ANNUALREPORT

2014 - 2015

11-06-5111-06-51

SOUTH YORKSHIRE

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WELCOME FROM THE CHAIRMANGroundwork South Yorkshire’s Annual Report 2014 - 2015

As most of you know, it has been a

tough last five years in the charitable

and voluntary sector. The climate has

moved from a dependence on grants,

to one where the sector needs to

generate income from contracts and

become market and customer led.

I am very proud to say that Groundwork

has weathered this particular storm.

More than this we have come through

this with a clearer vision of the future,

our service delivery to customers

has improved and we are financially

strong. In other words, Groundwork

and its team have adapted superbly to

the challenge.

Why have we been successful in

dealing with the challenge? For me the

answer is simple - Groundwork has

motivated and competent employees;

we have delighted our customers and

stakeholders; and operated sensibly

and profitably. In each of these areas

we have improved and behind this are

three factors:

• Strategy, Focus and Opportunism:

Groundwork‘s vision is to make

an impact through working with

communities to help strengthen the

opportunities across: Employment,

Education and Enterprise – all

underpinned by our dedication to the

local Environment. These four E’s are

interdependent in our delivery and

are the root of our success and offer

to customers.

• The Executive Team: Fergus Beesley

has led a team of highly talented

people committed to the success of

our business.

• The Board of Trustees has worked

hard in supporting and shaping the

strategy, which has extended the

coverage of Groundwork to the whole

of South Yorkshire and helped to

extend the business to a range of new

contracts.

Lastly in looking to the future,

Groundwork must continue to adapt

and improve if it is to remain viable

and successful. I joined Groundwork

eight years ago to put something back

into the community and make things

happen. Next year will be my last year

as Chairman and I can honestly say

that my goals have been achieved. It

has been a challenge for me, as well

as the team, but I have enjoyed every

minute – and my only hope is that

everyone else feels the same way.

TONY GOULBOURNChairman

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NCS by numbers

100%

840

55%

10

2015

75

High satisfaction100% of participants said they would

definitely or maybe recommend NCS

to friends.

Hundreds have benefittedGroundwork South Yorkshire has

delivered NCS to 840 young people in

the region.

BME communities55% of NCS participants have

been from black, minority ethnic

communities.

Youth board creationTen of the most engaged participants

have now created Groundwork‘s NCS

youth board.

Most successful yearThis year has seen Groundwork

exceed its targets, becoming the best

provider in Sheffield.

Further involvement75 young people have continued

working, volunteering or planning

social action projects after NCS.

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Best provider in Sheffield

2015 has seen Groundwork South Yorkshire

become the best provider of NCS in Sheffield,

delivering 104% of the contracted target. This is a

huge achievement and is down to the dedication

and drive of the NCS team.

Significant developments include the creation of

the bespoke programmes for young people with

additional needs and also a female only team.

The female only team has seen Groundwork make

strong relationships with local Islamic girls‘ schools

and has allowed for families to feel confident in

sending their daughters on the programme.

Groundwork has contracts in place to continue to

deliver the programme over the next three years

with ever increasing numbers.

national citizen Service

groundworksy.org.uk/national_citizen_service

Barnsley allotments

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Groundwork South Yorkshire manages 69 allotment sites across Barnsley, on behalf of the local authority. Over the last year, the team at Groundwork has undertaken

extensive work on sites across the region.

a fantastic start and we’re looking forward to continuing this partnership work with Groundwork in the management of our communitIes’ allotments

Councillor Caroline Makinson

beforeMany sites were blighted by fly-tipping.

Upon taking over the management of

the sites, it became clear that some

sites had been neglected. This meant

that land which could be

rented out was not being utilised.

These sites were also not pleasant for

tenants or nearby homeowners.

afterNew plots were created from the unused land.

The team managed to create ten

new plots from the land that had

previously been unusable.

This has resulted in the extensive

waiting lists being reduced by

offering potential tenants plots.

workThe team cleaned and planned.

The Groundwork team worked

together to clean the areas and cut

back overgrown vegetation.

They then ingeniously created fences

using old pallettes and other leftover

pieces of woods.

10new plots

By clearing out areas blighted by fly-tipping

and erecting new fences, the team

have created ten new plots.

1800tenants

Across the 69 sites that Groundwork manages

in Barnsley, we also provide customer

service to all tenants.

