0809

Goals andStrategic

Achievements

2-5

Introduction

1

Volunteer Centre

6-7

SectorDevelopment

8-9

Third SectorAssembly

10-11

VCS Matters

12-13

Trading

14-15

Communications

16-17

Next Steps

18-19

Thanks

20

Contents

This review reflects our ongoingcommitment to providing Birmingham’sthird sector with access to, andparticipation in, opportunities that enableit to thrive.

A significant part of our work during 08/09 hasbeen to cement the sector’s strategic powerin the city through increased engagement in avariety of key partnerships and initiatives suchas the Local Area Agreement, the SustainableCommunity Strategy, and Birmingham’sFuture Jobs Fund programme. Our ThirdSector Assembly and VCS Matters projectshave been crucial to this work as have awhole range of our other activities thatsupport voluntary organisations in meetingtheir aims and objectives.

Our Volunteer Centre continues to fulfil amuch-needed role in the city, during a periodthat saw significant increases in the number ofpeople seeking voluntary opportunities. As thecountry continues to grapple with theconsequences of the economic downturn, werecognise the vital role that volunteering canplay in enhancing people’s employability andalso raising their self-esteem and wellbeing.

The Centre for Voluntary Action, our Digbeth-based resource centre, is increasingly aconference venue of choice in Birmingham forlocal and national organisations across allsectors. Its work forms a major strand of ourflourishing social enterprise activity, as doesour growing training portfolio, which includescourses developed by the internationallyacclaimed FranklinCovey.

We recently launched ‘Putting The ThirdSector First’, our new Strategic Plan for 2009-2014, and this is exactly what we intend to doas we move into what will be a challengingtime for the sector stemming from publicsector cuts and continued highunemployment levels.

Our considerable successes in 08/09 arebecause of outstanding teamwork fromBVSC’s Board of Trustees, the staff andmanagement team, volunteers, contractorsand associates. Our thanks go to all of themfor their dedication and hard work and to ourfunders and supporters whose input has alsomade our continued success possible.

Jacqui Francis ChairBrian Carr Chief Executive

Introduction

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Our mission is to unleash the power of

voluntary action to deliversustained benefits for

Birmingham and its diversecommunities.

At the time of writing, economists aretelling us that the UK is heading out ofrecession - but it may be no exaggerationto say that for the third sector, therecession is just beginning.

The vast and diverse range of voluntary,community, charitable, faith-based, non-profit,campaigning, and enterprise groups that formthe third sector are faced with a period ofsignificant political uncertainty andundoubtedly significant – even severe – publicspending cuts.

At this time, more than ever, we at BVSC arefully committed to our purpose, and todischarging our responsibilities to the sector.

BVSC’s vision is that everybody benefits fromand contributes to an inclusive, empowering,and vibrant Birmingham.

Our mission is to unleash the power ofvoluntary action to deliver sustained benefitsfor Birmingham and its diverse communities.

Our ethos is one of service and the challengefor us, and for the sector we serve, is tomaintain that ethos in an economic

environment that is creating even greater needwithin our local communities, and providingfewer resources to meet that need.

The current climate has dictated the focus ofour work in the past year, and it will continue topress us to ensure that voluntary action canremain resilient – and even thrive – in thesedifficult circumstances. We believe that withchallenge also comes opportunity, and we willaim to support the sector to make the most ofthe opportunities that lie ahead.

To this end, our goals are clear. We aim to ensure that:

• Active and empowered citizens havediverse opportunities to make a positivedifference

• Independent, effective and sustainable thirdsector organisations have the skills,knowledge and resources to achieve theiraims

• A third sector that is influential as a forcefor positive change in Birmingham andbeyond

• BVSC as an independent, effective,inclusive and sustainable organisation.

