Celebrating Volunteers. Annual report April March 2015

Annual report April 2014 - March 2015 Celebrating Volunteers Contents Chair’s report 2 Chief Executive report 2 Celebrating success 3 Coll...
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Annual report April 2014 - March 2015

Celebrating Volunteers

Contents Chair’s report

2

Chief Executive report

2

Celebrating success

3

Colloquy

Time to change

4

Colloquy (n. a gathering for discussion/a conversation)

Future plans

5

Counselling services

6

Some thoughts about the writing group

Mental health support

7

Wellbeing service

8

Mocha mind

9

Somali services

9

Volunteers 10 Statistics 14 Treasurer’s report

15

Funders 15 Executive Committee

16

Summarised balance sheet

17

Summarised statement of financial activities

17

Wherever I sit, the same laden feelings: expectation, trepidation, shyness and self-consciousness. And yet I do take in my surroundings. I do study the faces of my fellow writers. Sometimes they’re bemused, preoccupied or straining to connect with their thoughts and hew them into persuasive and portable forms. Others, there’s a palpably urgent sense of production which almost generates heat! Numbers rise and fall. Sometimes the room is stuffed, other times it’s sadly denuded and in want of others. But always there are intriguing visions, manifestos, tales or poems to imbibe. Matthew J Hughes

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Chair’s report

Chief Executive report

As Chair of Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham and a local resident I have seen first-hand over the past year the need for our mental health services across the borough. I’ve also seen the difference we make to people’s lives.

This year we are celebrating the impact that our volunteers have on our organisation. Like many third sector organisations we pride ourselves on delivering excellent services, that are high quality and provide value for money.

Changes to welfare benefits and increasing pressures on local public services meant that our clients have needed our services more than ever. We have reached over 3,000 people in the two boroughs and our front line staff and management team continue to work tirelessly to provide a vibrant and accessible service for our clients.

As an organisation we are dependent on volunteers to deliver some key elements of our service as well as to ensure that our services are responsive and reactive.

This year I want to focus on the generosity of spirit of the local community in helping us to make an impact. Alongside our dedicated staff we have welcomed more than 70 volunteers, giving over 10,000 hours of their time to help our clients, whether it be through counselling, helping support groups, or with administrative support. I’m very grateful to all those who lend their time and expertise to support the people who walk through our door. I am excited to see what the coming year brings, particularly with the formation of a new consortium as we tender for new services and continue to build on our social enterprise model and towards new models of working. Whilst we face uncertain times and real challenges, I am confident that we will continue to thrive and offer sustainable, quality mental health services here in east London.

Volunteers come to the organisation for many and varied reasons: to get experience, to give back, to build confidence, to support their learning as well as to get back on to the employment ladder. Our volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds and have a vast life experience. We are able to attract volunteers that represent our local communities and cultures. This report highlights some of the specific volunteer roles and the impact of their commitment. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, volunteers, students and service users who make our organisation the best it can be.

Michelle Kabia CEO

Chris Beal Chair of the Executive Committee

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Celebrating success Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham have provided services to over 3,400 people over the last year, and have had over 33,000 attendances to our services. As a third sector provider our services are monitored and overseen by those who commission us. We have continued to reach, and in most cases exceed, our targets and outcomes. Our Mocha Mind enterprise continued to grow and we now have two Well Bean Vehicles, one for our events and activities and the other to work towards a permanent pitch. We have trained over 15 service users as Baristas and we saw our first client gain employment.

We are extremely pleased to report that we successfully won the counselling tenders for both Newham and Tower Hamlets. We will continue to develop our services to ensure that they are high quality and leaders in their field. Our Counselling Services secured the BACP Quality Accreditation and continue to be highly sought after placement experience for our volunteer counsellors.

We were successful in achieving further funding to continue the work of the Community Engagement Team in Newham for a further 2 years until 2017. We will be focussing on recovery and wellbeing through the development of individual Wellness, Recovery Action Plans (WRAP) and coping with life programmes.

