1st Annual Report 2000 -2001

Picture of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh's Easter Road premises

Intro
Report from the Chair
Director’s Report
Resource Unit
Community Care Team
Corporate Services
Opportunity Plus
Millennium Volunteers
Mentoring
Board of Directors Report
Income and Expenditure
People
Funders
Company Information

Intro

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh exists to involve more people more effectively in volunteering to help solve real problems in the community. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh works with volunteer involving organisations to improve the diversity and quality of volunteer placements. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh provides potential volunteers with the means to access volunteering opportunities. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh helps people who might otherwise have found themselves excluded to play an active part in their communities.

Report from the Chair - Cynthia Milligan

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh could be short for evolution - as this is what has happened so successfully. It is to everyone’s credit that the separation from EVOC took place so smoothly. We are enormously grateful to our Director, Nan McKenna, who has thought through and implemented the complex changes so very competently. The staff at Volunteer Centre Edinburgh should also take a lot of credit for accepting the changes so willingly and cheerfully: I have never come across a team of people so harmonious and well motivated. Thanks go to EVOC for the part they have played in this transition. We have benefited greatly from their expertise and experience. Finally I would like to thank the Management Committee, all of whom are volunteers, for the time and energy they put in to making this happen.

Director’s Report - Nan McKenna

It is exciting to be writing the first Director's Report of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh - the Company!

On 1st April 2000 Volunteer Centre Edinburgh became independent from Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council (EVOC) which it had been part of for around 30 years. The careful thought and planning which had taken place over a period of two years, together with the enormous support received from EVOC, ensured that the process was smooth and relatively painless. It has been a steep learning curve for me personally this year - it is quite a change from managing a project to managing a Company Limited by Guarantee and all that this entails! I have been greatly helped in the process by the Management Board as a whole and by individual members.

We have used this year to establish systems of Governance and finance and in December 2000 staff and Directors met together at an 'Away Day' to get to know one another better and to plan for the future. The many achievements of the last year are mentioned elsewhere in this report.

The core work and the work of the various projects have continued to forge ahead strongly and, we hope, effectively. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh continues to work closely with EVOC and with the City of Edinburgh Council; and has had a key role in developing the Active Communities Strategy locally.

The strength and the successes of Volunteer Centre Edinburgh are due in no small measure to the strengths, skills, dedication (and frequently sense of humour) of the staff, the Management Board and the other volunteers. I welcome the opportunity this Annual Report provides to say thank you to all of them.

Looking back on our first year of independence it feels as though it has been an exciting and successful year for Volunteer Centre Edinburgh - and Marion Findlay managed to have baby Ruth three weeks early so that she too could be included in the list of achievements!

Resource Unit

The Resource Unit provides advice, information and training on good practice in volunteering.

Image: monthly web trends 2000-01

2000 - 2001 Key achievements:

Challenged and informed over 600 Edinburgh organisations by regularly distributing briefing sheets and newsletters.

Briefing sheets on Designing Volunteer Roles, Data Protection, Welfare Benefits and Guidelines for Asylum Seekers.

180 consultations provided.

354 people attended seminars.

70 hours of training provided - ranging from the Core Skills in Volunteer Management programme, to sessions on Presentation Skills.

189 new agencies/groups reached.

Resources for volunteer organisers launched on the web.

Community Care Team

Services for people with disabilities, mental health problems, addictions, histories of offending, homelessness who wish to volunteer.

Many more people approaching Volunteer Centre Edinburgh need some extra support.

Many service users experience multiple disabilities/problems.

Twice as many people with learning disabilities and three times as many people with alcohol related problems used the service this year.

The team made nearly 3000 calls, follow up calls, visits or appointments during the year!

Involved with research of national importance around volunteers with extra support needs with the National Volunteer Centre and the network of Scottish volunteer Bureaux.

“Prior to contacting Volunteer Centre Edinburgh I had become a prisoner in my own mind and home as a result of post traumatic stress disorder. 5 months later I am becoming more sociable and able to interact with others once more. Confidence is returning. The after sales service provided is first rate! Thanks to Volunteer Centre Edinburgh I am sure that (most of) the 'old me' will return: 5 months ago the future did not exist.”

Corporate Services

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh's corporate involvement programme embraces a range of services to employers and employees. Volunteer Centre Edinburgh organises team building events, and manages corporate community involvement strategies for employers across Edinburgh.

"Thank you so much for arranging for the volunteer team to come and "make-over" the creative play room in the toddlers hut. We are absolutely delighted with it - the kids think it's wonderful... the children spend all their time playing in the new room!""

Guidance provided to 120 individual employees to help them access volunteering opportunities.

17 successful team volunteering events organised.

Work undertaken with 21 different employers in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Contract with Sun Microsystems in Linlithgow to provide support for their Corporate Community Involvement Programme.

Provided expert advice and help to private and public sector employers and other Bureau within the Volunteer Bureau Network.

