Home-Start in Waverley
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
Held on Thursday 17th September 2015 at 11.00
At Farnham Baptist Church, Farnham
Present: Management Committee
Alan M Thompson (Chair) (AMT), Lyn Barrat (Vice Chair) (LB), John Hargreaves (Treasurer) (JH), Julie Davies (JD), Jessica Martin, Penny Reuter & Ann Tann
Members and invited guests
Welcome
Dolores Robertson, Scheme Manager, welcomed all to the AGM of Home-Start in Waverley and read through some housekeeping items; Lyn Barrat, Vice Chair, opened the formal business section of the meeting as Alan M Thompson had yet to be formally elected.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Lady Beryl Tindle, Honorary Patron, and other supporters of Home-Start in Waverley as per the attached apologies list.
15 members were able to attend meaning that a quorum was present and therefore the meeting was properly constituted.
2. Minutes of the last AGM
The Minutes of the 2014 AGM had been distributed to all attendees and were duly approved.
3. Election of Directors for 2015/16
Election and re-election statements were provided to all attendees on arrival.
LB proposed the formal election of AMT to the position of Chair, and Julie Davies to the position of Trustee; this was seconded by Tony Burke (member) and John Hargreaves.
AMT in his formally elected position as Chair then led the meeting, proposing LB and Ann Tann for re-election as they had retired from the committee by rotation. Re-election of both was seconded by JH and Penny Reuter.
3. Chair’s Report
AMT started by personally welcoming the assembled company, which included the Chief Executive Officer of Home-Start UK, Rob Parkinson, and the Mayor of Waverley, Mike Band, and the representatives of donor organisations, volunteers and trustees. He also welcomed all to the venue, the Farnham Baptist Church, of which he himself is an active member as a Deacon and the Treasurer. He thanked everyone for coming. He also thanked everyone for electing him to be Chair and for thereby giving him the opportunity to be of service to Home-Start in Waverley (HSW).
During 2014-15 there were 71 HSW home visiting volunteers who had supported 124 families with 275 children. There had been an increase of 30% in referrals over the preceding year; these referrals had seen a notable increase in complexity which had needed a lot more time and attention, so his biggest thanks went out to our volunteers.
We had continued to expand to fill our defined territory and recruiting more volunteers to service the whole of Waverley is our number one priority. AMT had witnessed the end of the last PREP course with 7 volunteers completing in June 2015, and the start of the new one this week with a record 17 volunteers commencing training. He had been very impressed with the level of energy, interest and enthusiasm.
He was pleased to report that the office had been reconfigured with more admin processing being taken on by the new Data Assistant Penny Conoley, giving the Co-ordinators more forward-facing time with families and volunteers.
He mentioned the recent completion of a 5 yearly Quality Assurance audit, which was essential to secure a safe service for children, volunteers and staff. We had emerged commendably with a 96% rating.
He discussed the current composition of the Management Committee. He thanked Jonathan Pickering, who had done a very good job as Chair, and Rachel Harris, as trustee, who had both stepped down. Their places had been filled by AMT and JD and he acknowledged Nunzia Piersimoni, present in the audience, who he hoped would join the board later in the year.
AMT then went on to discuss the securing of funding, which was a major priority for the Scheme. In the light of the recent failure to secure further Big Lottery funding, this would be the main focus for the Management Committee over the coming months.
AMT went on to describe the reasons for his wish to become involved with HSW. He stated that as a grandfather of 4, with 3 of those under the age of 5, he naturally wants the best for them but he also wants to help all young children to have the fullest opportunity to start life well. A remark made by one of the new volunteers on the current PREP course about the extended family not being there any more struck a chord with him; all these things validate and strengthen his choice to make HSW his cause.
4. Treasurer’s Report
John Hargreaves advised that during the year 2015-16 HSW had achieved a £16,000 surplus (£12,000 2014-15); income had come from many streams including increased funding from the Big Lottery, and the benefit accrued from being the nominated charity of the Godalming Mayor (thanks to Cllr Tom Martin, present).
Balance sheet shows a reserves fund of over £100,000.
JH said HSW is not a commercial organisation but it has to behave like one;
1. It must seek sufficient funding – service provision will only suffer if funding reduces.
2. Efficiency measures must be worked on to enhance and grow client facing time.
3. The world is a risky place; HSW must identify, understand and take the necessary action to mitigate these risks. HSW has been prudent and therefore reserves will enable continuation of operations at existing levels whilst looking for future funding streams.
5. Adoption of Accounts for the year 2014/15
AMT advised that the full independently examined accounts were available to view at the AGM, and that copies had been forwarded to all trustees and members prior to this meeting. Therefore the 2014/15 accounts were formally adopted by all members present.
The formal business was then closed and the floor opened for the speakers.
Speakers for the AGM 2014/15
Louise B, home visiting volunteer
Louise described her 6 years as a volunteer with HSW, which had involved her with 7 families and 15 children in total.
She said that from the start the training provided had made her reflect on her own attitudes. Support network for volunteers by the HSW team is very important; she feels able to phone into the office and access supervision at any stage; regular support groups just for volunteers enable them to talk through issues in a confidential environment. She mentioned ongoing training provision, first aid, child protection, debt management all in the last year.
