2014-15

Sovereign Harbour Residents Association

Annual Report

Supporting resilientcommunities

Welcome

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Thanks to our dedicated trustees:Caroline AnsellMary BlairJohn CollinsHanno FryArnold GoldmanAndrew HodsonClare Newby (Vice-Chair)Malcolm Preece (Treasurer)Harold de SouzaChris StruttJohn TrainorAlan Wenham (Chair)

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers:Vanessa BaileyCaroline CollierLinda KennionJeremy LinehamArianne MortimerCecile StheemanPhil Turner

Thanks to our core funders:East Sussex County CouncilEastbourne Borough CouncilEastbourne, Hailsham & Seaford CCG and HighWeald Lewes Havens CCGLewes District CouncilWealden District Council

Welcome to 3VA’s report for the year 2014/15 inwhich we share some of the highlights of our workwith groups across Wealden, Lewes District andEastbourne.

Overwhelmingly, it was the small, specialist anddeveloping groups serving those overlooked bymainstream services that benefitted from ourservices over the past year. Our extensive network,however, extended across over 550 dynamicorganisations of all shapres and sizes. This web ofvoluntary and community sector organisations madesharing information, encouraging participation andfacilitating collaboration possible and effective.

The political and economic landscape continued tochange in 2014/15, placing ever more pressure oncommunities and voluntary groups to take on newresponsibilities. Consequently, many are facing anincreased demand for their services while at thesame time facing cuts to funding. 3VA, too, grappledwith challenges presented by the environment inwhich we all work.

Even as we at 3VA explore the development of ourown service model and identify new ways ofsupporting voluntary action through projects andpartnerships with the statutory and voluntarysectors, our commitment to community groups,voluntary organisations and individuals has - andwill remain - unchanged.

Adam ChuggChief Executive Officer

My theme is unsung heroes and at the top of my listis the incredible range and depth of workundertaken by the voluntary sector in our area. Somuch good and so much value is being delivered ina quiet and unassuming way. At a time when thepublic sector continues to shrink, this is a vitalcontribution to community life.

I would like to personally thank all the paid staff,volunteers and trustees for their hard work anddedication over the year. Their commitment andenthusiasm, combined with their range of expertise,makes a very potent mix. Feedback from memberorganisations confirms that solid advice andassistance is being delivered.

I would like to also thank our partners whosesupport and willingness to share ideas and try outnew ways of doing things has resulted in someexciting work that I hope will continue in the comingyear. Finally, thanks must go to our funders whohave enabled us to deliver all this work and who weknow are doing all they can to reduce the impact offunding cuts on the sector.

Alan WenhamChair

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Lewes District

Wealden District

EastbourneBorough

Groups secured £269,295 with 3VA’s support. 3VA helped establish 35 new groups and

delivered 1:1 support to 207.

140 groups and 182 people benefittedfrom 3VA’s 19 training courses. Ourcourses had a satisfaction rate of 88%.

99 voluntary and community sector organisationshired office or meeting space at 3VA.

22 local voluntary and community sectorgroups joined our growing membershipnetwork.

Volunteer Centre East Sussex promoted 375 countywidevolunteering opportunities on Do-it and answered 2,970volunteering enquiries.

The East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Community VolunteerScheme was awarded the Silver Award for Transforming LocalServices and the Gold Award for Fire & Rescue Project of the Yearat the Improvement and Efficiency Awards 2015.

218 individuals representing 140organisations attended issue-basedmeetings we coordinated, includingdementia, patient participation andaccess to services.

SpeakUp Forum delivered a successful Big Event where it hostedits largest ever Advice Fair with 42 stalls, 175 delegates and 85organisations represented.

HeadlineSuccesses

Case Study: Health and Wellbeing Visits ProjectThe countywide and Department of Health funded Health and Wellbeing Visits Project was officiallylaunched in September 2014. Prior to then, visits were being undertaken as part of a pilot project withEast Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS). Between April 2014 and March 2015, 82 people weresupported by trained volunteers through home visits. The project now has 20 volunteers across EastSussex and Brighton & Hove, the training programme offered has been developed, a resourcepack/handbook for volunteers has been created, referral processes have been improved and the waysthat the project impact is measured has been enhanced. Examples of ways the volunteers helpedpeople to be safer and happier in their homes included: referral to ESFRS staff to fit smoke alarms for a71 year old woman who has very poor health, is a heavy smoker and had no working alarms, arrangingfor handrails to be fitted for a 75 year old woman who now lives alone following the recent death of herhusband, and arranging for a specialist hearing alarm and flashing doorbell to be fitted for a 90 year oldman who lives alone and is hard of hearing. Testimonial“Health and wellbeing visits make a significant contribution to the safety of vulnerable people in theirhomes and provide an opportunity to reduce the risk of fire. It is clear that the Health and WellbeingVisits Project is helping to make our communities safer.”

