St Vincent s a place of help, hopeandopportunity Annual Report 2014-2015 Address St. Vincent Support Centre, 82 York Road, Leeds LS9 9AA Call 0113 248 4126 Email hello@stvincents-svp.org.uk Visit www.stvincents-svp.org.uk Twitter @StVincentsLeeds A community project of the St Vincent de Paul Society (England & Wales). Registered office: 9 Larcom St, Walworth, London, SE17 1RX
CENTRE MANAGER S REPORT End of an era This is an emotional report for me to write - my last as Centre Manager for St Vincent s. I have spent a lot of time lately reflecting upon my time here (I m in my 13th year!) and the ways in which the Centre and the services have evolved. Something that makes me proud is to recognise that despite the Centre s growth, the changing funding climate and the various challenges we have faced along the way, we have never moved away from our ethos and values. Supporting families in need has always been our focus, and remains so to this day. 14/15 was an eventful year. Additional funding from the Money Advice Service allowed us to increase resources in our debt department and generous donations from local funders and individuals helped us finish the year in a positive position. As you will see from the numbers in this report, we have helped record numbers of clients and the introduction of our welfare benefits service and immigration drop in has meant that clients have been helped in more ways than ever before. In addition, we have rolled out our community learning and volunteer support services across West Yorkshire providing more opportunities across the region. We continue to be the only organisation in Leeds providing such a range of free services to families in need and we are truly grateful for the ongoing support from our friends and funders who continue to enable this work to take place. As always, enormous thanks to the team who make all this happen - a supportive management committee, a dedicated staff team, and a wonderful volunteer workforce who support everything we do. I have been fortunate to have worked with some truly inspirational people over the years. I will remember each and every one of them. We said goodbye to several staff last year who all made a valuable contribution; Nic Baker, Siobhan Humphries and Tina Waddington. And we have welcomed new faces Natalie Tiu, Jack Adams, Julie Linley and Vic Berry who are all making a very worthwhile contribution. I will no doubt see many of you on the annual sponsored walk, at the Spring Ball, and at other SVP events so this is certainly not goodbye! I hand St Vincent s reins to Sheena Lawson; a very experienced manager and fundraiser. We have had several weeks working together and I know, without hesitation, that I am leaving this wonderful place in very capable hands. I take many treasured memories of St Vincent s with me, and I thank you all for making my time here so very special. Charlotte Introduction I am delighted to have been appointed as Centre Manager for St Vincent`s Support Centre and to become part of such an amazing team of staff and volunteers. It is obvious to see through the annual report, the wonderful things that are achieved at the centre and outreach sites that make such a tremendous difference to the people of Leeds. I was fortunate to have 4 weeks with Charlotte as a handover period so I was able to meet with some of the people that help the team here to make the success possible- the month was a really positive time for me where I was able to learn about the history of St Vincent s and the challenges and opportunities that has made it the special place it is today. I promise that I will continue in Charlotte`s footsteps to ensure that it is a place that we all feel truly proud of. I hope that you find the report interesting and that is lets you see the difference that the team have made- I think that the most powerful information is in the voices of the people that have provided feedback on the support that they have received from St Vincent`s. Sheena
CHAIR S REPORT An overview from George Skalski - Chair of the Management Committee. A very positive year Once again it has been very positive year for St. Vincent s, both financially and operationally. Last year we decided to invest in more fundraising resources. As grants become increasingly harder to secure, it is vital that we generate income from other sources. And a professional full time fundraising function is vital if we are to continue delivering free services to those most in need. We have also successfully established key new local relationships with Land Securities, BACIL, Aventus Law and Trinity University as well as built on the success of previous fundraising events to help generate maximum income. There is more work to be done in this area but our team is working hard to ensure our income streams are well spread and sustainable. And a huge thanks to our ongoing supporters without you we simply wouldn t be here. Leeds Community Foundation continue to support our work and for this we are very grateful. Many thanks also to the Big Lottery Fund and the Henry Smith Foundation for continued funding. We face a challenging year. This summer sees the end of our 3 year Big Lottery grant which funds our Community Learning Service. Whilst efforts are being made to have this funding stream renewed, there are no guarantees and we are all pulling together to ensure that this vital work continues in our community. I am fortunate to lead a strong and supportive Management Committee which is committed to St Vincent s and passionate about the work we do. We have retained all our Committee members this year and I thank them for their ongoing support and guidance. We are always looking for new Committee Members who can bring additional skills to our ranks. If you feel you have the time, energy and passion to join us, please get in touch. Grateful thanks to the wider SVP, in particular our National Office, West Yorkshire Community Support Projects, our Central Council and local Conferences, who all do so much for us, in terms of financial, practical and moral support. We look forward to the year ahead and will tackle any challenges that come our way. We say goodbye to our current manager Charlotte Walton, who is moving onto pastures new and warmly welcome Sheena Lawson who brings a wealth of valuable experience with her. Thank you for being part of our journey and supporting our work. We hope you remain part of our story as it continues to unfold. To all of our donors and supporters, please be assured that we are spending your money prudently and wisely, improving and extending our services to help change the lives of families in need throughout Leeds.