Annual Report
2014 - 2015
Foresters Hall
Meeting Street
Ramsgate
Kent
CT11 9RT
Registered Charity No. 1111800 Company No. 5392093
M anager’s Re port
It has been business as usual for Thanet Volunteer Bu- reau this year despite austerity measures spreading through the sector. The voluntary sector mirror the private sector seeing mergers and closures and service delivery moving toward the tendering or procurement process. Funding continues to be cut to the Statutory Authorities and they look to cost cutting and best value to deliver of the services it is their responsibility to provide. We were not affected this year as the funding for the Bureau was rolled over. This allowed the Volunteer Bureau to continue to deliver its services to beneficiaries in Thanet. There has been some reduction in core functions delivery due to the reduced staff hours and the general tighten of re- sources in the sector, where organisations reduce training to save on hidden costs and because they cannot spare staff the time to attend sessions.
2014-2015 AC H IEV EM EN TS
In this period we received 1922 enquiries for information on volunteering Do-It generated 664 enquiries while tele- phone and drop-ins generated a further 868 and special recruitment events 251. A total of 139 people requested interviews with special support to discuss volunteering further. We currently have 414 Organisations registered with the Bureau and 1042 examples of volunteering oppor- tunities.
This is quite an increase on last year’s figures due to the fact an outreach worker was employed on a part time, short term contract.
Those unemployed in Thanet have been encouraged to undertake voluntary work to increase their skills base, demonstrate commitment, builds their confidence and self
esteem. Some volunteers have moved on to paid work after a short period of volunteering. There is however a growing problem of difficult to place people who need a great deal of extra support and over stretched voluntary organisations does not have the resources to take on these volunteers.
Staff attends the local libraries at Birchington, Westgate, Cliftonville and Broadstairs to provide information on vol- unteering and recruitment and have also delivered promo- tional activities throughout Thanet.
Volunteers Week Louise and Frances promoted volunteer- ing for the Bureau and the TCSP project with the aid of an eye catching Routemaster Bus in Margate and Birching- ton. In November with Xanthe’s help we used a pop-up shop in Ramsgate to raise the profile of volunteering.
Our work with other partners in Thanet continues with placements of young people through the Education Busi- ness Partnership and foreign students through English in Margate language school.
The Thanet Community Support Partnership continues to grow due to the tireless efforts of Lou and Fran (full details in their report).
I represent the Bureau on meetings with TASP, KMIP, KCC,CCG. This year Ashford, Dover, Shepway ,Thanet VCs and CASE have come together to form VOICE and Liz and I attend these meetings to see how we can work
together in the future. I have also been involved in the
Thanet Big Lottery bid for Ageing Better Full filling Lives.
“I really enjoy being more active in my community, the interactions I have with my friend are just as valuable to me as they are to her.” Julie aged 35 volunteer
“TVB has delivered talks to our students regarding what they can do and the many levels of volunteering. The speaker was interesting, engaging and informative highlighted the many different ways people can volun- teer, leaving our students with the thoughts of how they could possibly put their skills to use whilst gain- ing valuable experience and contributing to the com- munity .” Rebecca East Kent College
Our Volunteer Drivers undertook 19,432 journeys across Thanet the majority are local trips to QEQM hospital and GP surgeries and clinics. The project has received financial sup- port from the Thanet CCG as it recognised the scheme is excellent value for the amount of funding and is an important service for the community. We have also benefitted from a grant via KCC to East Kent Volunteer Centres to update the IT System to provide a booking database and standardise our deliver service across the area.
“This is a wonderful service, I don't know what I would do without it.” Mrs B, Birchington
“I have recommended you to quite a few people, and am very pleased to be able to call somewhere so reliable”.
Mrs B, Broadstairs
2015-2016 will be interesting as we work with the statutory sector on how their procurement for services for the future is developed. The Ageless Thanet Project starts in June as we deliver the Active Citizen work strand.
There will be challenges and changes to our service delivery and partnership working continue to be a vital part of ser- vices in Thanet. Our highest priorities are volunteers, organi- sations or recipients of service delivered by us directly to meet needs of the community. At Christmas I will say good- bye to the Bureau and the many friends I have made over the last twenty seven years. I am sure the Bureau will be in safe hands and continue to be an asset to Thanet’s Commu- nity.
M Y TH AN K S TO….
Thank you to our Trustees who have continued to provide excellent management and support over the past year.
The Volunteer Bureau Staff, who are a great team.
Martin who not only is responsible for organising the 19,432 journeys to run smoothly and the Transport scheme mem- bership but also undertakes all our book keeping and associ- ated duties. Chris then Emma who undertook the outreach work for the year.
Louise and Frances who deliver the TCSP project with such enthusiasm and energy.
Our Volunteer Drivers who do such a wonderful job getting everyone to their appointments with a friendly and safe ser- vice and our Office Volunteers Rose, David, Loraine M, Lor- raine LW and Chris who are both reliable and efficient, Ste- ve, Natasha and the 10 volunteers who help at the Your Time Group.