We have continued to develop our service user involvement strategy and have held some successful Mind Direct forums. These have provided opportunities for service users to be involved in service development, service evaluation and feedback as well as work together to challenge us to improve our services.

Our counselling service in Tower Hamlets supported 784 clients in 2014/2015 and received great positive feedback with 100% recommendation to others.

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Time to change Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham have continued to champion the National Time to Change message tackling mental health stigma and discrimination. In line with our pledge and action plan we have engaged with the local community, organising events to mark Mental Health Awareness week in May 2014 in both Tower Hamlets and Newham. We attended local Idea Stores across Tower Hamlets where we promoted our services and talked to local people. We engaged in more than 400 ‘meaningful conversations’ on the issue of mental health and stigma with local people. Community engagements also allowed us the opportunity to signpost and promote better mental health awareness for local residents. World Mental Health Day in October 2014 and Time to Talk Day in February 2015 were also opportunities for us to work in partnership with other Time to Change Signatories; including London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham, Clinical Commission Groups and other local providers to work together towards ending stigma and discrimination facing people with mental health issues.

Signing the Time to Change pledge

Working closely with Public Health we supported a telephone helpline initiative to respond to local people who wanted more information about local mental health services.

4

Future plans Inspire Consortium Consultation Event

We have ambitious plans for the future. The next couple of years will present some real challenges for our organisation and to ensure that we remain a strong and vibrant provider we have joined an exciting consortium called Inspire. This is a Tower Hamlets Mental Health and Wellbeing consortium with 11 strong members. Although the individual member organisations work well together, Inspire will provide a formal structure to work in partnership and develop Tower Hamlets Mental Health Services fit for the future. The consortium has worked with local service users to hear their views of current services, the

gaps in provision and the elements of support which promote their recovery. As well as consulting with service users on the name of the consortium we also held an exciting event in July 2015 where over 100 local people gave us their support and feedback which will influence service development in the future. Mocha Mind has been our first real venture into Social Enterprise as a model of service development in the future. We will continue to develop this service and hopefully report on a prosperous year in our next annual report. We were delighted to successfully win a Main Stream Grant from Tower

Hamlets Local Authority to work in partnership with Working Well Trust to develop more Social Enterprise options in the future. These services will provide new models of support working with people who want to be closer to the labour market. As an organisation we are keen to evidence the success of our service interventions. We have funded a number of independent service evaluations which will give us vital information about the success of our services, the development of the models and recommendations for the future. Our staff are involved in annual service review and development

in partnership with our clients and our Mind Direct quarterly focus groups will enable us to achieve this and ensure that we focus on real issues facing our clients and that their views are at the heart of our organisation and development. As a Mind Association we are committed to the delivery of quality services, we will be working this year to secure our quality standard and to further develop our organisation in line with the expectations of Mind. We are working towards our Quality Management in Mind Award and hope to achieve this within the next few months.

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Counselling services We are very proud of our counselling service and model of delivery which has been operating across both the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham for some time. This service has grown and developed over the years. Our service is well placed in offering a unique model of delivery which currently has over 60 counsellors from different ethnic backgrounds providing a range of therapeutic modalities as well as group sessions. Counsellors who have been accepted onto our programme can expect to receive a high standard of clinical and day to day support as well as on-going personal development and training.

Dr Barbara Lord, Counselling Placement Volunteer said: “I’ve been here as a clinical placement counsellor since March 2015. I feel very supported by Mind in my professional development as a counsellor. As a practising Organisational Psychologist, I know that the organisation environment is extremely important in enabling me to provide a good service to clients. In my view Mind achieves this.”

We have a good strong record of assessing clients within a short period of time with all assessments being conducted via a face to face discussion with a qualified assessor before being placed with the appropriate counsellor for therapy which best suits their

needs. Between 2014 - 2015 this service delivered over, 5400 sessions, seeing over 1,000 clients, with over 40% from BME communities. With our low waiting times, options and choices, clients have fed back that they have had a positive experience within this service and that the sessions have helped them deal with their issue. Our satisfaction survey showed 100% of clients stating that they would refer this service to people they know and who are in need of counselling. Our future plans will continue to build on our innovative work and plans are in place to develop some exciting projects with the street homeless, LBGT, older people and young people in the next year, improving access and opportunity to counselling services amongst these communities.