35young people

Groups of young people have undertaken

work experience and training with the

allotment team, including a six

week horticulture course.

groundworksy.org.uk/barnsley_allotments

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talent match enterpriseEnterprise Camp is delivered by Groundwork South Yorkshire to young people aged between 18 - 24 who are not currently in employment, education or training. The camp is part of Groundwork’s wider Talent Match Enterprise offering across the Sheffield City Region. The programme is delivered on behalf of Sheffield Futures and alongside The Prince’s Trust.

Young people bond by taking part in an adventure residential, before tackling the enterprise challenge, where they work in teams to run their own enterprise. The programme began at the end of 2014 and has since been delivered to 50 young people. Of the participants, 36% have continued their enterprise journey with trading, training and support.

i’ve always wanted my own business because i want to make a good future for my daughter. enterprise camp showed me that i have the skills to succeed.

Shar, Enterprise Camp participant

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11single parents

Groundwork South Yorkshire provided free

childcare for all single parents to ensure they

were able to attend the residential and

workshops.

64%additional needs The majority of Enterprise Camp

attendees have disabilities or mental

health issues.

groundworksy.org.uk/enterprise_camp

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BIG potentialHelping social organisations to prepare for investment

As a provider for the Big

Lottery Fund‘s Big Potential,

Groundwork South Yorkshire

advises organisations with the

aim of improving sustainability,

capacity and scale so that they

can can deliver greater social

impact.

Roundabout is a local youth

housing charity in Sheffield

and recently worked with

Groundwork South Yorkshire

and Big Potential consultant

Neil Coulson. Ben Keegan, the

Chief Executive said:

Big Potential has been really

helpful for us. Working with

Neil has been fantastic and

we have been able to think

strategically about our future

and how we can become more

sustainable and less reliant

on government contracts.

Neil has a vast knowledge of

different funds and helped us

to secure a three year grant

from Children In Need.

I would encourage all VCSE

organisations to apply for Big

Potential because we‘re often

so focussed on the day-to-day

running of the charity. Being

given an extra resource to have

some time out and to think

about the future is incredibly

beneficial.

over £140,000 funding securedBY GROUNDWORK SOUTH YORKSHIRE FOR VOLUNTARY, COMMUNITY

AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ORGANISATIONS

groundworksy.org.uk/big_potential

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Talent Match

Groundwork South Yorkshire works across Barnsley and

Doncaster to deliver Talent Match to young people who are

not currently in education, employment or training.

Talent Match is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and is

overseen in the Sheffield City Region by Sheffield Futures.

Groundwork South Yorkshire is proud to work with

trusted partners in Doncaster: Darts, Changings Lives and

Doncaster West Development Trust.

Keeley, aged 19, said: I‘ve always wanted to become a

mechanic but I didn‘t know how to go about it. I was no

where - not income, nothing. I‘ve got two children so I‘ve had

to grow up quickly. Groundwork‘s Talent Match programme

helped me to find this apprenticeship, they came to the

interview with me and even bought me some work clothes

that I needed. I absolutely love my job. I finally feel like I‘m

getting somewhere and I‘m very grateful.

YOUNG PEOPLE

300TRAINING

82EMPLOYMENT

70

groundworksy.org.uk/talent_match

Hundreds visit the parkGroundwork South Yorkshire manages Rabbit

Ings Country Park on behalf of the Land Trust. The

park is near Royston in Barnsley and is located

on the former colliery yard and spoil heap of the

Monckton Colliery and the Royston Drift Mine,

which closed in 1989.

This year has seen the Groundwork team organise

and oversee a variety of activities including

football matches, wildlife surveys and duathlons

which brought hundreds of visitors to the park.

Radio Sheffield also featured Rabbit Ings this year

for a ten minute live feature about dyke restoration.

Similarly, the park has been featured on two

newspaper front pages covering the solar eclipse

viewing and the ways of the cross event held on

Good Friday earlier this year.

rabbit ings country park

2000trees planted

In January and February, a team of 12

volunteers worked hard to make

the park even greener.

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groundworksy.org.uk/rabbit_ings

community work placements

Groundwork South Yorkshire provides information, advice

and guidance to local people who are unemployed and in

need of some extra support. This year has been incredibly

busy for the team who have seen their client base expand

rapidly, having taken over the delivery of another provider.