- David Kemp, Head of Community Safety, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service

Case Study: Eastbourne PierThe fire that devastated Eastbourne Pier in July 2014 brought all sections of the town’s communitytogether. 3VA, on behalf of the voluntary and community sector, joined a stakeholder group consistingof Eastbourne Borough Council, Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce and others to coordinate thetown’s response. We also chaired the grant panel of the Eastbourne Pier Benevolent Fund. Throughthe cooperation of our partners, we were able to draw in specialist help and knowledge from, forexample, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Sussex Community Foundation when consideringapplications for assistance. Through working with strategic partners, Eastbourne has shown how atown should respond when disaster strikes and we have produced a replicable model of how to dealwith emergency situations that brings together all parts of the community, including the public, statutorybodies, community groups and businesses.

Testimonial“This is really impressive. Thank you for all the work you and the team have put in to get to this stage.Really appreciated.”

Identifying needsand facilitatinginnovationWe identify needs in the communities we serve andhelp them respond and adapt to change. We helpdrive forward new initiatives and different ways ofmeeting need and support new and emergingorganisations. The following are just two examples ofhow we have done this over the last year. Sinceidentifying need and facilitating innovation is integralto our work, however, there are many examplesthroughout this report.

Supporting new groupsThe needs of a community change in response to a number of factors including changes in population,government policy and economic circumstances. Two noticeable trends over the year were the increasingnumber of new groups - particularly Community Interest Companies (CICs) and Charitable IncorporatedOrganisations (CIOs) - that we helped to establish and the steady increase in demand for advice andinformation about social enterprises. The 35 groups whose formation we supported were created inresponse to unmet and emerging needs in communities such as support for people with bipolar andtackling unemployment among disadvantaged women. Throughout the year we helped new groups thinkthrough what they wanted to achieve, how they should be structured and how they could becomeinvolved with our membership network and issues in the wider sector.

Creating learning opportunities3VA created and delivered a range of 19 learning opportunities in the last year, including Treasurer’sEssentials, Covering Your Costs, Introduction to Child Protection and Writing a Fundraising Plan. Eight ofthese courses were free to participants and 6 were delivered in partnership with East Sussex CountyCouncil, Eastbourne Borough Council and SPARK. One hundred eighty-two participants from 140 groups(including 132 voluntary/community groups) attended our training courses and saw an average skills’increase of 34%. Our courses received an overall satisfaction rate of 88%.

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- Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon

Case Study: Seaford Stroke and Caring Club 3VA was invited to a meeting to discuss funding opportunities to help establish regular yoga sessionsfor members. Seaford Stroke and Caring Club has 30 members aged between 65 and 98 years of ageand provides a range of social activities, help with transport and invaluable advice, information andsupport for carers. Identifying the Sussex Community Foundation as the most appropriate local sourceof funding, the Club’s committee was advised on the key characteristics of a successful bid. 3VAencouraged the committee to develop a budget for the project, undertake a member survey todetermine likely take-up and to work with the tutor to implement a simple monitoring system to assessthat the yoga sessions would be an appropriate and desirable means of improving health and well-being. The club received £750 - the largest grant they have ever received - and now has theopportunity to offer an activity that will make a tangible difference to the mobility, self-reliance and confidence of the members.

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Supportingeffectivevoluntary action

Providing advice, information and guidanceOver the year, the group support team continued to provide information, advice and guidance to communityand voluntary groups on a wide range of topics including setting up a new group, advising trustees,managing change and, when necessary, closing down organisations. In total, we worked with 207 groupsand provided an average of 2.4 hours of support to each. Demand for our services has remained steady,but the level of enquiry has grown in complexity; during the year we advised on the future of four old owntrusts, wound down a local charity and saw an increase in the number of social enterprises we are helpingto set up. The impact of the current economic climate on funding available for community and voluntaryorganisations led to an increase in requests for support around organisational sustainability.

Helping groups secure fundingWe continued to help bring in a large amount of funding to all the areas in which we work - a total of£269,295 in 2014-15. Much of our work with groups involved supporting and enhancing the skills of theindividuals running them so that they could be more confident and self-reliant. The funding support weprovided ranged from simply informing the sector about funding opportunities and providing trainingsessions in fundraising to commenting on draft funding applications and engaging in more complex piecesof work where we helped organisations devise innovative ways of working together - rather than competing- for funds. Additionally, we helped organisations more clearly identify the needs they were trying toaddress and to think creatively about alternative approaches to securing funds.

