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Annual Report 2013

Offices: Bordeshale House, 14 Edgbaston Road East, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, B12 9QQ Tel: 0121 6630103 Web: www.thebridge.uk.net

THE BRIDGE IS PART OF OASIS CHURCH TRUST, REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1084191.

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CONTENTS

The Bridge Mission Statement .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Our Core Values ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Some Resident’s Stories ............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Background History and Information ....................................................................................................... 5

Organisational Structure............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

The Bridge Team ................................................................................................................................... 6

Overview of 2013...................................................................................................................................... 7

A challenging start to the year ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

New Beginings ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

A time of change .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

The building of a volunteer army.......................................................................................................... 8

Snowdon ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Other goodbyes .................................................................................................................................... 9

And welcome to .................................................................................................................................... 9

Occupancy improves and stablizes ..................................................................................................... 10

Increased grants………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10

Together at Christmas……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10

Recovery programme - Referrals and Outcomes ................................................................................... 12

Outcomes of service engagement .......................................................................................................... 16

Financial Review ..................................................................................................................................... 18

Audited Accounts................................................................................................................................ 19

Financial Risk Assessment................................................................................................................... 20

General Risk Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 21

Future Plans ............................................................................................................................................ 22

Thanks and Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………………………….23

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THE BRIDGE MISSION STATEMENT

The Bridge’s mission is to give those who are marginalised in our city the confidence and life-skills to

become integrated and valued members of the community; to help people gain a sense of self-worth

and address life-controlling issues such as addictions. The Bridge runs supported accommodation,

housing men and women struggling to escape from life-controlling addictions.

OUR CORE VALUES

• To communicate our Christian beliefs in a practical and supportive way

• To do everything with an underlying attitude of professionalism, friendship and genuine

concern for the success of each individual

- Helping all who are in need wherever we are able, without prejudice

- Communicating the value that we place on each person

- Standing up for those we serve, challenging what is unjust, and promoting what is just.

- Doing everything to a standard of excellence

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SOME RESIDENTS STORIES

In 2013 a resident who had been with us for 2 years moved on from us. He had previously battled

drug addiction for many years and had lost property, blown a large amount of inheritance money

and been in and out of prison. However in September he entered full time education after becoming

and maintaining a life drug free. It was a pleasure to see him grow through the struggles he

encountered and succeed. Then in October we received a card from his mum. In it she had written

the following (His name has been changed to protect his confidentiality):

‘I just wanted to write to thank all the staff at The Bridge for your support of ‘Dave’ through the last

couple of years as it has brought my family back together. I now have my son back and my other son

has his brother back. Thank you very much!’

Another resident called ‘Paul’ (not his real name) also gave this story:

‘I used to be controlled by alcohol and drug addiction, wanting to die and give up. Now as a result of

being at The Bridge I have been able to become and stay alcohol & drug free for 7 ½ months. I am

starting to discover myself, learning to like and value myself. Life is getting better and I now have

hope for the future.’

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BACKGROUND HISTORY AND INFORMATION

The Bridge is an outreach from Oasis Church Trust, Birmingham (Charity no. 1084191) and has been

working with the disadvantaged and socially excluded of Birmingham since January 1999. Oasis

Church is an evangelical Church and part of the Newfrontiers family of churches.

The Bridge opened its first hostel for single homeless in 2001 and focused on supporting the varied

needs of this group until 2008 when we specialized to support those struggling with addictions

issues; running a residential recovery program based on the Twelve Steps model of addictions

recovery.

The recovery program is designed to help residents face the issues underlying their addictions and

teach positive coping strategies, in order to equip residents to deal with difficult issues and emotions

without returning to substance misuse. In addition, the support is geared to facilitate and

encourage residents to engage again with employment, volunteering or training.

As part of our recovery program, we run a lifestyle program of activities which is designed to help

residents gain life-skills to equip them with a good foundation for independent living in the

community. The lifestyle program also aims to build up residents’ confidence and self-esteem as

well as help with personal development and positive prospects for future employment.

A vital contribution to the service we provide is the volunteers and in 2013 we had several

recovering addicts join our volunteer team to assist in the running of the program. In addition, for

the second year running, we had a former client of The Bridge join the core support team as a staff

member after initially joining the volunteer team.

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ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

Oasis Church Trust is a charitable trust with a board of trustees overseeing its activities. The

governing documents of the trust are the Declaration of Trust (13th September 2000) and the

Supplemental Deed (12th December 2000), both of which are on file with the charity commission.

Trustees are appointed by the Oasis Church leadership team, led by Adrian Hurst, who also acts as

Senior Church Leader and officially oversees The Bridge.