The team work with each client to ensure they can provide

a service that will be relevent and helpful. Alongside a work

placement at a community organistion or charity, each

client is supported on a job search with practical interview

tips and help with CV writing.

“I feel more motivated and I’ve

really come out of my shell. Now

I’ve got some experience, I’d love

to get into this kind of work”

91PLACEMENTS

400CLIENTS

38JOBS

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groundworksy.org.uk/community_work_placements

Resource monitoring reportAn extract

Groundwork South Yorkshire is showing itself to

be improving on all areas of recycling and resource

efficiency.

The organisation‘s dedication to improving its resource

efficiency can be clearly seen by the fact the gas

and electricity consumption per productive staff day

continues to fall, as well as paper purchases.

The amount of business miles travelled per productive

staff day has dropped considerably. Groundwork have

striven to ensure that the majority of meetings are

now held at our offices, and that visitors are instructed

on greener ways of getting to our offices.

Staff are encouraged to use public transport to travel

to business meetings rather than using private cars.

We have also sent a green travel staff survey to all staff

and created a Green Travel Plan, which includes data

collected from the survey, our green travel aims and

useful information.

Due to the increased numbers of people that are now

onsite, the amount of general waste that is produced

for transporting to landfills has increased significantly.

This is not a cause for concern as the volume produced

compared to the increased number of people and the

time they spend onsite has actually reduced.

Groundwork is showing a determination to reduce

resource consumption and become greener and more

environmentally-friendly.

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Environmental impact

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facts and figures2014 - 2015

GAS CONSUMPTION

-33.8%Consumption of gas per productive day has

decreased, despite an increase in productive

hours and heaters being used more often.

ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

-28.3%Groundwork South Yorkshire is proud that

electricity consumption across the two offices

in Sheffield and Dearne Valley has decreased,

compared to last year.

PAPER RECYCLED

276.3kgNot only have Groundwork South Yorkshire

decreased the amount of paper purchased by

11.2% but the amount of paper being recycled

has increased from 62kg to 276.3kg.

This environmental survey was carried out for the

Sheffield office between June 2014 and May 2015

and is measured against the previous year.

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Financial Highlights

91+7+234+33+24+9 34% Employment

33% Education

24% Enterprise

Breakdown of charitable activities

9% Environment

7% Other chargeable: development

2% Other chargeable: recharge/other

Breakdown of total expenditure

91% Charitable activities

2014/15 was the first year the Trust has faced without its core development funding from DCLG (a reduction in funding for the year of £110,000). Despite this the Trust performed well and was able to invest considerable time in the development of new programmes resulting in a modest unrestricted trading loss for the year of £18,119.

We have a good split of projects across our main programme themes with a number of projects exceeding our target contribution rate including the National Citizen Service (NCS), Accelerate 2, Green Incubator and our successful Big Potential clients.

The loss for the year reflects the fact that along with allocating 7% of our cost to development we also began two major programmes in the year (Talent Match and The Community Work Programme) that required significant up front investment.

Cash levels have remained strong throughout the year despite a shift to outcome and performance based payments compared to up front grant payments.

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INCOMING RESOURCES UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

TALENT MATCH FUND

RESTRICTED FUNDS 2015

TOTAL FUNDS 2015

TOTAL FUNDS 2014

Generated funds £38,173 - - £38,173 £158,672

Charitable activities £212,599 £437,539 £395,237 £1,045,375 £819,069

Total incoming resources £250,772 £437,539 £395,237 £1,083,548 £977,741

Our overall reserves position is very strong with the Trust holding 7.5 months worth of working capital in

unrestricted reserves (£333,851 of which £48,513 is designated as a development reserve to be spent on securing

new large multi year programmes of work).

RESOURCES EXPENDED UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

TALENT MATCH FUND

RESTRICTED FUNDS 2015

TOTAL FUNDS 2015

TOTAL FUNDS 2014

Charitable activities £263,938 £376,599 £380,686 £1,021,223 £968,328

Governance costs £4,953 - - £4,953 £6,800

Total resources expended £268,891 £57,864 £1,082,084 £1,139,948 £975,128

NET INCOMING RESOURCES (£18,119) £60,940 £14,551 £57,372 £2,613

BALANCE SHEET FUNDS 2015 2014

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

General fund £285,338 £255,457

Development fund £48,513 £96,513

Talent Match £60,940 -

RESTRICTED FUNDS £58,064 £43,513

Total incoming resources £452,855 £395,483

Statement of financial activities - an extract

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What our staff sayWe spoke to our staff about their experiences of the past year at Groundwork South Yorkshire.