Opportunity Plus

Opportunity Plus was set up in 1999 as a joint project with Volunteering First in Midlothian as a re-orientation programme for people in the 50+ age group who are unemployed - with an emphasis on volunteering as an attractive and worthwhile option.

10 Volunteer Advisors helped develop databases, give talks and develop the project.

The database of options for 50+ people was completed.

The project continued to collaborate with 50+ development work in Midlothian.

497 people were reached through pre-retirement talks and presentations - a 28% increase on the previous year.

In addition to pre-retirement talks a substantial number of 50+ people have been reached through community cafes, community centres and libraries.

Millennium Volunteers

Millennium Volunteers is a national volunteering scheme for 16-25 year olds. Participants are rewarded for their contribution through certification.

"I really enjoy being a volunteer and will continue being one for a long time to come"

"I got a great sense of satisfaction seeing a child gain confidence or overcome a problem... I also got an insight into my future career"

58 Millennium Volunteers started on the scheme

19 were presented with Award of Excellence

29 received Millennium Volunteer Certificates.

Those 29 MVs contributed 5380 hours of volunteering to local organisations in the city.

"I liked the stuff I was doing .... I started believing in myself"

Mentoring

The Volunteer Centre Edinburgh mentoring project is part of the government New Deal scheme. Unemployed individuals of all ages are matched with someone who has experience of employment. They meet up for around an hour a week, aiming to improve the client's chance of getting a job. This could involve giving a second opinion on CVs or job applications; talking through decisions that need to be made; building confidence; sharing experiences and ideas; offering support and advice; or simply just listening.

67 matches between New Deal Participants and our 30 trained volunteer mentors in the year to April 2001.

"I have made the right decision... and now can prepare myself for a lifetime of work! I would like to thank you [my mentor] again for your contribution... I would go as far as to say I may not be in this position now without your advice. This job is a dream come true and I am extremely grateful to you."

Board of Directors' Report

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, the Company, was incorporated on 23 December 1999 and commenced trading on 1st April 2000 when it became independent from Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council (EVOC) which it had been part of for thirty years.

The Company took over the activities and assets and liabilities of the previous section of EVOC. In addition Volunteer Centre Edinburgh received a cash dowry of £30,000 as Reserves plus fixtures and fittings at the Easter Road site.

There have been a number of one off costs incurred during this year on the implementation of accountancy systems and new IT software and hardware and also the costs of achieving independence. However, at the end of a challenging first independent year it is good to report a healthy financial position with a modest increase in our reserves.

The main sources of Income were:

Scottish Executive LVDA Grants Programme - three year core roll-on funding

Scottish Executive - Millennium Volunteers Programme

City of Edinburgh Council Social Work Department - Community Care work

National Lottery Charities Board (The Community Fund) - The Resource Unit

The Esmee Fairbairn Trust - research into the pre-volunteering support needs of volunteers with disabilities

Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund (UVAF) - Opportunity Plus Project

Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Trust - a contribution to travel costs for volunteers with a physical disability

Lloyd's TSB Foundation in Scotland - a one-off grant to produce a video depicting volunteering in Edinburgh

The Employment Service - a contract to recruit and train volunteer mentors for New Deal participants

Employer Supported Volunteering continues to contribute to our income, mainly through a contract with Sun Microsystems in Linlithgow.

Mike Reid, Treasurer

Income and Expenditure Account

(including statement of financial activities)
Period ended 31 March 2001 (£s)

Please contact Volunteer Centre Edinburgh for a copy of the accounts.

People

Staff

Administration
Nan McKenna - Director
Jill Smith - Administrator
Irene Saunders - Bookkeeper Resource Unit
Harriet Eadie Project - Leader
Mark Steven - Information Officer/ Admin Assistant
Community Care Team
Marion Findlay - Project Leader
Sarah Cleary - Development Worker
Irene Whittaker - Development Worker Corporate Services / New Deal Mentoring
Paul Wilson - Project Leader
Nick Woodhead Development Worker - Mentoring Millennium Volunteers
Linda McNeill - Development Worker Opportunity Plus
Susan England - Development Worker

Directors

Cynthia Milligan Chair
Mike Reid Treasurer
Jan-Bert van den Berg
Mary Weir
Chris Phillips
Debbie Storm
Douglas King
Elaine Lennon

Volunteers

Richard Jamieson
Paul Bennett
Karen Minto
Helen Walker
Linda Aitken
Rae Baikie
James Pringle
Peter Slater
Carole Craig
Douglas Dunbar
Alan Kemp
Joseph Monaghan
Iris Watt

Many thanks to all 50 of our dedicated Mentors.

Funders

Our thanks go to the following for their support during 2000/01:

City of Edinburgh Council
The Scottish Executive National Lottery Charities Board (The Community Fund)
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
The Unemployed Voluntary Action Fund
Lloyd's TSB Foundation in Scotland
Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Trust

Corporate Sponsors

Ethicon
Blueyonder

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