Louise described the variety of families she had supported over the years with issues ranging from child death, abuse, post-natal depression etc. Her first match was with a family with triplets, which had proved a relatively easy ‘extra pair of hands’ role; her current match is with a very young family whom she described as having multiple issues – rent arrears, not working, dad adopted with a lifetime under social services himself etc. One highlight for Louise had been enabling the family to cook spaghetti Bolognese using the courgettes Louise had planted with the family in their garden. She recognised that in this instance, with this family ‘teetering on the edge’ it would be a slow process helping to improve their lives; she appreciated the fact that HSW allows for this time to build trust between volunteer and family.
Louise ended by mentioning Margaret Harrison, the founder of Home-Start, who died in August this year; Louise’s knowledge of the woman and her works makes her ‘really proud to be part of this service’.
Rob Parkinson, CEO HSUK
Rob Parkinson (RP) started by saying he had now been CEO for 2 years. His previous work had involved working with dysfunctional teenagers of whom he was sure that one of the reasons they were so damaged was previous experience; this highlighted to him the need for early help.
He thanked Louise for bringing up Margaret Harrison, whom he described as a great charity entrepreneur and a friend to him during his time at HS. The Leicester of 1970 at the time of founding of Home-Start was a city in transition, there was significant immigration to the area, and existing support for families came from the strong Wesleyan and Salvation Army traditions. There was also a very good Family Services Unit, where Margaret volunteered. During her volunteering Margaret saw a need for parent to parent support; she went to the USA to research the ‘Head Start’ centre (not home) based concept in action; this blended with what she had found from working with the FSU created the idea for Home-Start, which started in Leicester and rapidly expanded to neighbouring areas. In 1981 MH’s HS’s had expanded enough for the London Law Trust to propose a national network and the HS Consultancy was set up (became HSUK). When MH retired in 2000 there were over 200 HS schemes in the UK and overseas provision as well. RP said that MH’s legacy currently amounts to over 300 schemes in the UK, supporting 35,000 families with 70,000 children and a collective turnover of 35 million. 22 countries around the world now run HS schemes, including places as far afield as Australia, Japan and Uganda. This is the legacy of MH and we should all be proud to have contributed to that journey.
Going back to his seminal experiences and conviction of the need for HS, RP described a young suicidal mum being supported by the charity he previously worked for; the key intervention was not professional support, rather the support provided by another mum, this other mum was also a volunteer with HS; the understanding and empathy provided was really transformative.
RP said that there is quantitative data to back up the intuitive perception we are doing the right thing in the Social Impact report published by HSUK. It details the improvement in areas such as parenting skills and confidence and provides rigorous statistical proof that HS support really makes a difference. In a study of 100 volunteers themselves, they report increased confidence, contentment, and general life skills. 21% came to HS to improve their employability; all have found jobs and all continue to volunteer for HS.
HS is incredibly good value for money. It costs around £40,000 to put someone through a hostel system but only £26 per family per week on average across the UK to provide HS support. This is incredibly good value, but as RP said, ‘it ain’t free’.
The longer he works in the voluntary sector the more he is aware of the power of communities coming together, said RP. He doesn’t apologise for quoting the oft-quoted Margaret Meade; ‘Neverdoubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed citizenscan change the world.’ It is the essence of what we do.
RP ended by thanking all for the wonderful contribution, staff, management committee, volunteers and families involved with HS; he stated that MH would have ‘loved to hear’ volunteer Louise’s speech earlier. HS is as relevant today as it had ever been; he recalled MH’s advice to him – keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep it all about the family.
Sue – from a Home-Start supported family
Sue, as a busy mum of twins managed to arrange childcare for a period and make time to speak to us, we are very grateful to her.
Sue was referred to HSW by her midwife and accepted immediately as she would take any help offered; she is so glad she did. She knows a lot of parents with twins and some who have also received HS support and all have such a lot of positive things to say about their experience.
Sue described her volunteer a gentle, lovely person. She said she felt supported from the word go, even before volunteer placement, when Louise, her co-ordinator, would affirm that Sue was doing a great job – this was really, really important to Sue. When she heard she had a volunteer then Sue felt able to plan and put things in place which it would be difficult to do on her own e.g. library, swimming. Her volunteer enabled her to get out, do activities, provided her with back up and support and gave her confidence to begin to trust another person with the care of her children. Her experience, and that of other service users she had canvassed was the significance of the emotional support the volunteer provides, a listening ear when there simply isn’t the opportunity to talk about yourself helped one particular mum to ‘stay sane’.
Sue ended saying what an amazing job was done by everyone at HS and pledged to become a volunteer herself – one day!
Mike Band, Mayor of Waverley
The Mayor then stood up to say a few words and reiterate his support of HSW and to say a big thank you to all, particularly our home visiting volunteers. He understands that preventative care is often a lot cheaper than sorting out problems later. He said that he would provide contact details for the Waverley Grant Panel, whom he thinks HSW should apply to for funds – Waverley Borough Council have managed to keep their donation provision of £750,000 with which to fund voluntary services like HSW.
Please keep going, and doing a good job, HSW is well respected in the area.
Long service awards
Flowers to mark long service were given to;
Louise B 6 years home-visiting service
Lynne B 6 years home-visiting service
Carolyn K 5 years home-visiting service
Ann T 10 years as Management Committee member