THE BRIDGE TEAM

Board of Trustees David Gooding, John Newbold, Matt Wort

Bridge Manager

Jon Smith

Support Team Member

Debbie Ricketts

Volunteer key-workers and group co-leaders

Support Team Member

Justin Cordon-Bowen

Volunteer key-workers and group co-leaders

Support Team Member

Zoe Gordon

Volunteer key-workers and group co-leaders

Administrative Worker

Jen Wallace

Volunteer Finance Support

Jo Marston

Fund Raiser

Ben Kyte

Volunteer Fundraiser Support

Joel Gardener

Volunteer Fundraising Support

Dan Jones

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OVERVIEW OF 2013

A CHALLENGING START TO THE YEAR………..

2013 started with uncertainty over the future of The Bridge. We had ended 2012 with a revised

budget to carry us through the early part of the year. This was due to the difficulty of accessing the

same level of charitable trust funds compared to previous years as a result of financial restraints of

trusts in the poor financial climate. In short, there was less money to go around with more projects

applying for finance. In addition we were suffering low occupancy levels in the houses which

affected housing benefit income. The revised budget took us to the end of March 2013. However,

after reviewing several proposals put forward by the Management Team of The Bridge, in February

the trustees agreed a budget and staffing structure to take us to the end of the year and hopefully

beyond.

NEW BEGINNINGS

The staff team was informed of the proposed changes to staffing and finance at a team meeting at

the end of February. We are privileged to have a great staff team with a great heart for the work of

The Bridge and all were behind the changes. The changes meant that we combined the General

Manager and Service Manager roles to make one full time Managerial role responsible for oversight

of all aspects of The Bridge. In addition we reduced the support team from five to three. Each

Support Team Member shares in the running of the addiction recovery program and has a house of 6

residents which they are responsible for the day to day running of including maintenance oversight

etc. However, we have recruited a team of fantastic volunteers to cover the one to one key-working

who are supervised by the Support Team Members. We also have volunteers assisting in the running

of the program, finance and fundraising. The role of Fund Raiser and Administrative Worker

remained unchanged. All roles other than the Bridge Manager role are part time.

The changes came into force at the beginning of April.

A TIME OF CHANGE

As a result of downsizing it also meant that we said goodbyes to some colleagues and friends who

had worked together for quite a while. Amongst these was the General Manager, Vincent Ricketts,

who had worked for The Bridge for nearly four years and led the project through the difficult

financial challenges in his last 6 months in post. His enthusiasm and leadership left a positive mark

on all who knew and worked with him. The Service Manager, Jon Smith, took on the new role to lead

The Bridge into the next phase.

In addition we said goodbye to support workers Lydia Townhill and Andrew Gordon. Andrew had

been part of the team for 6 years and was leaving to start his own business. Lydia had worked with

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us for 18 months and was taking the opportunity to spend some time in Russia, something she had

wanted to do for a long time.

We want to thank all three for their commitment and years given to The Bridge. We wish them well

for the future.

THE BUILDING OF A VOLUNTEER ARMY

By the beginning of April all the changes had come into place. The core team that remained was Jon

Smith, Debbie Ricketts, Sam Hawksley, Zoe Gordon, Ben Kyte and Caroline Walker. Together we

started to gather, train and build a ‘volunteer army’ to work alongside us in the provision of the

service. We already had a couple of volunteers in place working in groups as a start and some of

those also became key-workers. We also had a former resident and support worker, Ian Bird, come

back to volunteer as a key-worker. It was great to welcome him back.

SNOWDON

Around the Easter Period the residents walked up the Malvern Hills as part of the lifestyle program.

As a result of this the idea developed that they wanted to do a sponsored walk up Snowdon to raise

money for The Bridge. In mid-September staff and residents, armed with back packs, climbed the

Pyg Track of Snowdon, some conquering their fear of height’s to reach the top. Visibility was poor,

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the wind was very strong but all made it. And to top it off around £1000 was raised, most of which

was by residents.

One example of how great an achievement this was, was when one of the men, as he walked down

said that he could not believe he was walking Snowdon. Fourteen months earlier he had been in a

coma due to his alcohol addiction and it was not thought that he would recover. One month later he

was out of the coma and he entered The Bridge where he has remained sober. It was a happy but

emotional moment that summarized the general feeling of the day.

Well done to all who took part in the challenge. We are proud of them all!

OTHER GOODBYES

In addition to the restructure of The Bridge that saw some staff move on, we also said goodbye to

three other staff. The first was Joy Cairns who, after attending university in Durham became a

Volunteer before joining the core Support Team in November 2010. Joy was also one of the first staff

to work at Timbers, our women’s house, when it opened. Joy moved on to work for Crisis leading a

volunteer team and running programs for vulnerable people.