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Mental health support Our mental health support services provide a range of services across both boroughs, working with people who have complex and significant mental health needs. In Newham, we continue to deliver our Community Engagement Service. Newham service users are at the heart of the service development which includes: a vibrant and active men’s groups, a motivated and energetic women’s group as well as one to one support and activities. Our Tower Hamlets mental health service includes the Mental Health Support team, the Evening Engagement service, the Welfare Advice service and the Complementary service. Working with over 1,000 people every year these services work tirelessly to promote mental health and wellbeing, to build resilience and create opportunities to grow. Tower Hamlets Evening Engagement Service provides a busy and vibrant service serving the needs of Tower Hamlets’

diverse communities with an average of 30 service users attending each session. The service is co-produced by service users who volunteer with planning activities, including cooking and preparing meals, organising music events, art, drama, computers, creative writing and jewellery making activities. The user group are working to develop activities to coincide with events such as World Mental Health Day and Black History Month.

Balabhadra volunteers with our Music Therapy group. “As a Hare Krishna monk who used to suffer from bipolar, I find it very rewarding to volunteer at Mind because it means I can share my recovery story with others to give them hope and inspiration. It also helps me because I have a feeling of giving something back to an organisation that helped me to recover from my illness.”

Many of our clients face complex and demanding challenges and can face extreme fluctuations in their wellbeing. Our clients surprise us constantly with their ability to overcome challenges and to strive towards recovery. We have some fantastic staff and sessional workers and work in partnership with many other organisations. Our volunteers ensure that we are able to meet the demands of our clients and deliver quality support initiatives

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Wellbeing service Our Wellbeing service has thrived and is now in its third year of Big Lottery funding – Reaching Communities. We have worked with over 950 people to date, many new to mental health support services. This service provides a first point of contact for people to improve their wellbeing by accessing information and guidance at the right time on practical issues such as welfare, housing, volunteering and training as well as being able to focus on their specific mental health support needs.

The Wellbeing Service acts as a gateway for mental health service users, providing a rapid needs assessment, short term support based on recovery and guidance and access to recovery workshops. Through our work with service users we have reviewed our model of work and will be introducing a new structured Coping with Life training course as well as WRAP (Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan) to support people to focus on their own recovery journey.

The service connects individuals to local mental health support services and provides opportunities to improve their own self-esteem and confidence.

Wellness Recovery Action Plan - WRAP

Personal Workbook

The success of this new model of interventiaon has had a direct impact on the development of mental health support services in Tower Hamlets. Jay is a volunteer for our cycling group. “Volunteering for Mind has helped me with my confidence, the support I have received has changed my life. I feel like a new man! I have been provided with the tools to learn new skills and am now able to socialise and get involved with confidence.”

WRAP booklet.indd 1 15/09/2015 16:05

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Mocha Mind We have continued to build on the success of our Mocha Mind employment project and have successfully supported one of our volunteers into paid employment. Our volunteers have been trained as Baristas and have had the opportunity to practice their new skills at events around the boroughs, selling coffee and promoting our services. This exciting project has generated lots of interest around the borough and we hope to continue recruiting volunteers and supporting them into the workplace.

Kalsoom volunteers for our Evening Engagement Service. “Volunteering helps me greatly, I meet other people and am able to give something back to the community. The staff are supportive and I love being able to help”.

Mocha Mind at Crisp Street Market

Somali services We are extremely proud of being the only commissioned Somali Khat Service in London and in 2014 we successfully won the tender. Since the Khat ban we held a number of high profile events offering a platform for discussion and information sharing amongst professionals and members of the community. These events proved to be extremely popular. Our Somali substance misuse link service continues to offer crucial outreach and support. Treatment providers reported a significant increase in the number of Somali people accessing and completing treatment for drugs and alcohol use.

