2024-03-31-accounts

Annual Accounts Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31[st] March 2024

Registered Charity No 218795 Registered Company No 00421688

1

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] March 2024

Contents
	Page
Report of the Trustee Board:	3
Legal and Administrative Details	3
Structure Governance and Management	5
Objectives & Activities, Achievements &
Performance	6
(Includes Public Benefit Statement)
Financial Review	27
Plans for Future Periods	29
Statement of Directors' Responsibilities	32
Report of the Independent Auditors	33
Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities	37
Balance Sheet	38
Consolidate Cash Flow Statement	39
Notes to the Cash Flow Statement	40
Notes to the Financial Statements	41

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31[st] March 2024

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEE BOARD

The Trustee Board presents its annual report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31[st] March 2024, which also incorporates the directors’ report.

The trustees confirm the annual report and financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the provisions of Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

The charitable company qualifies as a small company under The Companies Act 2006 section 383.

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Name :

Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, BVSC

Legal Form:

A registered charity and a private company limited by guarantee in England and Wales

Registered Company Number: 00421688

Registered Charity No: 218795

Registered Office and Operational Address :

Latham House, 5[th] Floor 33-34 Paradise Street, Birmingham B1 2AJ

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

Officers President: Chair: Treasurer:

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham Lisa Martinali David Harris

Co-opted Members

David Harris Junaid Akhtar

(appointed 5/12/2023)

Member Representatives

Matthew Forsyth - Sport 4 Life UK Lisa Martinali - The Pioneer Group Jackie Owen - Home from Hospital Care (resigned 02/24)

3

Des Workman - Robin Day Centre (resigned 02/24) Dr Fathi Elsadig Jamil - Community Resource Information Centre Ajit Ubhi - Nishkam Civic Association (appointed 05/12/2023) Andrew Cave - Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull (appointed 5/12/2023) Network Representatives Peter Rookes - Birmingham Council of Faiths

City Council Representatives Councillor Mohammed Idrees Councillor Ken Wood

Company Directors: Dawn Durrant (Appointed 23/1/23 / Resigned 14/9/23) Matthew Forsyth David Harris Cllr Mohammed Idrees Fathi Jamil Ricky Joseph (Resigned 30/9/23) Lisa Martinali Jackie Owen (resigned 02/24) Peter Rookes Amrick Singh Ubhi (Resigned 26/7/23) Cllr Ken Wood (Resigned 22/02/22 / Reappointed 25/7/23) Des Workman (resigned 02/24) Ajit Ubhi (appointed 5/12/2023) Andrew Cave (appointed 5/12/2023) Junaid Akhtar (appointed 5/12/2023)

Chief Executive : Brian Carr Company Secretary: Jasbir Rai Bankers : Unity Trust Bank plc Nine Brindley Place Birmingham B1 2HB Solicitors: Anthony Collins Solicitors Elizabeth Scholes 134 Edmund Street Employment Law and Birmingham HR Services B3 2ES Senior Statutory Auditor: Andrew Morris FCA Independent Auditors: Dains Audit Limited, 2 Chamberlain Square, Paradise, Birmingham, B3 3AX

4

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document:

BVSC is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered as a company limited by guarantee on the 17[th] October 1946 and as a charity on the 28[th] February 1964. The memorandum of association establishes the charity’s objectives and powers, and the charity is governed under its articles of association. The memorandum and articles of association were last updated on the 23[rd] January 2024, replaced by Articles of Association, bringing the governing document up to date with best practice and current ways of working.

BVSC’s Board of Management is appointed at a General Meeting. There are provisions in the Articles of Association for a minimum of 8 board members and a maximum of 12 board members. At least 5 board members from member representative organisations, up to 5 board members co-opted to ensure the board has the right skills mix and 2 board members nominated by Birmingham City Council. The board elects its own Chair and Vice Chair and is responsible for appointing a Treasurer. All board members will serve for up to three years with an option to be re-elected for a further three years, with one third retiring each year.

Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees:

There are five types of representatives that make up the trustees of BVSC’s board:

Member Representatives:

There are five places for Member Representatives on BVSC’s board. These trustees are appointed to the board through a nomination and ballot process through our membership.