The next staff member to move on was Caroline Walker, our Administrative worker. Due to a change

in her husband’s employment Caroline left us in June to move to Yorkshire. Caroline had worked

alongside both Vince Ricketts and Jon Smith for 2 1/2 years and assisted them in putting the

proposals together for the restructure.

Finally in September we said goodbye to Sam Hawksley. Sam moved to London with a new

employment opportunity after 2 years with The Bridge. As well as being a great worker he brought

much laughter and joy to the team.

We wish all 3 staff well in their chosen careers. They all played a significant part in what The Bridge

has become.

AND WELCOME TO

As Caroline moved on from her role as Administrator we welcomed Jen Wallace to replace her. Jen

has worked in a similar role in a homeless charity in the City prior to us so was familiar with the

client group too.

In addition Justin Cordon-Bowen was added to our core Support Team when Sam moved on. Justin

was another former resident of The Bridge who had joined as a volunteer for a couple of years

before joining the core team.

We welcome both to The Bridge on this exciting journey we are on.

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OCCUPANCY IMPROVES AND STABLIZES

A core part of the financial restructure was the need to keep occupancy levels across the project at a

minimum of 75% or more. This is because the higher the occupancy the more housing benefit

income we receive. After a difficult first half of the year, by July we hit over 87% for the month and

were able to stay above the minimum 75% for every month of the second half of the year, only

dropping below 80% once. As a result, despite our lowest monthly average in 2013 being 49%, we

ended with a total average occupancy for the year of 72%.

INCREASED GRANTS

In the last quarter of the year we saw an increase in grant awards from Trusts. This meant that

combined with restructure in April, lowering staffing costs, the increased occupancy levels in the

latter half of the year and careful spending we were able to end 2013 with more income than

expenditure. This was a phenomenal achievement considering the potential outlook in January and

proved that the restructure had been a success.

TOGETHER AT CHRISTMAS

We always make an extra effort to make Christmas a special occasion at The Bridge as it can often be

the most difficult time of year for the residents. 2013 was no exception and for the residents and

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staff who had been around the previous year through the challenges we had faced it was also a time

of celebration. Staff and residents joined together with some bringing their families along. Three of

the residents insisted that they do the cooking on the day for everyone. (Pictured above) It was a

fitting way to end the year!

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RECOVERY PROGRAMME - REFERRALS AND OUTCOMES

In 2013 we received a total of 98 referrals. This was just over 25 less than the previous year. In

addition the group 31-40 rose from being 34% of our referral sources in 2012 to 53% 2013. This was

largely due to a reduction in the younger age groups 18-30’s and 41-50’s. It appears from this that

the older and the younger generation of addicts were not accessing recovery the same as the

previous year.

The larger ethnicity group of referrals was white British at 83% compared to 78% in 2012.

Public Health Birmingham states in their Drugs and Alcohol needs assessment 2013/2014 that a

typical drug treatment client is a White British male, aged between 26 and 35. As you can see from

our stat charts above and the next page that most of our clients are White British, are in their 30’s

27%

53%

18%

1% 1%

Referrals by age group 2013 (Average age 35)

18-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

over 60

83%

3% 8%

2% 1% 3%

Referrals by ethnic origin 2013

White British

Mixed British

White Irish

British Asian

Asian

Refused

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and we have a slightly higher percentage of clients with drug addiction issues than alcohol addiction

issues.

However, out of the 98 referrals we received 58% were female and the total number of new clients

who entered The Bridge for recovery was 28 with the gender split at 50/50. We believe that this is

probably representative of their not being much in the way of women only provision in the city.

One of our larger proportions of referrals for a few years has come from within the criminal justice

system and this continued this year. We actually saw an increase of 7% this year from 2012 to 31%.

Self-referrals remained almost exactly the same. This is mostly due to clients we have seen go

around the recovery circuit in Birmingham returning for another try.

54%

46%

Drug/Alochol referrals

Drugs

Alcohol

0

20

40

60

Referrals bygender 2013

Male Female New clientsby gender

2013

Male Female

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With having less referrals than in 2012 we inevitably saw less clients move in for support with their

addiction. (38 people 2012, 28 2013)

However the percentage of referrals that went right through the system to moving in was almost the

same at 29%. After increasing our percentage of successful move in by 5% last year, we maintained

that in 2013. Considering the early difficulties we had, as mentioned in this report, this was a

reasonable achievement.

