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Fifteen Years of Making a Difference Colebridge Trust has changed a great deal since it first opened its doors in 2002.

I remember my very earliest involvement, as a volunteer advisor, visiting the office, a ‘shop front’ in Smith’s Wood. It was initially called the North Solihull Community Development Trust and had received a three year funding package from BIG Lottery, a challenging period in which to establish a new organisation and make it sustainable.

In the fifteen intervening years, it has grown to quadruple its annual turnover, has registered as a charity, and now operates from four locations and delivers community development services, building social capital, across Solihull.

Being involved virtually from the outset of our fifteen years has been a privilege and it has been the contributions that the Trust has made to transforming lives and strengthening communities that warms the heart the most:

• Helping people realise their potential with inventions to break barriers and open the door to opportunity; • Providing a key piece of advice to enable a community group to nail a success; • Securing opportunities to enable private sector partners to contribute to community groups and projects;• Working alongside some of the teams who work so hard to run our community assets, and helping to

give them a new lease of life.

There are many examples but this booklet has room for but a few.

And there has been time for some fun as well, especially in our Solihull Together fundraising programme. One of the earliest came when we discovered that you could follow green corridors all the way from Babbs Mill to Knowle with just two short sections of road and used this to run a Sponsored Walk. Yet the Annual Ball, of which there have now been eight, the last five in partnership with our AgeUK colleagues, has been the real triumph and showed that we know how to throw a party as well as making a significant social impact.

Dave Pinwell

Official opening of the refurbished DIAL office, thanks to the work of a team from the NEC Group, January 2012.

Young people's group celebrate completing the Solihull Together sponsored walk, from Babbs Mill to Knowle, October 2009.

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From the Chair I took over in 2011 as the fourth occupant of the post of Chair of the Trust's Board of Directors. I was very aware that I was following in the footsteps of the three previous Chairs who had achieved so much in leading the organisation through its earlier journey of growth – Neil Roberts, Patricia Smith and David Mattocks.

I can look back with satisfaction at some of the pivotal steps that the Board has guided the Trust through in my tenure. There have been governance changes with the incorporation of a trading arm, Colebridge Enterprises, in 2013 and the Trust’s registration as a charity, secured in 2014.

As a Board, we have needed to take some calculated risks in order to move the organisation forward and maximise our social outcomes. The transition of our Chelmsley Wood industrial unit from Waterloo Woodwork to Colebridge Assembly, in order to establish greater sustainability, and the re-opening of the former Fordbridge Club for Young People as Junction, five years after it was devastated by fire, both demanded well considered risk investments but have proved to be sound decisions in retrospect.

With considerable sadness, I have decided to step down as Chair after six years at our 2017 AGM, although I look forward to continuing to serve on the Board. The incoming Chair will have a fresh wave of challenges through which to guide the Trust. The quest to reduce dependence on grant income will continue, but in an even tougher financial climate.

Our aspirations for our proven specialist teams at Junction and Colebridge Assembly to help an increasing number of those furthest from the job market, and also to expand the building at Junction into a more holistic employment and wellbeing centre for all ages, will demand further bold but well planned and executed steps.

We see a key role for the Trust in Solihull’s ambition to improve the health and wellbeing of our citizens through increased involvement in social action. Our knowledge of, and relationships with, our neighbourhoods and communities equips us to work in partnership with our public services and our VCS colleagues to strengthen communities and unleash the potential of would be community leaders.

Kerry Turner

Official opening of the refurbished community centre, Junction, by the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Mike Robinson, June 2016

The Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Stuart Davis joins the Colebridge team and a volunteer force from JLR at the Assembly Unit, August 2017.

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Kerry Turner - Chair of the Colebridge Trust Board, Vice Chair of the Colebridge Enterprises Board. Kerry has chaired the Board for six years and brings to it many years of leadership experience in the voluntary sector, latterly as the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Solihull Borough.

Dave Dunkley - Chair of Colebridge Enterprises Board, Vice Chair of the Colebridge Trust Board. Dave has worked in primary schools in North Solihull throughout his career, spending almost 25 years as head teacher at Coleshill Heath School. He is now Governor of two schools and a member of two other charity Boards.