Goals and Strategic Achievements

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• Growth and increased influence of the ThirdSector Assembly, a wide-ranging associationof new, existing, and future third sectornetworks, which has already had a significantimpact in raising the profile of third sectorvoices and views across the city

• The adoption of a more strategic approach tovolunteering with partner agencies, andbeginning the process of developingBirmingham’s Volunteering Strategy on behalfof the Be Birmingham strategic partnership

• Working with voluntary organisations acrossthe city to improve the volunteeringexperience of Birmingham’s citizens

• Leading on the writing of the city’s ThrivingThird Sector Delivery Plan as part of the LocalArea Agreement

• Writing the Birmingham Social Capital andEnterprise Programme, with the city’sChangeUp and Social Economy Consortia

• Beginning the work of delivering severalsignificant projects as part of the SocialCapital Programme: Volunteering; CompactAction; Developing Third Sector Networks

Strategic Achievements:

• Continuing to work closely with publicsector partners to improve their workingrelationships with the third sector andsupporting the sector to better understandthe issues and constraints that publicsector partners have to adhere to as part oftheir statutory obligations

• Facilitating the sharing of good practicefrom the Beacon status awarded toBirmingham City Council (BCC) for‘Increasing voluntary and community sectorservice delivery’, including spreading theword at national conferences and runningworkshops for both third sector and localauthority officers and members

• Leading a conference for local authoritymembers and officers and representativesfrom a number of third sector organisationson the Isle of Wight to share Birmingham’sexperience of developing a Third SectorCommissioning Framework

• Developing a Peer-to-Peer mentoringprogramme for third sector CEOs as part ofa successful partnership bid to theDepartment of Communities and LocalGovernment (DCLG) and the Improvementand Development Agency (IDeA)

• Working on behalf of Be Birmingham tocontribute to the design of thedocumentation for the WorkingNeighbourhood Fund (WNF)

• Working with colleagues from BeBirmingham and Birmingham City Councilto develop an appraisal process for WNFand delivering training to build a pool oftrained appraisers within the city

• Leading the third sector’s contribution tothe Birmingham Future Jobs FundProgramme as part of a City Region bid.The sector’s input into this bid was theprovision of 700 six-month job placementsfor unemployed young people aged 18-24– the largest contribution of jobs by anyone sector.

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Effective matching givesmutual benefit to both the

volunteer and theorganisation that is

providing the placement.

BVSC’s Volunteer Centre is continuing torecord increases in both volunteers and inplacements at a time when many regionalvolunteer centres are experiencingdecreases. Projects run by the centrehave been successful in linking thebenefits of volunteering to a range ofsocial issues.

This success is based on the Centre’s missionto make volunteering accessible, relevant andbeneficial to everyone. This means thatvolunteering is being approached pro-activelyin a consistent and focused way with greatefforts being made to match volunteers toappropriate placements.

Effective matching gives mutual benefit toboth the volunteer and the organisation that isproviding the placement. Matching is basedon in-depth initial assessment of volunteers’skills and needs backed up by a gooddatabase of organisations and placements.

The Centre is receiving enquiries at an averagerate of 380 per month and of these around60% are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)clients and around 6% are from peopledeclaring a disability.

The Centre continues to generate newvolunteering opportunities which currentlystand at over 1200. This represents an overallincrease of around 16% in 2008/9.

BVSC’s Volunteering for Wellbeing project,supported by bWell Birmingham, has been ahuge success. Of participants in the first year:

96% overall felt it was positive and over 50%felt it had improved their physical and mentalhealth

86% of the unemployed said that it improvedtheir employability and 18% found work aftertheir placement

77% of the employed said it had helped themwork towards a career change and 63% said itgave them skills to improve in their current job.

The project’s success in linking volunteering toimproved health and better employmentprospects has been cited as an example ofgood practice in A Gateway To Work, anInstitute of Volunteering Research report.

Significant further funding has been securedvia Be Birmingham to support groups at risk of exclusion from volunteering.

Volunteer Centre

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Using its knowledge ofthe sector, BVSC has

been enabling change,organising appropriatetraining and developing

better informationchannels and resources.

Sector Development at BVSC is helpingto build capacity and providing supportto organisations as the dominant thirdsector funding model changes fromgrants to contracts.

Using its knowledge of the sector, BVSC hasbeen enabling change, organising appropriatetraining and developing better informationchannels and resources.