OUR FU NDER S FOR 2014 - 2015
KCC for core work and transport upgrades
CCG for Transport Individual’s donations Big Lottery Fund
Community Development Fund Waitrose for TCSP
Janet Boulton
TH AN E T C OMM UN ITY SU PP OR T P AR TN ERSH IP
(TCS P )
SUM M ARY OF HOW THE PR OJ ECT HAS PR OGRESSED
The project continues to expand and develop.
We have raised the profile of TCSP in a number of ways: by advertising in the local press and on local radio and have continued with our Royal Mail distribution of leaflets to reach more isolated people, this time having 19,811 leaflets delivered across Margate, Clliftonville and Gar- linge. We have also continued with outreach work, attend- ing events such as Lark in the Park and giving talks to lo- cal health providers and social groups. We continue to reach other organisations through our monthly Networking Lunch. A total of 175 people have attended this year, rep- resenting 132 organisations from all sectors, including vol- untary, health, statutory and private sector.
We continue as the central point of contact for a group of organisations who support older people and have added 3 new organisations to the Partnership this year: KAB, Ac- tive Lives Active Minds and Rethink. This year we recruit- ed 159 volunteers for the members of the Partnership to help older people in a number of different ways. For Volun- teers’ Week we hired a London Routemaster bus and visit- ed Birchington and Margate to recruit volunteers. In No- vember we also used a ‘pop-up’ shop in Ramsgate for one morning to raise the profile of TVB TCSP and 21 people dropped in to enquire about volunteering.
Our aim is to reduce isolation and loneliness in older peo- ple and as well as recruiting volunteer befrienders for one-
to-one visits, we also continued our weekly social activity group, Your Time, which has now grown to an average of around 45 attending each week. We also held a one-day event in October, Silver Sunday, for older people to come along and join workshops to try something they have nev- er done before. Over 200 people attended the event held at Trinity Resource Centre and the feedback from those who came was all positive, with many continuing the activi- ties they tried on the day and new friendships being formed.
Your Time Attendances
BIG LO T T ERY O UT COM ES FO R Y E AR FO UR
Once again we have exceeded our outcomes for the year:-
1. Beneficiaries getting involved in the running of project
(hands on) Target 30 - Actual number 48
2a.Service Users receiving support. Target 40 each year. We received 564 requests for support from older peo- ple last year
2b.Volunteers recruited to TCSP. Target 27 each year -
Actual 159 this year
2c.Your Time Social afternoon. Target 53 people each year - Actual 1783 attendances with 100 new people coming
3.Training of TCSP volunteers. Target 30 each year - Ac- tual 45
Louise Collins Frances Lane
Think ing O f Vol unte ering?
Have you always thought about doing something rewarding, about “putting something back” but have never known where to start?
Maybe you now have more time to spare and are looking for something fulfilling and worthwhile.
Volunteering for a local charity is a great way of getting the best from your time. Volunteering is fun, challenging and rewarding!!!!
W hat is a Voluntee r?
A volunteer gives their time freely, to benefit someone unre- lated, a group, or the environment, for no financial reward. You should not expect to be out of pocket however, and you should be able to claim reimbursement of expenses in- curred.
As a volunteer you can choose how much time you want to give, and what you want to do. And it’s not all about what you give. In return you can get so much out of it.
W ha t’s In I t For You?
2000
1500
1000
766
1099
1647
1783
Getting something out of life through giving, Boosting your confidence, Social Contact- meeting new people, making new friends.
500
0
2012 2013 2014 Apr 2014-end
Mar 2015
The satisfaction of doing something worthwhile. A feeling of being useful and needed, activity that fits in with your time. Enjoyment and a sense of achievement. Enhancing your C.V.- gaining valuable experience, learning new skills, train- ing and references AND MUCH MORE…
Year
We provided 4 training courses this year, with 45 volun- teers attending. These were Sight Impairment, Hearing Impairment, Dementia and Communication, Fire Safety and Dementia Friends.
The online directory, thanetsupport.co.uk, now has infor- mation on over 600 organisations that support older peo- ple. Over the year, we had 14,587 visits to the site.
Dis t rict Volunt eering Act ivit y
Volunt ary Trans port Scheme
Last year we dealt with 1,175 volunteer enquiries - these were made up of personal interviews, tele- phone enquiries and e-mail enquiries. Face-to- face interviews were conducted either at our main offices, at promotional events or at our monthly library sessions.
The Bureau helped to match potential volunteers with suitable opportunities from a wide range of organisations throughout Thanet. Volunteers may work for free, but they don't do it for nothing!
It has been another successful year for the Volun- tary Transport Scheme. In total, the Bureau carried out 19,432 journeys; this is down on the previous year, due to a reduction in contract work. The bulk of the journey’s were for medical appointments which can see in the graph below. This is testament to our team of hard working volunteer drivers.
Contract Work
1,516
How Volunteer's Heard About Us
18%
5%
53%
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
552
24%
Do-It Enquiries Outreach Social Media Telephone/E-mail
Volunteer's Age
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
177
55
333
220
194 196
We would like to thank the following organisations for their generous support during the year for which we are most grateful.
+ Donations From Individuals