Prison/CARAT 31%

Probation 2%

DiP South 4% Self Referral

12%

NHS 3%

Aquarius 6%

Health Exchange 2%

Anawim 5%

SAFE Project

2%

Park House

2%

A-Team 1%

Sifa Fireside 2%

DIP North 1%

Other 26%

YMCA 1%

Referrals by Agency

14%

11%

1%

40% 5%

29%

Referral Outcomes 2013

Offered a place but not movedin

Refused by Bridge

In System

Not Proceeding

Did not reach interview stage

Moved In

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After seeing the number of referrals refused increase greatly in 2012, we reduced it by 7% in 2013

showing that a higher percentage of our referrals were more appropriate for the service.

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OUTCOMES OF SERVICE ENGAGEMENT

In 2012 we assessed in detail the primary needs of the residents who accessed our service. We

discovered that of the residents who accessed our service their primary addition was split 54% for

drugs and 46% for alcohol. What you can see from the chart below is that although we have seen a

10 fewer clients enter this year the stats for this are exactly the same.

This strengthens our belief from last year that we are getting the balance right and that our service is

relevant for both sets of clients.

One area we wanted to see a great improvement on in 2013 was the length of time clients remained

abstinent. This was due to the fact that in 2012 71% of clients who had accessed The Bridge during

2012 had not been able to maintain abstinence for more than 0-3 months and the longest anyone

had achieved was just over 9 months.

54%

46%

Residents Primary Addiction

Drugs

Alcohol

61% 15%

18%

2% 4%

Longest period of abstinence for residents for 2013

0-3 month

3-6 months

6-9 months

9-12 months

12 + months

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However we are pleased to say that not only did we see that figure of 71% reduce by 10% in 2013,

we also saw those who maintained abstinence for 6-9 months increased by 11% and 4% of our

clients had achieved over 12 months. (See chart above).

The other main area we review is the percentage of clients who access voluntary work and/or

training as we support them to do this alongside their recovery.

We have seen an increase in females accessing voluntary work this year compared to 2012 by 17.5%.

It has stayed around the same for the males, though both males and females who accessed training

reduced, the females by 17%. This suggests that they have accessed voluntary work as a result of

being better equipped from their training. This figure also suggests that the changes in the program

that allows more time for work and training has had an impact on the female’s progression through

their recovery.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Percentageof males

whoaccessedvolntary

work

Percentageof females

whoaccessedvolntary

work

Percentageof males

whoaccessedtraining

Percentageof females

whoaccessedtraining

Percentage of males whoaccessed volntary work

Percentage of females whoaccessed volntary work

Percentage of males whoaccessed training

Percentage of females whoaccessed training

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

The chart below shows the sources of income for The Bridge’s work in 2013.

Housing Benefit and Service Charge levels, 65% of our total income, remained similar to 2012

figures. Occupancy of the project is rarely 100% which affects the income from these two sources,

so keeping the houses full of residents remains a high priority. Overall income was 6% less than in

2012, mostly due to reduced income from grants (see below). However, the target set for income

from grants was £10,500 and our fundraiser drew in more than double this amount.

59%

3%

13%

15%

5% 1% 4% 0% 0% 0%

Sources of Income 2013 Total income £185,575

Housing Benefit

Fundraising

Grants

Donations & Events

Service Charge

Gift Aid

Oasis Pensions

£100,000

£56,000

£40,300

£23,300 £-

£20,000

£40,000

£60,000

£80,000

£100,000

£120,000

2010 2011 2012 2013

Income from Grants 2010 to 2013

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Staff costs continue to be our highest expenditure together with rent. We were able to reduce the

staff costs by 27% this year following the re-structure in April. Savings were made in many other

areas of The Bridge by frugal spending. We managed to do all this while still providing a good quality

service, as the results from other stats show.

We ended the year in a stronger position as we look to build the necessary reserves for the future.

We continue to monitor the finances closely while we do this. The fundraiser has also further

developed an achievable strategy to spread risk across numerous funding streams, particularly

utilizing the website and improving communication with individual supporters.

AUDITED ACCOUNTS

Oasis Church Trust is subject to full scrutiny by the Charity Commission and holds to the values of

transparency and accountability to our supporters. As required by law, our accounts are audited

externally by a professional accountant. Our full 2013 accounts will be available to the public via the

charity commission website (www.charity-commission.gov.uk), or upon written request to the

Trustees. Our financial year is Jan – Dec and we anticipate that these accounts will be finalised by

April the following year.