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY Overview of the year In the year ending 31st March 2015 St Vincent s achieved total income of 428,387 (Restricted 220,520) and incurred costs of 410,124 (Restricted 234,439) giving a surplus of 18,263. Total Funds at year end were 267,570 (Restricted 33,872). This level of reserves represents 6 months running costs. We would like to recognise the generous support of our funders, especially the Big Lottery Fund, Money Advice Service, and Leeds Community Foundation. INCOME 51% Grants 8% Other EXPENDITURE 11% Other 9% Premises 13% Fundraising Events 16% Donations 12% Sales 80% Direct Support Staff
QUARTER 1 & 2 Quarter 1 This year was a big milestone for St Vincent s as we celebrated our 18th birthday. We held a number of events to celebrate the huge difference St Vincent s has made during our 18 years, and were joined by clients and friends from past and present. In April, we held our 2nd Spring Ball at Leeds Marriott, and in May we had an 18th birthday party hosted by our partners David Young Community Academy. Managed almost 3 and a half million pounds of debt for our clients Volunteers, clients and the team designed bunting which is now on display in the café and shows messages of support and gratitude, a lovely reminder of the impact we have made on lives in Leeds. In June, we hosted the annual SVP 3 peaks Challenge. It was a soggy but rewarding day which saw new challengers taking part from our corporate partners including Natwest Bank. Quarter 2 Saw 450 people in our adult education classes. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in the future of our centre this year, in July Natalie Tiu, our events fundraiser, joined the team. Natalie has brought a fantastic range of skills to the team and works with Caitlin to increase our fundraising efforts to fill the gap in grant funding. Strengthening the fundraising team has led to new initiatives such as the retro Pop up Shop we held in August at Trinity Shopping Centre in Leeds. As one of our main corporate supporters, Trinity Leeds have been keen to work with us to support Yorkshire families out of poverty. In addition to fundraising events, they have also worked with us to offer volunteer training and placements on our work programme. In September we were joined by Julie Linley who is our ESOL Coordinator. ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) is a major part of our learning programme and Julie co-ordinates our ESOL classes, the biggest free programme in Leeds, helping our network of volunteer tutors, running our teaching ESOL course and teaching classes. Julie has also established our migrant support service, including guidance for settlement and employment support. Sold 4396 books
QUARTER 3 & 4 Quarter 3 Provided 2704 drinks for our volunteers Our partnership with Trinity continued throughout the year and in October we held another exciting new event - the Trinity Busking Takeover. We had the kind support of bands and musicians from across Yorkshire who performed for an hour each to raise money to support our work to fight poverty. Our West Yorkshire volunteering programme has further developed since the appointment of Vic Berry, who works closely with SVP projects in West Yorkshire to ensure we are best supporting our incredible network of volunteers. Christmas this year was, as ever, a very busy time. We welcomed 17 people on Christmas Day for Christmas Dinner at the Centre and gave 137 gifts to families with Children so they could wake up on Christmas day to a gift of hope. We also gave hundreds of food hampers to people with no access to food over the festive period. St Vincent s provides this lifeline throughout the year but this service is most in demand at Christmas. Ground over 310,000 coffee beans Quarter 4 Working in partnership with Richmond Hill Children s Centre we set up our Family Learning Programme to open up access to our adult education programme. This has helped parents learn English at a time and place that suits them and fits around childcare. Our 3rd Spring Ball took place in March and closed the year in style with an evening of glittering celebration and dancing. Helped over 600 clients through our debt team.
SEE THE DIFFERENCE I am very grateful for the counselling, without it I would still be living in the past with a lot of issues I couldn t get off my chest. I would not be the confident, happy person I am today. St Vincent s is a fabulous place and without the services it offers people would be worse off. A big massive thank you. Caroline, counselling client We would like to thank you very much for your support during this difficult period of time in our lives. Without your help we would not have known how to carry on Mr & Mrs Barnes, debt clients Thank you for providing the great hamper, it was such a lovely surprise opening it; I m not sure what I d have done without it, our Christmas would have been miserable Emily & daughter Natasha, aged 2 months All the volunteers feel wanted here we never feel like a burden and know we can ask for help if we need it. Louise, charity shop volunteer Having St Vincent s support helped me take control of my life for the first time! Now I can deal with issues I couldn t face before because of my problems with reading and writing. Emma St Vincent s is a safe place where I can be open with my feelings because I trust everybody here it s a professional environment so I don t need to worry. Andrew
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