JAMES FARMERCWP Team LeaderThe Community Work Placements programme has rapidly expanded this

year and this is set to continue. Our referral numbers are up and we are now

concentrating on being able to give quality time to the clients to find out their

interests. I‘m excited to be taking the lead of a quickly expanding team and

project.

TOM GORMANPark Ranger at Rabbit IngsOver the last year, my job has allowed me to not only spend my days doing

what I love but also to share this love with local schools and the general public.

I have been running school trips at Rabbit Ings over the last year and being

able to send the children home with a sense of wonder about the natural world

is a very rewarding experience.

JANE BAMFORTHTalent Match CoachThe Talent Match team in Barnsley have grown the programme from scratch

and over the last year, we have engaged with many local organisations and

communities. In particular, we began Pamper Days to introduce Talent Match

to young people in a fun and relaxed way. It has been great supporting so

many clients into employment, education and training.

KIRSTY MURPHYBusiness Development OfficerSince I started at Groundwork in April, I have been working to develop the

Talent Match programme. We‘re working with young people every day to help

them progress and follow their chosen path. We‘ve had some great success

stories already and I feel like we are on a journey together with the young

people; the future is exciting and full of possibilities.

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the futureGroundwork South Yorkshire’s Annual Report 2014 - 2015

Our commitment to the Federation

of Groundwork trusts also remains

strong and we will continue to support

national initiatives and campaigns

as an active member with a resolve

to build better provision for local

communities and individuals who

need our support.

I would like to take this opportunity

to express my thanks and gratitude

to all the members of staff who have

made often herculean efforts to

deliver complex and difficult contracts,

creating and managing projects with

flair, determination and imagination.

Thanks also to the Board of Trustees

who have shown leadership in

making difficult decisions about the

future of the trust and in particular

its expansion into South Yorkshire

and supporting the executive team

throughout challenging times. I would

like to pay tribute in particular to Peter

Garnham who is leaving as a trustee

after four years of unstinting support,

helping to steer the trust throughout

our transition and providing always

sage advice.

We value our heritage as a Sheffield

based trust and in 2016 Groundwork

will be celebtraing 12 years of operating

in this wonderful city. This has been

made possible to a large extent by the

partners we work with and I would

like to thank all of our partners with a

special mention this year for Element

Society who have really excelled

themselves in delivering an incredibly

successful NCS programme this year.

All voluntary and community

organisations are undergoing

significant change and we are no

different in this respect. Where once

we had grant in aid from the UK

government and Local Authorities

and were able to develop projects

and programmes, we now face the

commercial reality of competing for

contracts and developing projects

using our own resources. The

transition is ongoing but we are

looking forward to the twin challenge

of keeping faith with our mission to

support individuals and communities

across South Yorkshire and ensuring

that the trust remains as a viable

operation for the next ten years.

Our forward plan is very much based

on the delivery or high quality support

whether this is to unemployed

individuals seeking a job, young

people looking to build on their

talents or become better and more

active citizens, emerging and existing

enterprises seeking support or

investment or the improvement of our

South Yorkshire environment.

FERGUS BEESLEYExecutive Director

We want our progress as a Trust

to be measured by the people we

support and the places we improve.

In 2015 we have continued to expand

our programmes and deliver more

support for more people to find

employment, develop an enterprise or

become more active citizens. We have

also improved more green spaces

than ever before.

During 2014, the trustees made

the conscious decision to develop

the Trust as a South Yorkshire wide

entity, focusing on four main themes

of activity: Enterprise, Education,

Employment and Environment. The

clear intention being, to better reflect

the majority of our activities within

four distinctive business themes.

The fourth theme, Environment,

also remains as a significant and

underpinning driver for the Trust,

reflected in our work and in all projects

in all areas.

GROUNDWORKSY.ORG.UK

GROUNDWORK SOUTH YORKSHIRE

Unit 21, President Buildings, President Way, Savile Street East,

Sheffield S4 7UQ

T: 0114 263 6420

Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8HJ

T: 01226 74 0077

11-06-5111-06-51

SOUTH YORKSHIRE