Warren Allbutt - Member of both Boards. Warren is a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualified consultant, specialising in business growth and marketing strategy. Creative Director and owner of Start 2 Finish Marketing Ltd, Since 2005, he has grown S2F into one of the premier marketing agencies in the Midlands.

Becky Baker - Treasurer of Colebridge Triust. Becky has worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland for 19 years, holding a variety of roles across a number of locations but for the past three years has been manager of the branch in Solihull. She is the ‘face’ of the branch within the local community and works to help local businesses in all aspects of their banking and growth.

Phil Hammonds - Member of the Colebridge Enterprises Board. Phil is a Chartered Engineer, a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Certified Management Consultant, and a Fellow of the Institute of Consulting. He has spent over 30 years as a management consultant advising on management development and implementing major change.

Gill Hutchings MBE - Member of Colebridge Trust Board. Gill has enjoyed a long carreer in further education and adult learning and is a former Senior Director for Skills for Life at Solihull College. She continues her work in providing high quality vocational skills and qualifications through a portfolio of activities.

Phil Mayhew - Member of the Colebridge Trust Board. Phil Mayhew has over 30 years experience in the public sector. He is currently an NHS Non-Executive Director, a Chair of Governors at Summerfield Education Centre’, Director of the ICIPS, and Director of the Midlands School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Michele Orson - Member of both boards. Michele is now retired from a teaching career which included seven years at St Alphege in central Solihull and 21 years as a primary headteacher in the north of the borough, the majority of which was spent as head teacher at Bishop Wilson C.E Primary school in Chelmsley Wood.

Board Members and Key Personnel

Charles Rapson - Member of the Colebridge Enterprises Board. As Manager of Colebridge Enterprises, Charles transformed Colebridge Assembly into what it is today before joining the Board on his appointment as CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs in the Midlands. This year he has been selected as one of the '100 faces of a vibrant economy'.

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Dave Pinwell - CEO of Colebridge Trust and Member of the Colebridge Enterprises Board. Dave enjoyed a three decade career in IT and communications management, culminating in the management of a £15M turnover business unit before bringing his skills to the charity sector and running the Trust for the past decade.

Alan Crawford - Our Funding Advice Consultant, Alan joined the Trust in 2011 and led the Infrastructure Services team for several years before becoming our part time consultant whilst taking a role at the Three Trees Community Centre, for which he had done so much to obtain the funding to establish as a vibrant venue.

Rob Buckman - A chartered Management Accountant, runs his own company, Buckman Finance Associates Ltd, as well as managing the Trust's finance and overseeing our drive into the provision of Professional Services. Since commencing his role with the Trust in 2011, Rob has brought a wealth of community sector experience to its financial planning and control.

Chet Parmar -As Head of Enterprises, Employment and Skills, Chet brought considerable private and public sector experience to the Trust. Having joined the Trust at the start of 2016, Chet has diversified our external customer base, combined our employment support work into a single unit as well as, through his part time role with the Unity Collaborative, strengthened our links with local schools.

Sue Howarth - The newest recruit to the team, Sue brings the experience of a long-term career in the voluntary and community sector; as CEO at North Smethwick Development Trust and latterly as CEO with Brunswick Healthy Living Centre, in Leamington delivering transformational change. Sue will support all areas of the business as our Strategic Planning and Fundraising Manager.

Lou Beddoe - Well experienced in supporting people, especially families, and with a sound understanding of the challenges facing Solihull's deprived communities, Lou joined the Trust in 2014 and now leads our community development work, co-ordinating the delivery of infrastructure services, running the Volunteer Manager's Forum and managing our support for the Big Local project in Smith's Wood.

Steve Breese - Joining the Trust on a short term placement via the Future Jobs Fund in 2011, Steve has established a successful career in accountancy providing bookkeeping and accountancy support to external clients as well as overseeing our internal finance function. The Trust has been pleased to support Steve in gaining his CIMA qualification with Kaplan financial which he is expected to achieve next year.