Co-opted Members:

These are individuals that are asked to join the board because they bring a specific set of skills to the board. The Member Representatives on the board can nominate and vote up to five co-opted members onto the board, with one position reserved for the Treasurer.

Honorary Treasurer:

This trustee is selected by the board can be recruited through a variety of avenues including personal approaches to individuals with the relevant skills. The treasurer can be either a member representative or a co-optee onto the board.

City Council Representatives:

Birmingham City Council nominates two representatives onto the board on a yearly basis.

Induction and Training of Trustees:

Trustees have an induction to the organisation by senior managers and have the opportunity to meet with various staff to get an understanding of the organisation and what it does. A comprehensive BVSC Trustee induction pack is prepared for each trustee and an induction day planned. Each trustee will be required to attend mandatory training on legal responsibilities including but not limited to Health and Safety, Safeguarding, GDPR. Each trustee is also asked to sign-up to a code of conduct. Trustees can identify areas of skills for development and BVSC sources any relevant training.

5

Organisational Structure and Decision Making:

The overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the organisation lies with the board. The board meets up to five times a year (including a strategic planning away day) and has a Governance sub-committee and a Finance and Personnel sub-committee. The board delegate some strategic and operational decision making to the Chief Executive Officer, who in turn delegates and works with a senior management team to implement these decisions. The board in negotiation with the CEO sets senior management pay.

The Charity:

BVSC is an umbrella organisation providing support to the Voluntary and Community sector in Birmingham and aims to work in partnership with all sectors to lead on and drive positive social change.

BVSC is an independent charitable company limited by guarantee; it has three wholly owned subsidiary companies, BVSC Enterprises Ltd – BVSC’s social enterprise, BVSC KICKStart – a social enterprise was set up to support young people into employment, which has now finished and BVSC Management Services Ltd – currently dormant.

Risk Management:

Risk management is embedded across the organisation and managers are responsible for managing their projects, contracts, staff and other resources within the robust policies and procedures of the organisation. The board are responsible for approving revisions and amendments to existing policies and the development of new polices.

The board regularly reviews the budget, the action plan and risk assessment underpinning this budget.

A health and safety group regularly reviews the processes and practices of the organisation, ensuring compliance with statutory and legal regulations with regular reports to the Deputy Chief Executive, Chief Executive Officer, and the board.

The senior management team work with the board to review environmental changes and their impact on the organisation, managing any emerging risks through strategic and business planning. The board have an away day during the year to consider the strategic direction of the organisation and to look at opportunities and how to maximise these and minimise threats.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Objects of the Charity:

The objects for which BVSC is established is to promote for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the City of Birmingham without distinction of age, sex, race, creed or colour or of political, religious or other opinion all or any purposes for the general good of the community which now are or hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable and in particular the advancement of education, the development of physical improvement and the furtherance of health, and the relief of poverty, distress and sickness.

6

Public Benefit Statement: Objectives and Activities for Public Benefit

The principal activity of the charity is to promote any charitable purposes for the benefit of the inhabitants of the City of Birmingham, in particular the advancement of education, the development of physical improvement and the furtherance of health and wellbeing, and the relief of poverty, distress and sickness.

The trustees have referred to the guidance from the charities commission on ‘Charities and Public Benefit.’ The trustees are confident that BVSC’s aims and activities of;

-providing support to voluntary and community organisations.

-ensuring the influence of voluntary and community organisations in the governance of the city (especially in the area of health, wellbeing of individuals, safety and education). -delivering partnership programmes to support Older Adults and Communities, Children Families and Young People, as well as those facing Multiple Disadvantage and Health inequalities.

-delivering grants to individuals/families and voluntary and community organisations are in accordance with the regulations on public benefit.

These aims and activities advance education, develop physical improvement, improve health and helps to relieve poverty distress and sickness, detail of activities delivered that benefit the public is provided in the next section of the report.

Review of Activities, Achievements and Performance and Future Plans:

A message from our Chair Lisa Martinali and our CEO Brian Carr :

We are pleased to bring you this report into how Birmingham Voluntary Service Council has worked to provide support to the city’s voluntary groups and local communities during this recent year. Much of our work has, of course, been carried out in close partnership with our voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector peers, and with partners and funders in the city’s public and private sectors. We extend our grateful thanks to all of them for their invaluable support.

