Annual Review 2013/2014 The last year has been another busy and challenging year for Sutton Centre for

the Voluntary Sector (SCVS), but as an organisation we have continued to work

with, and on behalf of our 278 member organisations in Sutton. The voluntary sector continues to face many challenges and we have worked closely with local organisations to help

them find new funding streams, demonstrate their impact and ensure they can continue to grow.

In 2013/14 we provided 453 one to one advice sessions to organisations, provided 16 training sessions on a number of

topics and represented the sector on at least 22 strategic partnerships or groups. We also continue to administer the

Sutton Community Fund, and last year distributed £100,078 in grants to deliver work beneficial to the local community.

Over the last year we have also made significant improvements to how we communicate with our members. We have

launched a new website, revamped our ebulletins and bi-monthly newsletter - The Networker, and developed our social

media presence. Our regular forums and events also give our members a chance to network and keep up to date with

both local and national developments.

Planning for the future was a big focus of our work in 2013/14 and the result was a new Strategic Plan, designed to

make us fit for the future challenges we face. We have also continued to build good relationships between the

voluntary and public sectors in Sutton, and the Sutton Compact signed in February 2013 has been highlighted as an

example of excellent partnership work, winning national Compact Awards in both November 2013 and 2014.

2013/14 saw us lay the foundations for Sutton’s first voluntary sector consortium, Sutton Together, launched in June

2014 and developed to promote greater partnership working across the voluntary sector and better services for the

local community. We have also continued to work to try and secure a Voluntary Sector Hub for Sutton – an ambition

which we hope will be realised in the not so distant future.

As ever, my thanks to the staff of SCVS, my fellow trustees and all our partners and supporters for all their hard work

and commitment that has made these achievements possible and I look forward to another successful year with SCVS.

Denise Crone, Chair of SCVS Board of Trustees

SCVS “outstanding and effective” In 2013 our NAVCA Quality Award was renewed and we did

really well scoring 3+ (effective/outstanding on all outcomes)

on three of the standards, and 4 (outstanding on all

outcomes) on one standard (liaison).

NAVCA (National Association of Voluntary and Community

Action) is our national body and the award demonstrates a

consistently ”high level of achievement" in delivering all the

core services expected of a centre for voluntary service (CVS).

Our mission

to develop a strong,

diverse and vibrant

voluntary and

community sector in

Sutton

Developing SCVS supports local voluntary and

community organisations (VCOs) in all

the key areas of their development to

enable them to be as effective as

possible. Support is given in areas such

as fundraising, governance, quality

standards, organisation , project

development, joint working, HR and

premises.

Small groups and

organisations

57 one to one support and advice sessions were

given to small organisations. We also worked

with ten groups on achieving the PQASSO

quality mark – three of them have now achieved

accreditation at level one and the others are

working towards this.

Health and social care

Specialist support was provided for voluntary and

community organisations working in health and social

care.

This support included mapping of all health and

social care services, helping organisations to

understand and contribute to the Joint Strategic

Needs Assessment and increasing voluntary and

community sector involvement in the borough’s sport

and physical activity strategy.

Children, young people and

families

Over 40 voluntary sector organisations

working with children, young people and

families were provided with training, advice

and guidance to help them diversify their

income streams.

We helped organisations secure over

£400,000 in external funding.

Training

In 2013/14 we provided 16 training

sessions, with courses including First

Aid, Commissioning, Roles and

Responsibilities of Trustees,

Safeguarding, Financial Management,

ICT and Fundraising.

Support for digital development In August 2013 forty organisations in Sutton were involved

in a Crowdfunding workshop SCVS held with JustGiving.

This resulted in 12 crowdfunding projects – two of these

successfully surpassed their fundraising targets and as a

direct result a third organisation was asked to run a local

project for a national organisation.

SCVS also now works in partnership with Superhighways (a

voluntary sector ICT support provider) to offer Sutton

organisations reduced rates on ICT training courses – for

example Mailchimp, Google Analytics and Digital

Storytelling.

Master classes

From Jan—March 2014 master classes were held to

help organisations get to grips with monitoring and

evaluation. 6 participants took part in the sessions, each

developing an outcomes framework for their

organisation.

Influencing SCVS makes sure that Sutton’s voluntary and

community sector organisations have their say on key

developments and decisions made that affect them,

both at a local and a national level, so that their views

have real influence.