Serena Sale - Having commenced her career at Cadburys, Serena joined the Trust in 2016 following 15 years of supporting people into work with APM, formerly Pertemps. She is now applying her in depth experience of employment coaching and career advising to our work with those furthest from the jobs market.

June Mole - The most widely networked of our team, June joined the Trust in 2010 and in her role as Services Development Officer has forged a host of fruitful relationships between the local business sector and our grass roots community groups and has a canny knack of finding solutions when community groups need something. She is also known as the driving force behind the sucessful annual 'SUSTAiN Ball'.

Jeanette Burrows - With many years of experience in infrastructure support across the West Midlands, Jeanette joined our team a year ago and has helped a number of organisations with determining their funding strategies and preparing grant applications, including several substantial bids to major funders.

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Filling the Gaps in Resourcing Colebridge Trust, through its SUSTAiN arm, has supported the whole of Solihull's voluntary and community sector as its infrastucture support provider for a number of years. We have provided general information and advice, funding support, volunteering development, networking and strategic representation through a contract with the Council.

Our team's capacity is constantly exhausted by demand from the sector to help fill resourcing needs, particularly by advising on funding strategies and applications. Bids which we have supported have consistently had a high success level.

There has been particular success in developing community assets, with several capital projects, such as the multiple phases of transformation at Three Trees Community Centre benefitting from our support.

When we were initially awarded the role, we were advised that Solihull was consistently failing to draw in a proportionate share of grant funding. That has been addressed by our specialists, as has attracting in-kind support from the business sector. As a result, our involvement has drawn well over a million pounds worth of financial and in-kind support into the borough’s community organisations in each recent year.

Many new organisations are flourishing and more established ones are stronger having benefitted from our help with matters such as trustee recruitment, volunteer recruitment, fraud, constitutional change/development, enterprise development, strategic planning or legal compliance. The hundreds of organisations we have served over recent years are stronger and better networked. Together, they form the bedrock to local grass roots community action in our borough.

For more information about Infrastructure Services please contact Lou on 0121 704 7860 or email enquiries@colebridge.org.

Top right: Delegates ponder a tough question at the GDPR Workshop run jointly with SWICDA

Case Study

In 2013, Bentley Heath Community Centre approached our team for help in obtaining a major grant to refurbish the Hall. We advised an application to the Veolia Environmental Trust and supported the bid preparation. In April 2014, a grant of almost £25,000 was secured..Committee Member, Lucilla Lang, explains: “The Hall was completed in 1954 but it was now really dowdy and in need of refurbishment, The kitchen and toliets needed a refit, the flat roof was leaking and the gas cooker was condemned."We knew that to undertake the work required we needed a major grant but we had no experience of applying for such a grant. SUSTAiN came to the rescue. "The impact has been absolutely amazing. Existing hirers were thrilled and new regular hirers began to book the Hall. Weekend bookings became much more popular with childrens’ parties most weekends, once word got around how lovely the Hall was. We could never have achieved completion of the successful bid without SUSTAiN’s input."

Filling the Gaps in Resourcing

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The Trust is proud to have been chosen by the residents of the Cars Area of Smith’s Wood as the Local Trusted Organisation for its Big Local project.

Our role has been to act as fundholder, to employ the Community Development Worker and to provide general specialist support for the whole project.

Working in partnership with the resident led committee, major strides have been made in developing activities to engage local people and develop local pride. In particular, the previously barely used Auckland Hall is now bustling with pursuits for all ages.

A total of 23 new groups have been supported to start in the area since the project commenced. Amongst the activities recently launched for children and young people are a stay and play group for pre-school children, a youth club and a music session for children with special educational needs.

Environmentally, a local resident has been supported to begin to develop a community garden within the grounds of Auckland Hall and monthly litter picks are in hand. Enterprise is being encouraged with a CIC and an independent business both supported to start up.