There are many highlights to draw your attention to. Closest to home has been our move to permanent premises at Latham House in Paradise Street , where we have now progressed into a building refurbishment program designed both to solidify BVSC’s physical presence in the city, and to develop a range of useful facilities for our sector partners and wider communities.

Successful project developments and deliveries this year have included:

• BRUM Energy , a voluntary sector partnership delivering home energy support and advice to communities facing particular barriers to engagement;

• Household Support Fund Welfare Grants , which ensures the distribution of needed resources to households in need;

• The remodelling and remobilisation of the Early Help Network of voluntary sector providers serving children and families in the city;

• The inception of The Dream Team , a cross-sector partnership tackling bed poverty in the city;

• The launch of Birmingham Community Lottery , which is now raising thousands of pounds each month for Birmingham’s good causes.

7

• A growing range of academically-supported Community Research initiatives as part of our BVSC Research function

You can learn more about these initiatives, and more, in this report. It would be remiss of us not to mention that our work - and the work of the wider VCFSE sector - continues to be carried out against a backdrop of significant financial and social challenge.

To address this, we have advocated for the important role of the city’s VCFSE sector in the wake of the local funding and service delivery challenges flowing from Birmingham City Council’s ongoing budget pressures. We have facilitated and participated in several meetings with senior councillor and officer leaders in the Council, and have hosted and/or supported a number of sector briefing events at which our members have been able to pose direct questions – on a range of issues, including budget planning and proposals for the use of community assets – to both the Leader and chief executive of the Council.

We expect to host a further series of such events in the year ahead, as well as events which will connect our members with wider public sector partners in the National Health Service (NHS).

As ever, we are deeply appreciative of all our members, volunteers, staff, funders, partners, and trustees. Our thanks go to them - and to you for your ongoing interest in and support for Birmingham’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector and its vital work on behalf of Birmingham’s residents.

Review of activities:

Purchase of Latham House:

We sold BVSC’s building in Digbeth in June 2022 and purchased Latham House in June 2023. The building will be a base for BVSC, and work has started over the past year to determine how we manage and develop the building. The building provides BVSC with a unique opportunity to generate independent income to underpin our financial sustainability and to enable BVSC to continue to support the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector in Birmingham as well as develop a base for the sector.

Activities delivered during the year:

A summary of the key activities delivered during the year is given below, along with cases studies providing an in dept understanding of some our work and its impact:

Case Study:

Birmingham Together: Creating Resilience within the VCFSE in a Challenging Environment

8

Introduction and Background

Birmingham Together is a partnership devised in late 2023 and initiated in January 2024 between BVSC and Birmingham City Council (and latterly supported by Birmingham Children’s Trust and Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board). It seeks to enshrine solid communication channels and working relationships between these bodies and the city’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector.

It arose as a direct development on from solid partnership work between the City Council, BVSC, and the wider VCFSE sector in responding to key challenges such as the impacts of austerity, the coronavirus pandemic, the cost of living crisis, conflicts in and close to Europe, and – most recently – Birmingham City Council’s ongoing financial pressures and declaration of a Section 114 notice.

Cementing the Public and Voluntary Sector Relationship

In March 2020, and following a significant period without direct City Council investment in a voluntary sector infrastructure support contract, BVSC signed a contract to be the local authority’s Strategic Partner Organisation for the voluntary sector. This was, in effect, a local infrastructure support contract and committed BVSC and Birmingham City Council to work together to provide support to, and maximise development opportunities within, the city’s VCFSE sector.

Almost immediately, BVSC was called upon to work to mobilise and connect VCFSE responses to the coronavirus pandemic and its associated impacts. We negotiated a flexible approach to the Strategic Partner Organisation role from the City Council, and this resulted in solid and coordinated support for the VCFSE response to Covid19 in Birmingham and the cementing of strong City Council relationships with both BVSC and the wider VCFSE sector.