55%

24%

10%

7% 1%

2% 0% 1%

2013 Expenditure Total expenditure £177,937

Staff Costs

Rent

Running costs

Central Costs

Repairs & Renewals

Recovery Programme

Furnishings

Volunteer Costs

Therapeutic Prog

Food

Petty Cash

Other

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FINANCIAL RISK ASSESSMENT 2014

Oasis Church has experienced severe challenges in the world of changing charitable funding with

regard to running The Bridge and in that respect are not in a unique position as many charities are

finding themselves in similar positions. We are thankful to God and all of our supporters for the way

in which funds have been made available and are confident that this work will continue and it is our

objective to ensure that the service continues and lives can still be changed.

Expected Financial Challenges Financial challenges within this sector is continuing to become the norm. However we have found through 2013 that with correct financial management and oversight these can be minimised. We will endeavour to:

Constantly look for new and innovative ways to ensure future funding

Implement a sustainable approach to ensuring a spread of funding streams – personal donations / grants and trust funds / church support / and larger specific funding for client group – drugs and alcohol misuse

Implement fully all financial policies and procedures

Maintain full occupancy of the houses - minimising voids as much as possible

Monitor closely non-payment or late payment of service charge

Monitor closely the processing and receipts of Housing Benefit

Monitor closely the expenditure in relation to the current year budget

Monitor closely the cash-flow position

Monitor closely any potential likelihood to be defrauded

Implement a “best value” policy on all matters of household management / repairs and maintenance

Continue to implement the reviewed staff / volunteer / programme re-structure as approved by Trustees as this has been very successful.

Continue to build sufficient funds to ensure that we can continue to comply with employment requirements. Sufficient reserves must be maintained to ensure that in the event of closure all redundancy and closure costs can be met without passing the liability for this to Oasis Church (considered for this purposes as a separate department to The Bridge within The Oasis Church Trust)

We see no reason why arrears recovery could not be pursued through the courts. This should be where and when it is to our advantage. If we are able to maintain a strong policy on short-term arrears we will not reach the position that would make it viable to pursue recovery through the courts, which is a costly and time consuming process. Potentially any action taken through the courts could result in higher costs – each situation would be evaluated on its own merits. In preparing residents for future independent living we see a principle area of housing support is in helping them maintain rent and service charge payments and in order to further strengthen a recurring theme (and need) in clients who are unable to manage their personal budgets this element of money management and budgeting of personal finances is included in the Lifestyle Programme. A full budget has been agreed by the trustees for 2014 which reflects the lower costs in the changes that came into force in April.

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GENERAL RISK ASSESSMENT

The Bridge is committed to providing a safe living and working environment for all residents, staff

and volunteers. With that in mind all policies and procedures are reviewed at least annually. All

safety procedures with the relevant agencies are complied with for health and safety and fire

prevention, as well as for servicing requirements of appliances and fittings within the houses they

manage.

We undertake Regular ‘Client Needs’ and ‘Health and Safety’ assessments for all activities of The

Bridge. Reviews have been carried out for the major risks to which The Bridge is exposed to and

procedures are in place to manage those risks.

For more information on The Bridge’s work, please see our website at www.thebridge.uk.net.

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FUTURE PLANS

After the big decisions that were made early in the year which have been a success and brought

stability, in 2014 we look to:

Continue to build on the current set up for longer stability

Continue to build better relationships in the city with other providers

Provide opportunities for training for further development of the team

Seek to increase ex-resident volunteer involvement both in key-working and the running of

groups. This includes the development of a ‘community’ group that serves people outside of

the supported housing we offer.

Continue to build a healthy financial reserve

Look for external organizations to help review our service to bring a greater level of

excellence.

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THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks again to our great team of committed volunteers who have worked with finance, fundraising

and the support the residents including, but not limited to, Jo Marston, Justin Cordon-Bowen, Dan

Jones, Joel Gardener, David Cox, James Bell, Sarah Smith, Sam Smith, Ian Bird, Lydia Townhill and

Andrew Gordon. Without their support we couldn’t do what we do.

We would like to thank Oasis Church, Grace Church in Bromsgrove, St Agnes Church in Mosley and

Church Central, Birmingham who have continued to support us financially. We also would like to

thank all those who donate individually on a regular basis. Thank you to Jubilee Church Solihull for

their gift this year too.

We thank all the residents and staff of The Bridge who walked up Snowdon to raise funds for The

Bridge. We also thank all those who sponsored them to do this.

Finally we would like to express our gratitude to those charitable trusts that have been generous to

us this year in supporting us. They are:

Souter Charitable Trust, 29th May 2961 Charitable Trust, Eric W. Vincent Trust Fund, The Norton

Foundation, Maidenhead Malachi Foundation, William A. Cadbury Trust, G.E. Gee Trust, Trusthouse

Charitable Foundation and Roughly Trust.

THE BRIDGE IS PART OF OASIS CHURCH TRUST, REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1084191.