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Kamal is an active volunteer. He says: “Volunteering is a way of giving back and it makes me feel better and more positive. I love to get involved in the evening service, sometimes the food we prepare is the only hot meal people will have all week. It is a little effort for a lot of reward, and small acts of charity can make a huge impact.”

Where are my rights? It got stopped, my benefit - where do I go? Every night gets darker and darker The evil men have taken away my rights, my entitlement, my life… Now for how long? I might be dead - I feel suicidal, I want to die, I can’t wait It got stopped, my benefit. Where do I go? Where do I start? My rights gone, my life gone, my future’s gone too. Everyday gets longer and longer… Where do I start? Where do I go? How do I live? How? Where are my rights? Dele Oladeji

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Letter to Parker Pen Dear silver Parker Pen, I know I haven’t been using you a lot lately; it’s not that I don’t like you I love you - you know that. I get goosebumps when I think of the coolness of your slender body as my index, middle finger and thumb wrap around you; the way you glide across paper effortlessly whether it be A4, 5, or 6. You always have the knack of expressing what I feel. For a long time you were my best friend you know that’s true. The reason why I haven’t touched you in so many months is simply because I’ve run out of things to say; no, wait - that’s not it; I’ve run out of ways to express myself. How can you write what I feel when I don’t know exactly, or even approximately, what that is? My brain is numb from prescription medication, creativity stifled and muffled by overexposure to the evils of this world; If I write about what I see it will be dark onyx, If I write what I hear it will be tinnitus, If I write what I taste it will be hops, If I write what I smell it will be an unquenchable burning fire, If I write what I touch it will be your cold body, lifeless, without energy to glide across the page with youthful zany zest. I want to write with you to encourage my brothers and sisters; to give them hope that tomorrow will be better than today; Parker, my friend, talk to me: what is it that you will? Yours sincerely, Sam Braveboy

Tristan has been volunteering with us consistently for the past few years. He says: “Work is work whether it is paid or not, and I have a great deal of pride in my work at Mind. I get a kick out of doing something worthwhile and really the staff could not manage without us. Some of the people that come to the evening service live alone and social interaction is so important to their recovery.” 11

Alice Beckinsale - Newham Volunteer says:

Ismail is an active volunteer with the Mocha Mind service and the Somali mental health support group. He says: “Before I came to Mind, I didn’t want to see anyone, but now I have become more active and involved. I love working with Mocha Mind, I feel more confident and through volunteering, I can help others to feel better.”

“By standing up and talking to others about our own story it shows that we are normal every-day people that face the same problems as everyone else. Talking to young people about mental health helps me to accept my own mental health issues, to see myself in a normal light. It is a way to strengthen your own condition and use it in a positive way.” 12

Nishi Landa - Newham Volunteer says: “I like it when we make things and sell the things we make such as food or tie-dye scarves. It means that we can raise money to help us organise other activities for the group. We can show what we have made and be proud. We can encourage other people to get help or come to Mind if they need to.”

Why can’t you work? My insides tremble within Ricochet wither and thither in split seconds Attention is splayed in myriad directions There’s a full-scale cacophony of jarring heavy cymbals clashing devoid of timing and rhythm a composition Full-scale shrieks of abject fear that turn mandibular jaw line to taut stone sobbing is there of a small defenceless babe But this will soon abate as There’s no one to comfort, croon, snuggle in strong devoted arms. A chorus of harmonies of harsh shouting are hitting the dome of my skull. But nothing can be seen. They’re on the inside. ‘YOU’RE HOPELESS’; ‘WE’RE NOT HAPPY WITH YOU AT ALL, AT ALL’; You cannot go out: I will take you? You’re too fat; too rude; disrespectful; lazy; stupid; ‘UNFIT MOTHER’; ‘YOU DESTROYED YOUR MARRIAGE’ Glares vacillate between tundra and permafrost. Mouth is parched. Rasps - fight to swallow breath stomach knotted like a perfectly honed corset Glutes frozen yet the threat of impending incontinence hovers menacingly Numbness spreads quickly as blotting paper devours ink normal locomotion is out of the question muscles of legs, feet and other bits not connecting. Confused beaten-up ragged gasping for breath. Eyes flutter spasmodically, unseeing. Faint, lost, disorientated, paroxysms of fear Numb a disparate array of limbs and organs, haphazardly thrown together - lack the order of the seatides and the heavenly orbs. Anonymous