This solidified relationship has been instrumental in enabling further solid responses to recent challenges such as the cost of living crisis, including the establishment of a network of ‘warm spaces’ in a range of community sector venues; the disbursement of several £m of the Household Support Fund to families in need through the Neighbourhood Network Schemes and partners; a range of local Early Help partnerships which coordinate activity and support between the Children’s Trust, the community sector, the Police, and Education; and Engage for Ukraine, a joint Council/BVSC initiative which networked refugee and migrantsupporting organisations and targeted grants towards host families and service providers.

Responding to Current Challenges

After the issuing of the Section 114 notice, it was noted that there was the risk of limited capacity across the Council to engage with community and voluntary sector partners in a cohesive way, and so a further solidifying of relationships, structures, and partnership intentions was necessary.

BVSC in particular had advised the Council of need to speak with one voice which was inclusive, transparent and accessible to the diversity of the organisations operating within Birmingham.

Consequently, BVSC suggested to the City Council that it would be wise to foster a recognised, ongoing approach to Council/public sector/voluntary sector partnership working which reaffirmed a systemic intent to work collaboratively, and that committed the Council to supporting the key mechanisms that enable strong City and community sector relations.

Fostering a Partnership Approach: Birmingham Together

BVSC’s Chief Executive (Brian Carr) and Director of Programmes (Stephen Raybould) made this proposal through the Strategic Partner Organisation channel and worked with the Council’s Assistant Director of Early Intervention and Prevention (Kalvinder Kohli) to write a

9

proposal paper for presentation to the Council’s Corporate Leadership Team (CLT).

Consequently, in January 2024 Brian Carr and Kalvinder Kohli presented this paper to CLT (which included the Council’s Chief Executive and all Strategic Directors) proposing the establishment of the ‘Birmingham Together’ initiative. The proposals were unanimously accepted the Birmingham Together approach was formally adopted.

Actions and Results

There have been a number of immediate and ongoing benefits to the adoption of the Birmingham Together approach:

• i. Solidifying BVSC’s Strategic Partner Organisation role. This has been reaffirmed with funding extended for an additional 2+1 years.

• ii. Regular high-level contact between senior leaders in the Council and the city’s VCFSE sector. In particular, two briefing events on Section 114 developments have been hosted by BVSC, with attendance by the Council’s Leader and Chief Executive, and significant attendance (200+) by local VCFSE groups. These events have included ‘state of the sector’ research consultations carried out by BVSC’s policy and research arm, BVSC Research, which will inform BVSC’s future strategic plans.

• iii. Focused Directorate-level contact between senior leaders in the Council, specialist BVSC staff, and VCFSE leaders. This has included renegotiating the city’s Early Help arrangements, which included a cut of £9m from the local authority’s budget. Through the Birmingham Together umbrella, BVSC brought together the City Council, the Children’s Trust, and VCFSE Early Help leads to collectively redesign the Early Help model. Whilst there has been a 50% reduction in VCFSE lead organisations as a result of the cut, there has been no loss of VCFSE geographical coverage through a combination of redrawing of Early Help lead boundaries and investment in the model from the Children’s Trust and Public Health.

• iv. Improving collaborative commissioning and service redesign. The Birmingham Together initiative has enabled regular (bi-weekly) contact between BVSC and senior commissioners in Adult Social Care. Consequently, agreement has been reached to enable no immediate decommissioning of commissioned services. Consequent year savings will be enabled by not applying discretionary inflationary uplifts and redesigning newly commissioned services through advanced consultation with providers.

• v. Working with the Council to coordinate responses to Community Asset Transfer (CAT). BVSC has been able to alert the Council to the need to consolidate its approach to CAT and has fielded specific inquiries to the Council where these have indicated a potentially detrimental effect to VCFSE organisations. In one recent example, a local CIC (Community Interest Company) was set to lose its rented premises – which the Council owned and was auctioning for sale – and was, following intervention, offered first refusal on the purchase of the building.

Links and Further Reading:

Birmingham Together statement of intent from Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Children’s Trust, and Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board

10

Strategic Partnership Programme, Sector Development and Communications

The team provides a range of support to the Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector with a focus on business development and strengthening civil society action through Engage for Good.