The Trust’s links with Jaguar Land Rover have helped by drawing in both financial and volunteer support for some of the new activities. Special events have provided an environment for the building of community spirit, especially the annual Funday which has drawn crowds in excess of 400 people. Together, the activities initiated by Big Local have engaged local residents and got people talking and involved and undertaking activities together in ways that were never the case before.

For more information about Big Local in the Cars Area please contact Lou on 0121 704 7860 or email enquiries@colebridge.org.

Building Up Community Capacity

Top left: Introducing local youngsters to animals, Cars Area Funday, August 2016Top: Carol singers entertain at Auckland Hall, December 2016Above: Fun for the kids on the bouncy slide, Cars Area Funday, August 2017

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Colebridge Employment and Skills supports those furthest from the jobs market. Although our teams on separate projects have worked closely together over the years, they have now been amalgamated to form a more comprehensive offer to meet local demand, and support individuals from school age through to adults into their sixties.

Helping individuals overcome longstanding barriers to employment often requires longer engagement than more traditional employment programmes. Our advisors become quite involved and close to the lives of those being supported.

One of our team is a Health and Wellbeing focused advisor, with direct experience in the NHS.

We work effectively with a broad range of referral partners, including specialist organisations that can deliver interventions to tackle more complex issues. This holistic person-centred approach has consistently delivered higher success rates than traditional approaches over a decade of work in the field.

Colebridge Assembly operates as a social enterprise that provides practical work experience within the areas of automotive assembly and packing. The decision, five years ago, to convert the former Waterloo Woodwork to new markets has proved successful and has substantially grown our external trading income and allowed more individuals to be supported with experience of transferrable workplace skills.

Our industrial unit, at Waterloo Avenue in Fordbridge, has equipped individuals with learning disabilities, others recovering from mental health issues and those with a poor education record to develop and progress into full employment elsewhere.

(continued on next page)

Routes to Work - Hands On Assembly &Case Study

In September 2011, Colebridge started work with a 14-year old male, referred by the local pupil referral unit and described as ‘unmanageable’ in a classroom setting. Within a few months, we had developed his trust, worked on confidence related issues and helped him to develop practical skills. Subsequently, he began a full apprenticeship and gained his NVQ Level 2 in Warehousing and Storage.In 2015, he was employed as a full member of staff and became a team leader, supporting learning disabled participants and mentoring other young people. He also gained his forklift licence. In 2016, he moved on to a relatively well paid job at a major retailer's distribution centre.“Before I started working here I had very low confidence and self-esteem. I didn’t have any motivation to work and I really didn’t enjoy learning. I was very shy and reluctant to talk to people. During my time here, I have learnt a lot. I have a lot of confidence and I have developed good people skills, I don’t get nervous about speaking to people anymore as this is something I have had to do regularly. I enjoy work and I am excited about my future and bettering myself even further”.”

Routes to Work - Hands On Assembly &

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Advice/Support at Junction's Employment HubMany of those employed on assembly work begin a journey at Colebridge Assembly as volunteers before securing either an apprenticeship or part-time work in our unit with a view to subsequently securing a full time job, as others have done, with the likes of DHL and Ocado.

Adding in the work that has been undertaken with special schools and Further Education providers the number of individuals who have had the benefit of work experience in our industial unit over the past year has exceeded one hundred.

Our other current programmes operate from the Employment Hub which was established at the nearby community centre, Junction, re-opened by the Trust in early 2016 (see next page). These projects include:

• the Skills for Jobs project, funded by the Skills Funding Agency via Solihull College, which is now in its 12th year of exceeding its targets for securing employment for those individuals supported, and

• the Talent Match programme for 18-24 year olds who have been unemployed for 12 months or more, being delivered across Birmingham and Solihull in a partnership led by BVSC.

Ongoing development of the Employment Hub and outreach work will see new services, which increase opportunities for our target groups, to engage with the world of work and training.This is much needed at a time of diminished funding.

For more information about Colebridge Assembly, please contact Chet on 0121 770 7555 or email enterprises@colebridge.org. For more information about our employment and skills offer please contact Serena or Yvonne on 0121 448 0720 or email skillsforjobs@colebridge.org.