Key to this has been facilitating the LocalDevelopment Agencies (LDAs) network as itcarried out more direct capacity buildingwork. This work has drawn togetherorganisations of varying sizes across the cityand helped them improve the quality ofprovision by developing shared practices andprocesses and a robust self-assessmentframework.

The LDAs have worked with around 400groups in 08/09 – around a 40% increase onprevious figures. With facilitation and supportfrom BVSC, a new marketing strategy, a re-launched website and a new three yearbusiness plan have been implemented.

The network was successful in independentlysecuring a further allocation of Basis fundingof £440,000.

Better information for the sector has beenprovided through the launch of a new fundingdatabase called Open for Community. AndAsk BVSC has worked with more than 240groups in 08/09.

Five successful InfoHub events - a newinitiative to offer services to groups outside ofnormal working hours - have been run jointlywith VCS Matters and Birmingham Settlementand have attracted 45 groups. InfoHub is nowbeing rolled out across the city.

Through the Thrive Network BVSC broughttogether over 50 members of the third andprivate sectors to look at ways of workingtogether. Further work in the New Year will beaimed at encouraging greater involvement ofprivate sector representatives on third sectorboards.

Sector Development

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The Third SectorAssembly is key to ouraim of ensuring that the

voluntary and communitysector is an influential

force for positive changein Birmingham and

beyond.

The Third Sector Assembly is key to ouraim of ensuring that the voluntary andcommunity sector is an influential forcefor positive change in Birmingham andbeyond.

The Assembly and its networks grew in bothnumbers and effectiveness in 08/09 andnotched up some important achievements as they engaged with both policy and fundingbodies.

At a full Assembly conference in June 2008Councillor Sue Anderson, Birmingham CityCouncil cabinet member and Third SectorChampion, gave the keynote speech. AnAssembly paper Worklessness: Terms andConditions was discussed by a panel thatincluded senior representatives from JobCentre Plus. This has led to an invitation fornetwork members to regularly meet with BeBirmingham officers to discuss the WorkingNeighbourhoods Fund and ways that the thirdsector can be involved in its delivery.

Four champions for the Assembly networkshave been elected, some of whom have beenattending the thematic partnership boards of

Be Birmingham. The Health & Social Carenetwork of the Assembly has been debatingissues such as safeguarding legislation andthe personalisation agenda. The network hasnow been invited to attend summit meetingsof the Birmingham Health and WellbeingPartnership.

An important success for the Citizens,Communities and Safety network is thesecuring of voting rights for the Assemblychampion on the Safer BirminghamPartnership Executive Board.

The Voluntary Sector Chief Executives’ Forummet on a bi-monthly basis and continues toact as a key channel of communicationbetween third sector leaders and statutoryofficers. The forum is proving to be aninvaluable resource to facilitate dialoguebetween the Adults and CommunitiesDirectorate of Birmingham City Council andorganisations bidding into the third sectorcommissioning pot.

Widening the membership of the Assembly toinclude smaller organisations that arereflective of the communities of Birmingham is a key objective for 09/10.

Third Sector Assembly

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“Through VCS Matters we have access to a leveland type of expertise wecannot afford to ignore”. Councillor Les Lawrence,

Cabinet Member for Children,Young People & Families,Birmingham City Council

BVSC leads this partnership whichfacilitates Voluntary and CommunitySector (VCS) engagement in the city’sEvery Child Matters agenda to ensurebetter outcomes for children and youngpeople

VCS Matters also represents the Children andYoung People’s (CYP) network of the ThirdSector Assembly and is a delivery partner ofBCC’s Children and Young People’s Plan. It isalso represented in Birmingham Children’sTrust.

In 08/09 the programme shifted to capacitybuilding and organisational support with a focuson areas such as: evidencing outcomes forchildren; safeguarding; commissioning;engagement & participation; supportingsustainability; and young people not inemployment, education or training (NEET). Theuse of a Common Assessment Framework wasembedded in delivery by VCS organisations onthe partnership.

Training has been a significant function in 08/09with more than 30 sessions delivered and over400 delegates served. VCS Matters led on apartnership to develop the InfoHub initiative,

tailored for the specific needs of volunteergroups and small organisations.