We support voluntary and community organisationsto develop and learn so that their performanceimproves and they have robust systems, leadershipand governance. We also support them with adviceabout funding and income generation. Most of oursupport work was delivered by our two group supportofficers who cover the two districts and borough.

Testimonial“Looking at the application form was quite daunting, especially some of the terminology, but Karl Parkspatiently and expertly guided us through how to describe our idea, how it came about and the impactof what we hoped to achieve. By demystifying the process we began to understand how to make ourcase convincingly. We were impressed by Karl’s energy and positivity.”

- Tony Davis, Secretary, Seaford Stroke and Caring Club

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Case Study: Patient Participation Group (PPG) Development ConferencesIn the effort to support PPGs to function to their maximum potential in shaping healthcare in Sussex,Healthwatch East Sussex and Sussex-wide Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) CommunityEngagement requested 3VA’s involvement in organising a conference for the PPGs in High Weald,Lewes Havens CCG and Eastbourne Seaford Hailsham CCG. Following joint planning sessions, theconferences were organised with the principle aims of identifying active PPGs and their learning andsupport needs, sharing information about the new health landscape with those groups andencouraging further development. A total of 76 PPGs attended the conferences with the vast majorityof participants reporting that they found the day informative and interesting; they particularly valued theopportunity to hear from other PPGs and learn from their experience, exchange information and ideasand network. A number of the participants said that they would change the way they communicatedwith patients and encourage patients to take a more active role in shaping GPservices.

Facilitatingcommunicationand collaborationWe provide opportunities for organisations to shareresources, information and ideas and work togethercollaboratively. Some of this is done face-to-face atmeetings, but increasingly our members are makinguse of the internet to communicate and shareinformation. Here are a few examples of our workover the past year.

Keeping the voluntary and community sector informedOver the last year, 3VA distributed 50 editions of our weekly e-Newsletter to an average of over 1,800voluntary and community sector contacts throughout Wealden, Lewes District, Eastbourne and surroundingareas. All 50 e-Newsletters included news, events and consultations, as well as funding, learning and jobopportunities. Additionally, we created 4 editions of our quarterly e-zine, 3View, and sent them to over 1,760contacts. Our website, www.3va.org.uk, was visited by an average of over 1,100 unique users per month.We remained active on social media, providing groups with additional opportunities to interact with us andeach other, and saw the number of our Twitter followers @3VAsupportVCS grow to 785 and our Facebooklikes to 130, increases of over 210% and 160%, respectively, on the previous year.

Dementia Action Alliance in EastbourneThrough funding from the Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group, we supportedthe development of a Dementia Action Alliance in the Eastbourne, Seaford and Hailsham area. Thisexciting project brought together over 30 voluntary, private and public sector organisations that want tomake the towns in the area dementia friendly. The Alliance collectively identified emerging needs ofdementia sufferers, agreed to organise Dementia Friends training for bodies such as Eastbourne BoroughCouncil and is creating a plan on how to approach restaurants, hotels, shops and other businesses in thearea to bring them on board.

Testimonial“Thank you for all your assistance and work. [The most useful thing I took away was] learning abouthow the various organisations engage with each other.”

- Participant at one of the PPG conferences

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Testimonial“An unexpected benefit from this meeting was the level of information I gained about services providedand meeting a lot of support organisations.”

Influencingpolicies, plansand practicesWe provide a conduit for our statutory partners toconsult with and listen to voluntary and communitygroups and help the sector to articulate its concernsto decision-makers and to influence outcomes. Thereare a number of ways we can help the statutory andvoluntary sectors communicate; principally, as atrusted local organisation, we are able to help opendoors for the sectors.

Case Study: Access to Services in Rural WealdenIn 2013, 3VA and Churches Together raised the issue of rural deprivation with the Wealden StrategicPartnership. We gathered evidence from 22 voluntary and statutory partners who work in rural areas.These contributions formed the basis of a report which concluded that the biggest current issue, wasaccess to services. A series of discussions with network meetings and individual organisations - fromboth statutory and voluntary sectors - followed, led by Wealden District Council, 3VA and Action in ruralSussex to further clarify what were the key areas and how partners might need to change delivery ofservices in order to improve access in rural areas. This is a long term piece of work and full details canbe found on our website.

