www.vai.org.uk we support social action locally

2013 - 2014

Annual Report

2 Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 2014

Introduction

Strengthening community organisations andsupporting volunteers when residents are under more pressure than ever

“Poverty is deepening and inequality widening inIslington...low-income residents are under morepressure than ever” was the conclusion of a reportby the New Economics Foundation on poverty and inequality in Islington that was published this year. At a time when statutory services are facing continuing cuts in spending,

and have a voice.

During the past year Voluntary Action Islington has continued to recruit volunteers and match them up

This year we concluded a two year project working with people who had been involved in substancemisuse, and taking part in the Cranstoun abstinence programme, to get involved in volunteering. We also received funding from Santander to support young people with disabilities to take part in volunteering through a project that was initiated, and is run, by people who have been volunteering atour Volunteer Centre. We are keen to build on these initiatives to ensure that all Islington residents haveopportunities to realise their potential and play an active role in the borough.

We are Islington’s accredited Volunteer Centre, and one of our future priorities is to secure funds to sustain this local resource, which provided information about volunteering to over 6000 people last year.We are actively involved in the national Volunteer’s Week and run themed volunteer recruitment days,which this year included an event with Advising Islington Together where people interested in volunteering could take part in a speed matching event.

Providing support to Islington’s diverse local community organisations is at the core of what we do.

advice about running a small charity is still provided by us, making the best use of our expertise.

knowledge such as personnel, marketing and business planning. Special thanks to the Islington Big

organisations through Voluntary Action Islington.

increasing income and meeting the requirements of the law to run a community building. Feedbackfrom users of the services has been very positive. Following the evaluation a feasibility study wasundertaken to look into establishing a social enterprise to sell advice to people involved with community buildings. We are now piloting this service, called “Building Assets”.

During the year we took part in a project with a volunteer from CSV to review and improve our monitoring and reporting systems and we now have in place a more streamlined approach for

We continued to run the Voluntary Action Academy and we are currently working with a second cohort of students taking the ILM accredited Leadership and Management programme. The Academyis now run as part of the trading subsidiary, Voluntary Action Services, that we set up during the year.

At a time when resources are scarce, Voluntary Action Islington brings organisations together to collaborate and represents the interests of the local voluntary sector. We continued to support theCommunity Network and worked with the Council on their Action Plan to make it easier for localvoluntary organisations to tender for the provision of local services. We worked with local organisationsto produce a voluntary sector manifesto for the local elections and had a key role in the third Islingtonvoluntary and community sector conference “Meeting the Needs of Our Communities in Tough Times”.

recommendations about how we can make the best use of the resources available to local organisations,and attract new resources to the borough.

Thanks to all of the funders of Voluntary Action Islington’s work, and to Jurys Inn and the King’s HeadTheatre who raised funds for us during the year.

possible.

We were pleased to welcome Jo Langdale, who joined the trustees during the year. We are currently

interested in joining our Board.

Andy Murphy, Chair

Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 2014 3

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Services to Members

Our membership continues to grow and this year we welcomed over 40 new members from organisations concernedwith housing, training and employment, humanitarian assistance, health, advice, support for children with learning

One of our priorities is to ensure that our members are well informed and we continue to produce a members’ newsletter,with information about new funding and other opportunities relevant to local organisations. In addition we produce a booklet about funding opportunities and provide a Directory of local voluntary organisations on our website.

Our email news group now has 366 members and 1647 people follow us on Twitter. 20,626 people visited our websiteduring the year. The website provides useful resources related to running a voluntary organisation and information aboutvolunteering opportunities. Our email news group is used to update people about what is happening locally of relevanceto the voluntary sector.

sustainability for front line workers, a presentation of the evaluation of our work supporting volunteers with substance

organises exhibitions by local artists at our Resource Centre on Pentonville Road, also gave a presentation about art andolder people based on her study tour to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Copenhagen funded by a Winston Churchill TravelFellowship.

Our Resource Centre continues to be a valuable asset. Itgenerates income that supports our work and enables us toundertake a wide range of work with local groups bothdirectly and by working with partners. This year we were

part of Black History Month in October.