Other significant initiatives include an event forConnexions about their transition into the localauthority and the development of IntegratedYouth Support Services (IYSS). VCS Mattershas since been successful in winning the IYSSGateway contract which focuses on effectiveengagement between the third sector andstatutory bodies. A VCS Matters policy eventon Playful Childhoods was the catalyst for thedevelopment of “Play Birmingham.”

VCS Matters continues to providecomprehensive and up-to-date information forthe sector through its website, informationmailings, including publications such as BetterOutcomes, the first report to provide specificsector intelligence on CYP organisations, andWhat Difference Does it Make which aimed toraise understanding of outcomes-based servicedevelopment.

An independent evaluation in April 2009 saidthat VCS Matters has established high levels oftrust and credibility with statutory sectorpartners and is seen as a necessary part of theCYP landscape. As one statutory sectorinterviewee put it: “If VCS Matters didn't exist it would have to be invented.”

VCS Matters

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“It makes an enormousdifference to find a

venue that shares andunderstands our values.People, facilities, place

all excellent.” Conference Delegate

BVSC trading activities are both valuableto the sector and support BVSC’sinfrastructure.

Conferencing has gone from strength tostrength with income increasing. It is now avenue of choice for a range of national, regionaland local agencies that take advantage of thelocation, facilities and flexible service on offer. Anew Events Management service has beenlaunched with affordable rates.

Third Sector Venue Directory This initiative topromote the use of third sector conference andtraining venues to the public sector was co-designed by BVSC and partners. It has alreadybeen nominated for a public sector innovationaward.

Training Our offer has been improved andbrought together to make it clearer includingthe introduction of programmes fromFranklinCovey that bring high-value and cost-effective management and leadershipdevelopment training to our members andpartners.

Payroll Bureau This service is provided to over80 mainly small voluntary and communityorganisations. Timely online filing by BVSC of

year-end returns resulted in over £6000 beingreturned to our clients from the Inland Revenue.

Managed Workspace In 08/09 investmentpaved the way for opening up this service.Twelve organisations have moved in toaffordable accommodation in our Centre forVoluntary Action. They benefit from flexibleterms, free meeting rooms, facilitiesmanagement including a full reception service,and opportunities to share ideas and goodpractice and to work collaboratively.

Financial Services With the changes incharities law and the increase in the thresholdsfor audit we have started to provideIndependent Examinations to smallorganisations that do not need a full audit.

Accountancy We provide accountancyservices and consultancy across the sector.

Web Design BVSC continues to develop manywebsites for third sector clients, offering cost-effective solutions tailored to fitcommunications needs.

Advertising can be bought in both Updatemagazine and our website and take up isincreasing.

Trading

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“BVSC continues to provide outstandingopportunities for the

sector to communicate its work and worth to itspartners, funders, and

beneficiaries.”

Communications

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BVSC continues to provide outstandingopportunities for the sector tocommunicate its work and worth to itspartners, funders, and beneficiaries. Wealso provide the sector with keyinformation that is hard to find elsewhere.

Update Magazine – a well-loved institution –now has a print-run of 1,400 ten times peryear. We encourage voluntary and communityorganisations to provide features about theirwork for Update, and to see it as anopportunity to significantly raise their profile.The circulation is being updated to ensurethat key personnel from all sectors receive acopy including Birmingham City Councillors.

BVSC Website The home page was refreshedin 08/09 and the site is regularly updated withthe latest news of interest to the sector and itspartners, and a comprehensive guide toBVSC’s many services, as well as links to theother websites in the BVSC family. A Jobssection was launched this year to advertisevacancies at sector friendly prices.

BVSC Third Sector Database was launchedin 08/09 and contains up-to-date contactinformation on 1,000 third sectororganisations and in-depth mapping dataabout nature, size and scope for a sample of500.

State of the Sector This annual report on thesize, nature and scope of third sectororganisations in Birmingham was developedand published for the first time in 08/09.

Sector Intelligence Future priorities includeanalysing the mapping data within eachconstituency in the city and for the ‘priorityneighbourhoods’ (as identified for the WorkingNeighbourhoods Fund). The result will be amore targeted analysis of the sector’scapacity to meet needs at a local level.