Business Development

We offer several initiatives to support the sector:

1. Business Development Webinars : BVSC hosts a series of webinars focusing on various aspects of business development and funding applications. These sessions are designed to provide valuable insights and practical tips with opportunities to engage directly with funders.

2. Accelerator Programme : This programme is aimed at helping organizations develop their business strategies and secure funding through competitive bidding processes. It includes a mix of digital and in-person support, such as bi-weekly webinars, one-on-one progress meetings, and critical reviews of funding applications.

3. Engage for Funding : This initiative includes a network and a funding search portal. The network offers weekly webinars where participants can learn about live funding opportunities and get advice on successful applications. The funding search portal provides access to a comprehensive database of funding opportunities and business advice services.

These programs are designed to enhance the capacity of organizations to secure funding and sustain their projects and services.

Engage for Good

The programme fosters collaboration and partnership among VCFSE organizations and public authorities. It provides a platform for discussing social needs, sharing best practices, and developing solutions to improve community outcomes. This year saw several key issues evolve including the response to the crisis in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, and the implications of Section 114 stemming from the City Council’s financial situation. BVSC has played a leading role, keeping the sector informed and helping co-ordinate the response. One example was the cost-of-living conference held in November, which brought together over 100 delegates to discuss key topics concerns and develop plans to best support Birmingham Citizens. The conference was supported by Barrow Cadbury Trust and the Campaign for the Real Living wage.

Vision for Volunteering

Our aspirational vision for volunteering in Birmingham by 2027 was launched earlier this year and moved quickly to appoint a temporary (12month) lead manager to develop and implement the vision.

This vision was co-produced with citizens, voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) organizations, as well as public sector and academic partners.

The key principles of BVSC’s Vision for Volunteering:

1. Celebrating Difference : Volunteering in Birmingham is accessible and welcoming to everyone, ensuring that all individuals and communities feel benefits. Communities are empowered to identify needs and tackle them.

2. Collaboration : Partners across communities, and the VCFSE, public, and private sectors work together to support a thriving volunteer environment.

3. Awareness and Appreciation: Birmingham recognizes and values all forms of volunteering, making it easy for citizens to get involved and ensuring every volunteer has a positive experience

11

We have established a strategic group drawn from both sector and public sector commissioners and have begun the implementation process alongside identifying complimentary funding streams to support the programme and its continuation beyond Autumn 2024.

BrumEnergy

BrumEnergy is a collaborative initiative involving local organizations in Birmingham, UK. Its - primary goal is to provide free, independent, high quality home energy advice to residents of Birmingham. The program offers various services, including:

• Home energy advice : This can range from brief conversations to home visits by trained energy advisors.

• Warm home packs : These packs contain items to help keep homes warm and energy efficient.

• Information, advice, and guidance: Signposting to other organizations for additional support.

BrumEnergy aims to help residents save money on energy bills, improve their health and well-being, and reduce carbon emissions.

Having been awarded the funding from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero in September 2023, we have appointed a small project team to manage the project. Despite initial difficulties the project partners have moved forward on delivering actions and by the end of the financial year were on target with spend and project targets.

Community Champions

This project funded by Birmingham’s public health team, supported the development of community champions through training programmes. These programmes aim to enhance the skills and knowledge of community leaders, enabling them to effectively address issues, increase awareness, and bring about positive changes in their communities.

The training covers a range of topics, including community organizing, leadership skills, storytelling, power dynamics, campaign development, and negotiation skills. Participants can - - choose from different formats, such as intensive two day programs, half day sessions, or extended courses over several weeks.

Case Study:

Tackling the Climate Crisis Through Birmingham’s VCFSE – What can we do?

Background:

In June 2019 Birmingham City Council declared a Climate Emergency setting a target for ‘the Council and city to become net zero carbon by 2030, or as soon as possible thereafter as a just transition allows’.

In Autumn 2019 a Route to Zero (R20) Taskforce action plan acknowledged that a broad collaborative network across the City, including the VCFSE sector, needed to address the crisis.

In September 2022, the Council declared a Cost of Living Emergency, partly due to rising energy prices; work with communities and partners was needed.