Strategic partnerships, networks and forums3VA attended and will continue to participate actively in a number of strategic partnerships, networks andforums including the Healthwatch Advisory Group, Volunteer Centre East Sussex Steering Group, the CCGCritical Friends Group, Eastbourne Strategic Partnership, East Sussex County Council Voluntary andCommunity Sector Liaison Group and East Sussex Better Together Advisory Group where we serve in therole of chair. We also hold regular liaison meetings with each of the district and borough councils where wecan alert them to issues of concern to the voluntary and community sector and, conversely, where we learnof their issues and future plans.

Promoting and coordinating consultationsWe promoted consultations from the statutory and third sectors through our e-Newsletter and helped tocoordinate joint responses on important issues. For example, we worked with SpeakUp Forum on behalf ofHealthwatch East Sussex to collate the views of voluntary and community organisations in East Sussex onthe accessibility of health and social care information.

Heathfield Community HubTogether with Wealden District Council and Action in rural Sussex (AirS), we were successful in gettingfunding from the Department for Communities and Local Government to look at how access to servicesmight be improved in a rural parish. We chose Heathfield and Waldron parish. The partnership conducteda survey of local organisations and members of the community and the parish council. Out of thesediscussions emerged the proposal to have a community hub in the parish council offices which councillorsagreed to at the end of the year. AirS’s local Village Agent is now taking forward this work, with 3VA offeringsupport as needed. Once adjustments are made to the council’s offices to accommodate the hub, it ishoped that organisations may be able to deliver outreach services from there.

- Participant at an Access to Services in Rural Areas meeting

Chances4ChangeThe second and final year of the Big Lottery funded Chances4Change project concentrated on supportinglocal communities to develop projects that are sustainable, community-led approaches to improving healthand wellbeing for at-risk groups in Eastbourne. The project focused on healthy eating, increasing physicalactivity and improving mental well-being. In addition to achieving project outcomes, a key achievement wasthe range of partners involved - from community groups, primary schools and a children’s centre to localfootball clubs that delivered fitness sessions for elderly men.

Devonshire West Big LocalAs the locally trusted organisation, 3VA is the accountable body, holds the funding and is responsible to theLocal Trust for project monitoring for the 10 year £1 million, resident-led and Big Lottery funded DevonshireWest Big Local (DWBL) project. 3VA also has a place on the DWBL board and during the past year wehave continued to support the development of both the board and the wider DWBL project, offeringguidance on the establishment of the successful Devonshire West Community Grants programme, runningthe AGM for the project and supporting initiatives established through DWBL to become sustainablecommunity and voluntary organisations. In addition to employing a Community Development Officer who isseconded to the project, 3VA agreed to appoint an administrator to support the Devonshire West Big LocalBoard.

SpeakUp Countywide ForumSpeakUp Forum, a project hosted by 3VA, liaised with statutory partners and ensured that the voluntaryand community sector was represented on cross-sector partnerships. SpeakUp Forum specifically focusedon strengthening partnership working between the voluntary and community sector and statutory partnerswithin the East Sussex Better Together programme and liaising with South East Local EnterprisePartnership and Big Lottery Fund on social inclusion within the Building Better Opportunities programme. InJuly, SpeakUp Forum organised the successful annual Big Event with the topic ‘The Voluntary SectorContribution and Role in Developing the Local Economy,’ which included an advice fair, conference andmaster classes.

Volunteer Centre East SussexOver the course of the year, Volunteer Centre East Sussex provided a total of 34 hours one-to-one supportto 43 volunteer-involving organisations (VIOs), with 25 groups accessing support of 1 hour or more. A totalof 75 representatives from VIOs attended 6 county-wide volunteer coordinator networking forums. Fifteennew self-help tools, including template documents for putting together volunteer policies and a range ofpractical recruitment materials, were added to www.vces.org.uk allowing groups to access moreresources to adapt for their own use. Articles and online blogs were published on a variety of volunteering-related topics and a programme of training workshops aimed at assisting groups with recruiting andsupporting volunteers was run. The newly developed Your Guide to Volunteering booklet was designed andwill help people find the right opportunities, which in turn benefits voluntary and community sectororganisations.

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SupportingcommunitiesWe take on distinct individual projects and act as alocally trusted organisation to deliver communitydevelopment projects.

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Testimonial

Looking Ahead: Meeting Changing Needs

Feedback from organisations that we work with tells us that they want to accessinformation and support at a time and place convenient to them. This can meanin person, by phone and, increasingly, online. Feedback from members alsoindicates that they want opportunities to network and develop opportunities towork in partnership to tackle common issues. So, in the coming year we aremaking a number of changes which we hope will make this more possible.