Chris Avis’ work, featuring in the local paper

“Very clear and simple - with no unnecessary frills. I found it very useful. Thanks.”

”Presenter very good - knowledgeable and informative”

“Very helpful and informative”

“Useful tips to pass on”

Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 2014 5

achieved this by working with partners including Target HR who have helped with personnel advice, Advice UK, NatWest Bank, Businesses in Islington Giving, and NCVO. We thank them for their help, which provides valuable support tolocal organisations alongside the specialist advice we give related to charity governance and funding. In addition to the

Feedback from advice sessions:

This year we ran a programme to support organisations who were awarded an Islington Community Chest Grant. Weprovided tailored support to 13 organisations to help them manage their grant and ran workshops attended by 39

celebrating achievements.

attended business development support sessions and 30 organisations were supported on a one-to-one basis. In a survey that we undertook there was feedback from participants about improved governance,introduction of new services, increased collaboration with other organisations, new funding and increasedability to demonstrate outcomes as a result of the programme.

Feedback from Community Chest workshops:

“Thank you so much for meeting with me this morning and taking time to listen to the concerns we were having regarding the bid. I must say, I walked away from our meeting feeling so much more positive about ourbid and the general setting up of our group.” - Organisation working with people with disabilities

“Thank you so much for your advice on the day and the follow up email and materials. It is very muchappreciated.” - Local organisation set up to combat addiction to gambling

“VAI is...a solid organisation in Islington. Without your help we couldn’t continue providing our service to those in need. Once again thank you so much for your help.” - BME community organisation providing adviceto women

“It was a useful workshop to meet up with other groups and very interesting to hear about their aims andobjectives with possiblity to make contact at future date.”

“The presentation was wonderful, really good.”

“Great session, well-organised and the papers were imaginatively designed and really useful.”

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Feedback from participants in the project supporting organisations working with children and young people:

The Community Premises project has continued to assist local organisations with the management of community

to achieve the Visible Quality Mark, run by Community Matters and recognised by the Charity Commission. We helped

to obtain premises. We commissioned an external evaluation of this project, which found overwhelmingly positivefeedback on the impact it had in terms of helping organisations to increase income and reduce costs. The project had

accreditation and extend the range of their networks.

This year Voluntary Action Academy was transferred to our new trading subsidiary, Voluntary Action Services Ltd. We

and Management course and a new cohort is about to start.

Promoting and supporting volunteering is at the heart of what we do to develop the local voluntary andcommunity sector in Islington. Each year we organise the annual Volunteer of the Year Awards and in 2013we were pleased to receive support for these awards for the second year running from Islington’s Jurys InnHotel (now re-developed as DoubleTree by Hilton) who generously donated the prizes. The involvement ofJurys Inn with the awards, and other projects involving Voluntary Action Islington, is an excellent example of business engagement in corporate social responsibility and we hope that others will follow this example.

Feedback about the Community Premises project:

“Useful to have complex ideas presented in simple, jargon-free language.”

“I have more knowledge about the tools available for measuring impact.”

“I have been very impressed by the quality of support and very grateful. Our Treasurer has also received a lot of practical, helpful support and guidance.

“I would like to thank you specially for assisting us, not only giving advice, but also the hands on help youprovided such as drafting and attending meetings with the Council as well as making yourself available to usat all times. Without you, we would have signed terms and conditions that were not favourable to ourorganisation.”

“They made excellent improvements to our business plan by challenging us on any assumptions or inklings of poor practice.”

“They helped us get important documents about the building from the land registry and helped us tounderstand the jargon.”

in the end, since if we get improved and accessible premises it will improve our services to them.”

“The help provided with funding saved time and prevented us pursuing red herrings in relation to our eligibility.”

from centres with similar roles to theirs.”