BVSC’s Engage for Good Programme supports: partnership working, collaboration, crosssector leaders developing a collective voice to tackle key issues. Under this the Environment & Energy Network and Cost of Living Programme tackle Climate Change and Fuel Poverty. Additionally, Neighbourhood Network Schemes (NNS) supported a short-term Fuel Poverty project.

12

Relationships developed through these BVSC networks, led to VCFSE organisations coming together with the public sector to address the Climate & Cost of Living crises, through providing home energy advice.

BrumEnergy:

In August 2023, BVSC and a VCFSE consortium, supported by the City Council, announced

a successful £0.8m bid to the Government’s Local Energy Advice Demonstrator (LEAD) Programme funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) working with the Midlands Net Zero Hub (MNZH).

The consortium, led by BVSC, is one of nine successful applicants to be awarded funding (August 2023 – end March 2025) to run a pilot project exploring innovative approaches to providing in person, home energy advice to Midland’s consumer groups. (36 projects delivered nationally).

‘BrumEnergy’ consortium members include:

BVSC; Acocks Greener CIC; Birmingham Council of Faiths: Footsteps – Faiths for a Low Carbon Future; Community Energy Birmingham; ecobirmingham; MECC Trust; Good Work Coop – Birmingham Green Doors; WLCA .

Consortium members’ delivery partners include: Age Concern Birmingham; Birchfield Big Local; Nishkam Centre; New Hope Global.

BrumEnergy will train local energy advisors to deliver independent, free, high quality home energy advice to Birmingham residents, not restricted to but including those in:

• ‘Hard to treat’ homes (e.g. homes with single rather than cavity walls / other structural issues making these homes harder to insulate and keep warm)

• diverse communities (e.g. older people; Black, Asian and Minority Ethic (BAME) and diverse faith communities; English not first language)

• vulnerable situations (e.g. long-term health issues; disabilities; low income)

The project aims to support people to:

• Be warmer and more comfortable at home.

• Save money.

• Improve health.

• Reduce carbon emissions.

Governance:

• DESNZ has an agreement with MNZH to deliver LEAD across the Midlands. BVSC signed a Grant Funding Agreement with MNZH. BVSC developed tailored Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with Consortium members.

• BVSC provides: Project Management; financial management; monitoring; reporting; consortium and external communications (including portal); Public Relations; data management; Warm Home Packs; toolkit.

• Consortium members provide home energy advice; training; specific services depending on geographical area or expertise.

• The Consortium is updated weekly through email, meets monthly and is supported by BVSC’s Strategic Partnership Manager (Chair), a Full- time Project Manager (PM) and Part-time Administrator.

• ‘Rules of the Road,’ ‘Communications’ and ‘Lessons Learnt’ subgroups chaired by the PM.

• Monthly reporting (quantitative & qualitative) on spend and project KPIs is submitted to MNZH. BVSC collates Consortium Member data through an online form. BVSC also meets MNZH monthly.

Timeline:

• April 2023 – BVSC submitted bid.

13

• May 2023 - Informed bid successful –under funder embargo pending signed agreement and announcement.

• June 2023 – Consortium fortnightly meetings began.

• July 2023 – Part-time interim consultant Consortium PM contracted.

• August 2023 - BVSC signed Grant Funding Agreement with MNZH. Project announced by DESNZ, MNZH & BVSC

• October 2023 – Part-time Administrator appointed.

• November 2023 – Formal launch at Cost of Living Conference

• December 2023 –Interim PM left. New Interim PM contracted.

• January/ February 2024 – SLAs signed with consortium members.

• February 2024 – Full-time PM recruited.

• March 2024 – Interim PM hand over to full-time PM

• May 2024 – Project fully operational

• June 2024 – Consortium meetings moved to monthly.

Making a Difference:

Taking a grassroots consortia approach to delivery of home energy advice has meant that VCFSE organisations are able to influence and deliver services more effectively :

• Advice is delivered by local VCFSE organisations with many years’ experience of supporting residents and advice delivery, who are already well established, have local knowledge and networks and are trusted by their communities.

• Funding and jobs are provided to local organisations and local people – supporting the ‘levelling up’ agenda.