Arts for Change won Awards for All fundingfor community groups to showcase relevantart in our gallery - Mencap and SIFA Firesidewere the first two voluntary organisations totake advantage of this opportunity.

BVSC is embarking upon an ambitious 5-year

programme of activityfocused on creating

opportunities for individualsto fully benefit from voluntaryaction, and supporting the

third sector’s resilience,influence, and assets.

BVSC is embarking upon an ambitious5-year programme of activity focused oncreating opportunities for individuals tofully benefit from voluntary action, and onsupporting the third sector’s resilience,influence, and assets.

In Putting the Third Sector First: StrategicPlan 2009-2014 we outline ourcommitments to be:

• Guiding and leading the third sectorthrough the economic crisis, supporting itsability to create enterprising and innovativesolutions to local need

• Making the ‘thriving third sector’ indicator inthe Local Area Agreement meaningful andpowerful

• Building and sustaining strong local thirdsector infrastructure at a neighbourhoodlevel in partnership with our public and thirdsector partners

• Enhancing our recent successes insignificantly increasing the sector’sleverage in the Every Child Matters agendaby replicating this across all social policyenvironments

• Demonstrating the power of voluntaryaction and the third sector in tacklingworklessness and improving learning

• Re-affirming the Birmingham Compact andholding its signatories to account in orderto significantly improve public and thirdsector relationships

• Showing how the sector can facilitateindividuals in making a contribution, andcommunities in becoming engaged

• Working with the acceleratingcommissioning agenda to protect thesector’s interests and opportunities

• Engaging with devolving and increasinglypersonalised health services to tackle theroot causes of inequalities.

For more information, see the full plan at:http://www.bvsc.org/files/downloads/pdf/bvsc_strategicplan_FINAL.pdf

Next Steps

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To all our funders andsponsers:

• Adventure Capital Fund• Arts Council• bWell• The Baring Foundation• Be Birmingham• Beacon Peer Support• Big Lottery Fund• Birmingham and Solihull

Learning and Skills Council• Birmingham City Council• Birmingham East and

North Primary Care Trust• Birmingham Health &

Wellbeing Partnership• Birmingham Strategic

Partnership• Capacity Builders• Connexions• Government Office for the

West Midlands• Heart of Birmingham

Teaching Primary CareTrust

• HSBC Trust• IDeA

Officers

President: The Lord Mayor ofBirminghamChair: Jacqui FrancisVice Chair: Jonathan DriffillTreasurer: Vacant PositionCity Council Representatives: Guy HordernCouncillor Zoë Hopkins

Affiliated Representatives

Mohammed Al-RahimFreshwindsMaureen ConnollyBirmingham & SolihullWomen’s AidIan Markey Nurses Association ofJamaica (UK)Peter Rookes Birmingham Council of FaithsRachel Stephens Birmingham InternationalCouncil

Edited and designed by Homer CreativePhotographs by:Ian Cuthbert, Istock and Brian HomerPrinted by RP Printers, Birmingham

Senior Management Team

Brian Carr Chief ExecutiveTheresa Gillard Head ofExternal RelationsJasbir Rai Corporate Servicesand Finance DirectorTracey O’Brien Director ofPolicy and Programmes

Weblinks

BVSC www.bvsc.orgThird Sector Assemblywww.assembly3.org.uk VCS Matterswww.vcsmatters.org Birmingham Volunteer Centrewww.bvsc.org/volunteer-centre

Reporting

This review summarises thework of BVSC from April 2008to September 2009. Pleasecontact us if you want a copyof the report that coversgovernance and finance issuesfrom April 2008 to March 2009.

Thanks

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“BVSC is committed tosocial and environmental

responsibility and ourgreen roof is just one of

the initiatives. Seewww.bvsc.org/greenroof.”

Birmingham Voluntary Service Council 138 DigbethBirminghamB5 6DR

Tel: 0121 643 4343 www.bvsc.org

Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) is a registered charity no. 218795 and a company limited by guarantee without share capital no. 421688.