SCVS currently represents the sector on 22 strategic

groups including Sutton Partnership/Operation Group,

Health and Wellbeing Board, Safer Sutton Partnership

Board, Safeguarding Adults Board, Children’s Trust and

Local Safeguarding Children Board.

In July 2013 a working group of 11 organisations including SCVS was set up with the intention of establishing

the first voluntary sector consortium in Sutton, to promote

greater partnership working across the voluntary sector and

better services for the local community.

This work culminated in the launch of Sutton Together in June

2014 and the consortium is now working in two main areas:

information and advice and planning how we can respond to

tender opportunities in 2014 and social care – looking at

opportunities arising from the Care Act.

Sutton Compact

The new Sutton Compact

setting out how the public

and voluntary sectors in Sutton could best work together was

launched in February 2013 and signed by representatives from the

London Borough of Sutton, local voluntary organisations, the

Metropolitan Police, Fire Service and Clinical Commissioning

Group .

In November 2013 this work won the national Local Compact

Partnership Award at the Compact Awards 2013, highlighting

Sutton as the best example of local Compact work in the country.

In their summing up, the judges said of the work in Sutton: “there

is a focus on practical support to enable effective partnership

working”. They added, “they have done excellent work in areas

such as facilitating the transition to new ways of working and

providing leadership on issues such as social value."

In 2014 the Sutton Compact has again won a Compact Award in

the Impact category (announced 5th Nov 2014).

Connecting

One of SCVS’s core functions is to make sure that voluntary and

community sector organisations in Sutton are well informed about

national and local policies and developments, funding

opportunities, consultations and relevant training and events. We

do this by providing information through our website

(www.suttoncvs.org.uk), bi-monthly newsletter the Networker, e-

bulletins and social media, as well as through one to one advice

sessions, emails and through our forums and events.

2013/14 saw an overhaul of many of our key communications

channels including a new website, a re-vamped online newsletter,

The Networker, with an increased circulation, re-vamped e-

bulletins and the introduction of social media for SCVS (Twitter

and Facebook).

Website

At the beginning of 2014 we re-launched

our website with a new, responsive

design that can easily be read on mobile

devices. We now get an average of 500-

600 unique visitors per month.

E-bulletins

During 2013/14 we sent out 29

general e-bulletins to our

members, and 31 targeted

e-bulletins.

The average open rate for our

e-bulletins is 33%, compared to

an industry standard of 22.5%.

The Networker

During 2013/14 four

editions of our newsletter

The Networker were

produced.

Networking

SCVS hosts and facilitates a number of networks and forums for Sutton’s

voluntary sector based around specific topic areas. The forums involve

presentations on relevant topics, training, consultations and discussions. They

are a way that organisations can share information and network and they

provide an opportunity for partnership working.

In 2013/14 there were:

2 Voluntary Sector Forums

3 Health and Social Care Networks

2 Chief Officers Networks

4 Social Enterprise Networks

4 Children, Young People and Families Forums

4 Small Groups Forums

Which altogether were attended by over 300 people.

Trustees’ Week 2013

In November 2013 we held our first event

especially for trustees as part of Trustees’

Week 2013. The networking event was

attended by more than 50 trustees from

across Sutton.

During the evening the first ’Sutton Trustee

of the Year Award’ was presented to Muriel

McIntosh, trustee for Sutton Opportunity

Pre-School in recognition for her excellent

work as a Sutton trustee.

"Thank you so much for an

enjoyable & informative

evening, great workshops and

really good to network with

such worthwhile people."

Ann Crago, Sutton Women's Centre on our

Trustees' Week event 2013

Funding Sutton Community Fund

SCVS administers the Sutton Community Fund which since 2000 has

allocated small grants to the VCS to deliver work of benefit to the local

community.

During 2013/14 three funding rounds were held with panel meetings in

July, October and February. 50 applications were received, 19 of which

were successful.

£100,078 was distributed in grants to support a range of projects

e.g. Oaks Way Centre were granted money to purchase new kitchen

equipment, appoint a new chef and revamp their kitchen which opened in

April this year. From this work the Centre has now redeveloped a dining

room area where members can sit down restaurant style. Gary Mason

Rhythmical Empowerment received a grant to provide weekly drumming

workshops in Roundshaw and Riverside, they have seen participants grow

in confidence week by week as they learn a new skill.

