk Chair stepped down to allow the new steering group to progress, he is still
involved in the LINk and Healthwatch work as a very active member. Thurrock LINk staff
and members would like to thank him for all his hard work and commitment over the past
3 years.
We now find ourselves being asked to participate in the formative stages of Health and
Social Care Consultation, and to represent the wider public, ‘patients’ or ‘service users’
across several boards and committees, including the shadow Health and Well-Being
Board, the CCG (Clinical commissioning Group)Board, the CEG (Clinical Engagement
Group), Safeguarding Board and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. As a
consequence of this we have been able to intervene in discussions and strategies
before they have been fully implemented, and resolve some potential problems before
they arise. It has also given the opportunity for others to contribute to debate and to be
empowered to influence change for the better in a forum that they are comfortable with.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
What is Healthwatch and what does it mean to Thurrock?
Healthwatch will strengthen the collective voice of local people across both health
and social care, influencing Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and joint health and
wellbeing strategies – on which local commissioning decisions will be based –
through its seat on every statutory health and wellbeing board. Establishing
successful Healthwatch organisations, rooted in communities and responsive to their
needs, will mean working differently in many cases. It will also mean working much
more collaboratively so that local Healthwatch organisations can operate as part of
existing local community networks ensuring they can have maximum reach across
the diversity of the local community and drawing on information, advice and local
knowledge that already exists.
The work in Thurrock has already begun, we have a Healthwatch Steering group,
chaired by Graham Carey (Independent Safeguarding Chair for Adults in Thurrock),
a group of 12 representatives from organisations and groups representing a diverse
group of Thurrock residents, service users and patients, they meet regularly with
Thurrock Borough Council who have been tasked with commissioning this
organisation in Thurrock.
A model for Healthwatch has been identified, a decision around what type of
business it will be, the governance and how we will recruit a chair and board has all
been agreed, the decision was made to build on the existing LINk, which means the
work which has been undertaken over the previous years, the contacts and of course
the members will be transferred across which we hope will result in a seamless
transition from LINk into Healthwatch.
We will be holding public information events, workshops and road shows within the
coming months around Thurrock which will also give us the opportunity to advertise
the recruitment process for volunteers and new members.
I, would like as the Project manager for Thurrock LINk to take this opportunity to
thank Kristina Jackson (CEO) and the CVS Board for their help and support in
enabling the LINk project to continue its work within the community of Thurrock in
what could have been a very difficult year.
Kim James
Project Manager
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Treasurers Report
Mike Hursthouse
The year under review was one in which the charity continued the process of
successfully turning itself around. Having made a significant loss after depreciation in
2010-11 (£121,502) the charity’s available bank and cash balances had fallen to
£40,586 by the 31 March 2011, down from a healthy £264,736 at 31 March 2007.
The process of turning round the financial health of the charity began in 2010-11 with a
review of the service charging regime whereby Thurrock CVS recovers the cost of
operating the Beehive from other occupants of the building. Other initiatives were
undertaken including a review of utility costs and maintenance contracts and a strategic
review whereby the trustees agreed that the role of the CVS in future years would be in
the field of infrastructure support ie supporting other charities and voluntary groups in a
variety of ways including back office support and the provisions of assistance and
information to enable such groups to achieve their own charitable ambitions. This meant
a withdrawal of focus from the direct delivery of “projects” ie activities directly supporting
service users funded, in most part, by Thurrock Council.
In March 2012 the board approved an organisational restructure the purpose of which
was to significantly reduce operating costs while maintaining service levels and a
process of consultation with affected staff commenced in the same month. Included
within the Statement of Financial Activities is an amount of £19,900 to meet the costs of
redundancy and professional fees associated with the restructure exercise.
The deficit for the year ending 31 March 2012 was £39,392 after these restructure costs
and depreciation charges of £39,018. As at this date the unrestricted reserves of the
charity stood at £16,477, up from £11,519 at the 31 March 2011. Whilst this may not at
first sight appear to be much of an improvement over 2010-11, it should be borne in
mind that the charity made a surplus before depreciation and exceptional costs, a huge
improvement over the previous financial year.
Still to be developed are plans to create more income earning space within the Beehive
by reorganising the occupation of the building and plans to generate income by
providing cost effective back office and other services for voluntary and community
sector organisations within Thurrock.
The Board is confident that with the full implementation of these initiatives the
organisation will return to sound financial health, enabling it to once again efficiently
support the voluntary and community sector within Thurrock.
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Statement of financial activities (incorporating the income and expenditure account)
for the year ended 31 March 2012
note
Incoming resources from generated funds
Investment Income
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
2011
£
£
£
£
2
27
-
27
62
3
98,327
2,745
101,072
97,986
4
128,000
104,506
232,506
214,085
226,354
107,251
333,605
312,133
Activities for generating funds
Trading and Other Income
Incoming resources from charitable
activities
Grants Received
Total Incoming Resources
Resources Expended
Costs of Generating Funds
Charitable Activities
5
230,124
139,212
369,336
427,504
Governance Costs
6
3,661
-
3,661
6,131
233,785
139,212
372,997
433,635
(7,431)
(31,961)
(39,392)
(121,502)
12,389
(12,389)
-
-
4,958
(44,350)
(39,392)
(121,502)
Funds Brought Forward
11,519
1,708,246
1,719,765
1,841,267
Funds Carried Forward
16,477
1,663,896
1,680,373
1,719,765
Total Resources Expended
Net outgoing resources for the year
before transfers of funds
Transfers between funds
10
Net Movement in Funds
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Balance sheet as at 31 March 2012
note
2012
Fixed Assets
Tangible Fixed Assets
£
11
2011
£
£
1,651,309
£
1,687,420
Current Assets
Debtors and Prepayments
12
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: due within 1 year
13
26,440
8,276
46,441
40,586
72,881
48,862
(43,817)
(16,517)
Net Current Assets
Net Assets
29,064
32,345
1,680,373
1,719,765
1,663,896
1,708,246
Funds
Restricted Income Funds
15
Unrestricted Funds
16
Income Funds
Designated Funds
10,477
11,519
6,000
-
Total Reserves
14
16,477
11,519
1,680,373
1,719,765
Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
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Thurrock CVS
Annual Review 2011/12
Thurrock CVS
The Beehive Resource Centre
West Street
Grays
Essex
RM17 6XP
Tel: 01375 389890
www.thurrockcvs.org
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