Far Left: Assembling sound proofing components for the automotive industry.Above left: Employment advisor Yvonne Roberts gives CV building support.Above: Assimilating transferrable skills - fork lift driving practice.

"Colebridge have given invaluable work experience opportunities to several Forest Oak Sixth Form students with Moderate Learning Disabilities. Through their placements they have flourished, grown in confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, maturity and independence. The personal development as well as the actual work skills experience they have gained, has been outstanding. A truly amazing service!"

Jez Curzon, 6th Form, Forest Oak

The funds needed to build the original Chapelhouse Club for Boys were raised through the hard work and passion of the local community, with the support of Solihull Council and grant funders. It opened in December 1964 and for several decades made a huge difference to the lives of many local young people.

This continued, through a change of name to the Fordbridge Club for Young People, until the building was gutted by fire in an arson attack during 2010.

Despite lengthy challenges in negotiating restoration with the insurers, Colebridge Trust was determined that this community building should be brought back into use for the benefit of local people. The Trust used a combination of eventual insurance payment and £35,000 of its own reserves to re-open the premises and give them a third lease of life, under the name ‘Junction’, in early 2016.

Since the re-opening, generous help has been given by Jaguar Land Rover and Solihull Community Housing to better equip the Hall internally. Activities for youngsters after school have re-emerged and, with its daytime use as an Employment Hub (see previous page) and for adult activities, Junction is more fully used than was ever the case.

Today, around 170 members of the community, with ages ranging from 4 to 84, come to Junction each week for activities that are once again making a significant contribution to social inclusion and wellbeing in the local area.

For more information about Junction, please contact Serena or Yvonne on 0121 448 0720 or email junction@colebridge.org.

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A Revitalised Community Centre

Top right: Mayor of Solhull, Cllr Stuart Davis meets volunteers at their celebration tea, 2017Top: After the devastating fire in the building, 2009Above: The Hall today as pensioners gather for the community tea dance, 2017.

A Revitalised Community Centre

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For several years the Trust has undertaken small pieces of external work and consultancy, but roughly three years ago we decided to try to expand our services.

This has allowed us to both add value to the community sector through this work and to diversify the sources of our income.

Our key change was the introduction of bookkeeping and accountancy support, payroll services and general business, finance and strategic advice to voluntary sector organisations across the West Midlands.

Due to the way we have structured this, we believe we are able to provide a high quality product at a highly competitive rate.

By using our skills and knowledge of the sector developed over many years we are now able to generate income into our trading arm, which in turn is gifted to the main charity, reducing our dependency on grant funding and improving our financial sustainability.

Our growing client list includes organisations from across the voluntary sector, from sports clubs to training providers, a housing association, a social enterprise cleaning company, therapy providers, a children’s centre, community recycling organisations, a community energy provider, a women’s refuge etc. So, if you need to talk to us about anything related to your finance and accountancy needs, or for any other professional, business or strategic support specific to the voluntary sector then please give us a shout.

For more information about our Professional Services, please contact Dave, Rob or Steve on 0121 704 7860 or email enquiries@colebridge.org.

Providing Added Value from our Skills “We use Colebridge Trust for our accountancy and payroll. They have supported me and enabled me to run our business. They have shown me how to do the monthly bookkeeping and to prepare the payroll each month. They are very professional and very efficient. I would certainly recommend them to other organisations.”"

Charlotte Vale, Director, Experts by Experience - Solihull CIC

Above left: Rob Buckman discusses accounting records with Cathy Stoll of Solihull Shopmobility.Above: Steve Breese shows bookkeeping principles to Charlotte Vale of Experts by Experience - Solihull CIC.

Lower Ground Floor, The Core, Homer Road, Solihull, B91 3RGTel: 0121 704 7860

Unit 21, Chelmsley Wood Industrial Estate, Chelmsley Wood, B37 6QQTel: 0121 770 7555

Junction, 100 Chapelhouse Road, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham B37 5HATel: 0121 448 0720

EMail: enquiries@colebridge.org Web: www. colebridge.org

Company No: 4475291, Registered Charity No: 1155468