SCVS delivered a workshop to support VCOs applying to the fund and

helped 7 individual organisations to complete their applications.

ASSHH grants

SCVS also administers a small grants scheme on behalf of the Adult Social Services

and Health Directorate of the London Borough of Sutton.

In 2013/14 19 projects to support vulnerable adults were funded with grants

totalling £7,665; many organisations applied for funds for social activities such as

outings or speakers to attend their meetings, as well as rental and equipment costs.

A sustainable future Creative Payroll Solution (CPS) Ltd

The trading arm of the Charity, CPS Ltd provides bespoke

payroll services to voluntary organisations in Sutton and

beyond. The company continues to grow despite the

challenging economic circumstances and in 2013/14 ran

payroll for 114 organisations.

In April 2013 Healthwatch Sutton replaced the Sutton

Local Involvement Network as Sutton’s consumer

champion for health and social care. SCVS is the

support organisation for Healthwatch Sutton, working

in partnership with SCILL who deliver the information

and advice service, and Sutton CAB who deliver the

independent complaints advocacy service.

Voluntary Sector Hub

It has been a long held ambition to secure a

voluntary sector hub in Sutton and The

Grove in Carshalton has been identified

as the preferred building option.

Over the last year the focus has been

on consulting with the local

community, establishing a viable

steering group and submitting a bid to

the Heritage Lottery Fund to return the

Grove to the community and refurbish

the interior as a hub for heritage and

voluntary sector activity.

2013/14 has been another tough year for the

voluntary sector. However, SCVS has continued to

generate additional income from training and the

sale of support services, alongside income from

financial services.

Accountancy services

During 2013/14 we generated

income by delivering accountancy

services to 12 organisations, as

well as providing free

management advice for small

voluntary and community

organisations.

Our Accounts

Unrestricted

funds (£)

Designated

funds (£)

Restricted

funds (£)

Total

funds (£) 2013 (£)

Total incoming resources 379,834 - 331,359 711,193 1,021,250

Total resources expended 364,336 - 402,383 766,719 1,042,777

Net incoming (outgoing)

resources before transfers 15,498 - (71,024) (55,526) 21,527

Gross transfers between

funds (100,000) 100,000 - - -

Net movement in funds (84,502) 100,000 (71,024) (55,526) 21,527

Total funds bought forward 181,448 268,421 155,163 605,032 262,559

Total funds carried

forward 96,946 368,421 84,139 549,506 605,032

Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31st March 2014

The financial statements have been produced in a format to comply with both

Company and Charity Law and the full document is available on request.

SCVS Chief Executive – Susanna Bennett

Development Team Manager – Toni Walsh

Development Manager (Children, young

people & families) – Tom Strannix

Organisational & Volunteering Development

Officer – Razia Sattar

Project Worker (Faith, Cultural & Community

Groups) – Julie Duffy (to May 2013)

Business Partnerships Manager – Keren

Miller (to Sept 2013)

Finance Manager – Glory Sivaraja

Community Accountants – Helen Varley, Sue

Bell (to Oct 2013)

Information & Training Manager – Judy

Sampson (to Nov 2013)

Communications & Marketing Co-ordinator

– Claire Avery (from Sept 2013)

Office Administrators – Jackie Parr, Sandra

Harvey (to July 2013)

CPS Ltd (Payroll Services) Payroll Officer – Julie Jarratt (to April 2013),

Karen Adorjan (from May 2013)

Payroll Assistant – Melanie Brannan (from

Aug 2013)

Healthwatch Sutton Manager – Janice McCullock (to Nov 2013),

Pete Flavell (from Nov 2013)

Outreach & Engagement Officer – Pam

Howe

Admin, Comms & Marketing Assistant –

Sara Thomas

Trustees Jeff Cashier

Denise Crone (Chair)

Neil Frater

Candida Goulden

Paul Harper

David Jones

Golem Morshed (Vice-Chair)

Jenny Sims

Sutton Centre for the Voluntary Sector Granfers Community Centre, 73-79 Oakhill Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 3AA

Tel: 020 8644 2867

Email: enquiries@suttoncvs.org.uk

@SuttonCVS

www.suttoncvs.org.uk Company Limited by Guarantee registration No. 3336660 Registered Charity No. 1063129 (registered in England and Wales)

The team

SuttonCVS