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Statistics Ethnicity

Gender

Asian/British Indian

Black/British other African

Asian/British Pakistani

Mixed white and Caribbean

Asian/British Bangladeshi

Other mixed background

Other Asian background

White British

Mixed white and Asian

White Irish

Black/British Somali

Other white background

Black/British African

Chinese

Black/British Caribbean

Other

Black/British other

Prefer not to say

Age

Male

Under 18

46-64

Female

19-25

65+

Trans gender

26-35

Prefer not to say

Prefer not to say

36-45

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Treasurer’s report

Funders

Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham have faced a number of significant funding challenges over the last two years. Despite these challenges, we have continued to deliver an excellent service across all of our projects.

Main Funders

In line with our Reserves Policy, over the past two years we drawn from our reserves for the very purpose for which the funds had been set aside: to fund the shortfalls of income against expenditure. Any decision about drawing on reserves is balanced against the importance of ensuring we are prepared for future financial challenges. In the last financial year 2014/15, we made an aggregate deficit of £116,736 (2014 deficit - £78,598). The unrestricted funds deficit, before transfers, of £53,964, due to a significant reduction in fee income with governance costs relatively unchanged. The restricted funds deficit of £62,772 resulted from project development and the overall increase in the level of service-user activities promoting well-being, employment and social engagement. The overall effect of our investments in various projects resulted in the net decrease on funds at the year end to £782,077 down from £898,813 in 2014. As we move into the next financial year, my recommendation as Treasurer is that the Board and leadership of MITHN enhance and expand our efforts in both fundraising and the careful consideration of non-essential spending. We must attract new and alternative sources of funding, ensure that our efforts are absolutely consistent with our values and goals, and be as efficient as we can possibly be. It is with regret that I present to you a budget in deficit, but I hold the sincere belief that we have the right people, the right vision and the right talents to adapt and thrive once more.

Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group Tower Hamlets Social Services Directorate NHS Tower Hamlets – Health Authority NHS Newham CCG (Clinical commissions) Henry Smith City Bridge Trust – City of London The Cloth Workers Foundation Youth & Philanthropy Initiative

Serco Limited National Mind The Big Lottery

Cecilia Morkeh-Yamson Finance Manager

Others JP Morgan The Cooper’s Company – The Ratcliff Pension MFM Leigh Glengal Bridge Holding The Worshipful Company of Coopers

Donations M Martin K Dilsworth T Hunter Central Foundation Girl’s School – London Borough of Tower Hamlets Heywood & Partners Surveyors Ltd Year ended 31st March 2015

Charlie Markham Treasurer

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Executive Committee Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham is governed by a Board of trustees, known as the Executive Committee. It is important that our Executive Committee have a wide range of skills and knowledge but we also try to ensure that many of them will have direct experience of mental distress. Members of the Executive Committee are elected at our Annual General Meeting and can serve for two terms, a total of six years. Executive Committee members during the year 2014 to 2015: Name Status David Schneerson (Chair) Christopher Beal (Treasurer) Christopher Beal (Chair) Charlie Markham (Treasurer) Jagadish Jha Peter Cogger Lily Hyder James Beckles Syed Hussain James Chandler Iwebunor Anyia Leonie Thornton Samidra Malhotra

Resigned 15 October 2014 Resigned 15 October 2014 Elected 15 October 2014 Elected 15 October 2014 Resigned 15 October 2014 Re-elected 15 October 2014 Re-elected 15 October 2014