Information and communicationWe will be carrying out improvements to our website, adding downloadable freeinformation in addition to our existing reports, briefings and ‘essential guides’.We are also looking at how we can make the website more interactive.

We will set up a generic information helpline telephone number across our threeareas, staffed for set hours by an advisor who will give basic information,signpost to resources or refer callers on to a colleague or external services.

Support for groupsThere will be a named group support adviser for each area who, in addition tooffering advice on governance, funding and start-up, will also advise onvolunteer management. We will also start to deliver services from locations otherthan our own offices, for example, Lewes District Council’s reception.

Learning opportunities We will deliver training or learning opportunities in a variety of ways includingthrough training courses, the sale of bespoke training courses, web-basedtraining and small group sessions.

3VA Quality MarkWe have a well-established organisational healthcheck that we will develop intoa 3VA Quality Mark. The new 3VA Quality Mark will, when awarded, signify thata group’s governance, policies and procedures meet a recognised standard andthat it has reached a level that will enable it to easily attain PQASSO Level 1.

Influencing policyWe will set up forums for each of the areas in which we work. The focus of theseforums will depend on what the concerns of the groups are and will allow groupsto discuss and prioritise local issues and actions. 3VA will resource these forumsand link them in with other forums as appropriate.

“Potential applicants looking for funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s programmes, especially Awardsfor All and Reaching Communities, receive fantastic advice and support from 3VA’s knowledgeableand helpful advisors. This front-line activity helps to improve the quality of applications which in turnincreases the likelihood of successfully getting funded. 3VA are also great at organising local fundingevents and workshops to help local groups. The support to the sector provided by advisers throughoutEast Sussex from 3VA and their partners in East Sussex County Council, Hastings Voluntary Actionand Rother Voluntary Action is hugely welcomed by the Big Lottery Fund. This joined-up proactiveservice available in the county is not replicated elsewhere in the region.”

- Glenn Austin, Funding Officer (Local), Big Lottery

Our members in actionFind out more about these and all of our amazing members at www.3va.org.uk.

Southdown Housing Association

Children with Cancer Fund

NHS RetirementFellowship

Eastbourne Seniors Forum

Hearing LinkCTLA

Sovereign DiversLiving Life Eastbourne

Sussex Community Rail Partnership

Eastbourne Lions Club

Pippa’s Group, Lewes

Hailsham Cricket Club

Statement of Financial Activities

The summary financial information is not the statutory financial statements, but a summary relating tothe income and expenditure, to give an overview of 3VA’s finances.

The full financial statements have been audited and are available (alongside the trustees’ annualreport and auditors’ report) at www.3va.org.uk.

During the year under review our total incoming resources increased by11% to £747,625, reflecting our successful bidding for new grant fundingopportunities which became available in the year. All of this increase wasfor new specific projects, whilst our income for core functions remainedbroadly the same. This demonstrates our organisation’s ability to adaptto the changing environment whilst continuing to deliver our coreservices.

Our direct charitable expenditure has fallen to £644,870, reflecting someof the new projects not being fully operational by the end of the year. Ourtotal incoming resources exceeded expenditure by £88,939, of which£84,407 is in respect of the new projects where income has beenreceived in advance of the expenditure. There was a surplus on ourgeneral fund of £1,808, and our reserves at the year-end remainsatisfactory.

Our major challenge continues to be to maintain effective support for ourmember organisations, helping them to prosper and grow in the face ofdifficult economic conditions, and to further develop and extend ourincome-generating activities to reduce our reliance on statutory funding.

Incoming Resources

Resources Expended

2014-15

Activities for generating incomeDonations and legaciesIncome investmentFrom charitable activitiesOtherTotal

Direct charitable expenditureGovernance costsTotal

£ 21,845£ 0£ 859£626,001£ 24,731£673,436

£ 23,707£ 1,070£ 625£714,400£ 7,823£748,328

£767,483£ 11,057£778,540

£644,870£ 13,816£658,686

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2013-14

2014-15 2013-14

including income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2015

8 Saffrons RoadEastbourneEast SussexBN21 1DG

www.3va.org.uk

info@3va.org.uk01323 639 373

Registered Charity No. 1096788Registered Company No. 4637252

Many thanks to Lorna Neville for thewonderful photographs of CrowhurstNature Reserve on pages 4-8.

3VA’s VisionCommunities that value all their people andenable them to achieve, for themselvesand others.

3VA’s MissionSupporting community groups, voluntaryorganisations and individuals to improvethe quality of life.

3VA’s ValuesThe voluntary sector is driven by its valuesto work for social good. It can providespace, opportunities and freedom to joinwith others to take action and makechange.