Developing the local voluntary and community sector

The award winning volunteers are great examples of the massive contribution that volunteers make tothe quality of life and experience of residents in Islington. One of the winners provided over 200 hours ofservice to children aged 0-12 facing the challenge that HIV has in their lives. Another set up an organisation providing support and academic opportunities to Somali and Eritrean young people inIslington. One had volunteered at a day centre for over 26 years and also been a volunteer with St JohnAmbulance for over 46 years. Our Employee Volunteer of the Year works with young people in schools.He is also trustee of a local organisation and provides advice on housing and employment at the LawCentre.

that is relevant for future employment, help with the development of English language skills for peoplelearning English, and help with making friends and reducing isolation. One of Voluntary Action Islington’spriorities is to try to provide extra support so that residents who face barriers to getting involved in

the volunteers from the Volunteer Centre led on an initiative, run entirely by volunteers, to provide extrasupport to disabled people wanting to take up volunteering. This initiative provided 152 support sessionsto disabled people interested in volunteering.

encourages people to volunteer as a means of enhancing their employment opportunities. As part of thisproject we worked with 547 people new to volunteering who were taking part in the project to improvetheir position in the labour market. We are pleased that, building on the experience of running this

Islington residents interested in volunteering as a route to employment.

Far left, highly commended for Young Volunteer of the Year 2013 category, Buzz Medeema

Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 2014 7

Voluntary Action Islington supports volunteering byproviding the accredited Volunteer Centre for the borough and we have a team of 18 volunteers supporting this work. During the year the teamprovided advice to 6158 people about volunteeringopportunities via email and 481 through face-to-faceinterviews. We also organise volunteer recruitmentfairs. For example our health and sport recruitmentfair was attended by 176 people and 22 organisations.As a result of the fair, 42 people started to volunteer.

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problems to engage with the community through volunteering. This project worked with 86 people, 35

organisation and team work.

The Volunteer Centre plays an important role in advising local organisations about developing volunteer

promote their volunteering roles. At the end of September 2013 we completed a project working withsmaller community groups, funded by City Bridge, to support them to develop their volunteering. We

Feedback from participants in volunteer management training provided by Voluntary Action Islington:

“Firstly let me thank you for a great training. We had great feedback and all found the training really

needs.”

Feedback from participants in our partnership project with Cranstoun:

“Volunteering has undoubtedly normalised my life. Having volunteering experience gave me the edge when applying for the apprenticeship. Before I had a chaotic lifestyle, but now I have more self-esteem because I have responsibility towards others.”

“Volunteering after so many years of being unemployed has given me a new lease of life. It has

and it is also helping with my recovery.”

The Childrens’ Service Project Launch

Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 2014 9

In addition to supporting the development of the local voluntary sector through volunteering, VoluntaryAction Islington is keen to encourage new funding to support local voluntary and community action. We have been active in the steering group that launched United Way London in May 2013 and were apartner in the Islington Giving initiative.

community interests in the borough. The network continues to provide a programme of meetings relatedto developments impacting on local organisations and a well-received newsletter.

During the year we have worked with the borough to facilitate “round table” discussions involving thevoluntary sector and local statutory partners on subjects including child poverty, employment, and publichealth. These discussions provided an opportunity for local organisations to describe the important rolesthat they play in addressing these local issues and to input into borough strategies such as the development of employment support services and action to address child pvoerty.

Each year the network organises a conference and last year the theme for this was “Meeting the Needs of

statutory partners. Speakers included the Leader of the Council, local MPs and examples of 3 new localinitiatives related to partnership, campaigning and social enterprise. There were recommendations fromthe conference about better provision of information, premises, seeking more pro-bono help from theprivate sector, social enterprise, the importance of core funding and of collaborating to meet local needs.

This year Voluntary Action Islington made representations about the implementation of the borough’s planto support the voluntary and community sector through procurement. We provided evidence to theCouncil Scrutiny Committee and argued for a continuing commitment to the Local Compact, recognition

procurement opportunities.

Feedback from conference participants: “It was a great opportunity to meet you in the Voluntary Action Islington conference on Saturday. It

joined the VAI we have felt connected to the work going on in Islington by the voluntary members and others and active networking and information sharing which really could not be possible without this important organisation. I hope this wonderful work continues. Keep the good work going and may Allah bless you.”