Re-elected 15 October 2014 Elected 15 October 2014 and resigned on 19 November 2014

“Personal family experiences with mental health issues and the wish to make a difference are the key drivers for me becoming a trustee.” Leonie Thornton Chair of Personnel Sub Committee

Two thousand three hundred and eighty people The government. The government. The government. They rule us, the members of the government, with a rod of iron. Uncaring, unfeeling, faceless for the most part. Dictating, oppressing, heartless. Heedless. If you are rich they give you more. If you are poor they take what little you have. God help those in need, the unemployed, the sick, the aged. God help us, for it is us that we are talking about: the sick, the ill, the mentally ill. The mentally ill, whose health and conditions take away any ability to work, to fit into society’s working fabric. So we are poor and sick and, where categorised as sick, are given a little more money than others: a precious few pounds more on which to survive. And yet here comes an economic downturn. Here comes austerity. We all have to tighten our belts. The government cannot afford the huge welfare bill. What used to be human rights in our country are now re-categorised in order that they no longer have to be paid for. A big chunk of this bill is from Employment Support Allowance so the government uses inspectors to examine those claiming this benefit in order to try and meet criteria to change them over to Job Seekers’ Allowance (less money). Saving money is the primary objective, rather than trying to meet the individual’s needs. Those whose human rights entitled them to the money they needed before no longer have those rights. The goalposts have been moved to save money. A recent newspaper article1 said that 2,380 people died, between 2011 and 2014, shortly after being declared fit for work. Are we saying this isn’t true? Not me. It could easily be true. It is true. Damn them. Damn the cold-hearted, faceless, comfortable bureaucrats passing judgement and passing sentence over better men and women than they. Damn them. Tristan Zeeman Thousands have died after being found fit for work, DWP figures show by Patrick Butler in The Guardian, 27th August 2015

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Summarised balance sheet

Statement of financial activities

Year ended 31st March 2015 2015 2014 £ £ £ £ Fixed assets Tangible assets 474,681 484,713



Current assets Debtors Cash at bank and in hand

Incoming resources from generated funds:





Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

123,974 126,779 344,140 396,556

Unrestricted Funds General Designated Restricted 2015 2014 Funds Funds Funds £ £ £ £ £

Incoming resources

Voluntary income: Donations Membership subscription



468,114 523,335

2,784 284

– –

– –

2,784 284

1,774 –

1,629





1,629

2,178

Investment income: Bank deposit interest

(160,718) (109,235)

Net current assets 307,396 414,100

Net assets 782,077 898,813

Income funds

Incoming resources from charitable activities: Contract income Grant income Fee income

– – 820,434 820,434 1,078,269 5,000 – 260,072 265,072 259,712 15,822 – – 15,822 11,851

Total incoming resources

25,519



1,080,506

1,106,025

1,353,784

Charitable activities

45,835



1,143,278

1,189,113

1,388,196

Governance costs

33,648





33,648

44,186

79,483



1,143,278

1,222,761

1,432,382

(53,964)



(62,772)

(116,736)

(78,598)

12,195

(17,400)

5205

























Resources expended

Unrestricted funds: General funds Designated funds

148,966 176,600

190,735 194,000

Restricted funds

456,511

514,078





Total resources expended

Net outgoing resources 782,077 898,813

before transfers

Transfer between funds

These summarised accounts have been extracted from the full audited accounts of Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham for the year ended 31st March 2015 and they may not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial affairs of the charity. For further information, copies of the full audited accounts can be obtained on request.



























Net movement in funds after transfers

(41,769) (17,400) (57,567) (116,736) (78,598)

Funds, brought forward

190,735

194,000

514,078

898,813

977,411

Funds, carried forward

148,966

176,600

456,511

782,077

898,813













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To contact us Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham 13 Whitethorn Street London E3 4DA Tel 020 7510 1081 Fax 020 7537 7944 Email [email protected] www.mithn.org.uk