“I would like to personally congratulate VAI on Saturday’s event at the assembly rooms. It is a testament to the valuable work of VAI, bringing various community support organisations together in a packed room of attendees, on such an icy morning, to give their input into questions asked, relating to our community and our future.”

“We might never have known of the Pilion Trust and other valuable contacts made without VAI bringing us together at this event.”

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2014 is the year of local elections. Voluntary Action Islington and the Community Network worked together to produce a voluntary sector election manifesto. This called for the new Council to makecommitments on partnership working with local voluntary and community organisations, grant funding,volunteering and support for the infrastructure of the local voluntary and community sector. Themanifesto was supported by the main political parties standing for election in Islington.

We audit our environmental impact each year and promote action to protect the environment with ourmembers.

use of the building. We used 355 reams of paper this year, compared to 305 last year. We use paper which

For our members we organised a workshop, with support from the City Bridge Trust. We introduced frontline workers to tips that they could use with their clients to introduce simple cost saving measures which would have a positive environmental impact. 31 people attended the workshop.

For the future we are moving to cloud based IT, and next year plan to close our communications room -

decommission servers and air conditioning.

Islington Voluntary Sector Conference 2014

Annual Environment Audit at Voluntary Action Islington

Finance Summary for the year ended 31st March 2014

Goldwins Chartered Accountants, 75 Maygrove Road, West Hampstead, London, NW6 2EG.

downloaded from our website www.vai.org.uk

Bankers: Unity Trust Bank plc, Nine Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2HB.

Statement of Financial Activities, year ended 31 March 2014Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds 2014

£ £ £

INCOMING RESOURCESIncoming resources from generating funds:Voluntary incomeVoluntary Action Services Sales 3,372 - 3,372

40,859 10,000 50,859

Investment income 2,333 - 2,333Incoming resources from charitable activities 265,414 250,724 516,138

TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 311,978 260,724 572,702

RESOURCES EXPENDED

Charitable activities Cost of generating funds (trading costs) (3,045) - (3,045)

(284,834) (252,046) (536,880)Governance costs (3,394) (4,448) (7,842)

TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED (291,273) (256,494) (547,767)

NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES BEFORE TRANSFERS 20,705 4,230 24,935Transfer between funds (7,755) 7,755 –NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) FOR THE YEAR 12,950 11,985 24,935RECONCILIATION OF FUNDSTotal funds brought forward 454,288 130,553 584,841

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 467,238 142,538 609,776

COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY FUND TYPE £Developing organisations 53,178 143,905 197,083

Fora and campaigning 746 41,756 42,502

Member services and resource centre 193,951 7,659 201,610Sector development and volunteering 36,959 58,726 95,685

Total cost of charitable activities 284,834 252,046 536,880

Balance sheet to 31 March 2014Total £

Restricted income fundsAll restricted funds 142,538Unrestricted income fundsDesignated funds 240,000General funds 227,238Unrestricted income funds total 467,238

TOTAL FUNDS 609,776

Voluntary Action Islington Annual Report 2013 - 201412

Voluntary Action Islington is the membership organisation for people who are

Our vision is a thriving third sector which leads and sustains individual and community activity.Voluntary Action Islington brings together voluntary and community organisations in Islington to improve education, promote health and relieve poverty. We work with community

voice.

Our mission• To lead and support local voluntary activity, by individual organisations

en the Third Sector and the statutory and private sectors• To develop sustainable voluntary activity in our community• To engage and support the most excluded members of our community Our valuesUnderpinning our Vision and Mission statements are the values of Voluntary Action Islington andthese are at the heart of what we believe as an organisation and how we work both with all our

Our values are:•• independence, in our thinking and actions• integrity and professionalism, maintaining high personal and professional standards• partnership, working with others to support and develop partnerships across the community•

Thanks to our funders and supporters including:London Borough of Islington, The City Bridge Trust, Big Lottery FundThe Henry Smith Charity, Santander Foundation