• Positive collaborative working relationships have been developed between consortium members with many examples of mutual support and capacity building developing (e.g. sharing policy and funding information)

• Learning is effectively shared between VCFSE organisations and with the public sector and will be retained in local communities beyond project lifetime.

• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion is supported through a targeted Communications Strategy and consortium members with the relevant specialist expertise (e.g. Footsteps working with faith communities; MECC Trust working with BAME communities) have been able to ‘hit the ground running’ in reaching the most minoritised and excluded groups in the City.

• Local VCFSE organisations are able to influence future government energy policy through reporting to MNZH/ DESNZ

BrumEnergy has positively impacted communities . In 2023/2024, BrumEnergy reached 2,084 different people and provided 1,656 one-to-one personalised energy advice sessions. Advice is delivered through:

• www.brumenergy.info

• Energy Advice Café’s

• Mobile Advice

• Community Events

• Faith Events; Flashcards

• Warm Home Packs

• Birmingham Green Doors –visits to energy efficient homes

• Home Visits

98% of clients reported being ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with advice received.

14

With a lag between advice, property retrofit and outcome delivery, wider impacts are to be reviewed including through surveys and an independent DESNZ evaluation in 2025.

Future Plans:

We’re developing a toolkit to share learning and an online portal supporting data management, referrals and reporting.

Open Badges accredited home energy advice training will start in Autumn 2024. We’re exploring longer-term partnership and funding opportunities.

Links:

BCC Climate Emergency Declaration Engage for Good Birmingham (bvsc.org)

• Local Energy Advice Demonstrator Competition: successful projects GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) www.brumenergy.info

Ian Henshaw

Head of Strategic Funding and Sector Development

Health and Social Care

Long Covid Community Engagement Phase 2

Building on learning from phase 1, BVSC has worked with BCHC (Birmingham Community Healthcare) to commission 31 VCFSE organisations across Birmingham and Solihull to undertake community engagement. The key aim was to help tackle health inequalities in relation to Long Covid, with a particular focus on people from minority ethnic backgrounds or people with disabilities. There was also emphasis on collaboration with the wider health and care sector and health promotion. BVSC Research supported the reporting and evaluation which has been shared and implemented within BCHC.

Menopause Support In & Out of the Workplace

During 2023-24 the Menopause Support in and out the Workplace Project made good progress towards its key performance indicators. This focused on engagement with the target audience of small and medium sized enterprises. During the 12 months DRC engaged with 26 SMEs reaching a total of 68 individuals through general awareness webinars. Salus Fatigue Foundation held 12 community Menopause awareness workshops and 9 one-to-one support sessions engaging 184 individuals. Additionally, the Partnership held three main events and stakeholder meetings connecting with 98 people including individuals with responsibilities in the Health and Care system.

A robust evaluation system was developed by BVSC and an external evaluator which has evidenced tangible progress in terms of increasing people’s confidence to manage their lives during menopause.

46% of those who responded to the community workshop survey reported they were not in employment. The workshops have resulted in them becoming better equipped in understanding their hormonal health and have increased their confidence to ask for support from their GPs. One of the aims of the Project was to ensure marginalised communities were included in the delivery.

Route 2 Wellbeing

Significant work has been undertaken to expand and redevelop the directory in partnership with the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. The Route 2 Wellbeing portal was re-launched, with an associated communication campaign. Google analytics showed a substantial rise in site traffic that supports people to identify services and support that meets their needs.

• 506 new services added within the financial year.

• 95 new organisations registered.

• 53,307 views

15

• 23,540 active users

Embedding the VCFSE into Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System

BVSC led this activity, working in partnership with WCAVA (Warwickshire and Coventry Voluntary and Community Action) in Solihull. The VCFSE Leadership Alliance was further developed with quarterly meetings held. An elections process took place as agreed by The Alliance. Locality meetings were also held each quarter with the wider VCFSE sector. These focused on developments of the Integrated Care System and VCFSE Alliance. Other related activity:

• Representing the Birmingham VCFSE sector on the Community Care Collaborative.

• Fairer Futures Fund Programme Board.

• Supporting developments of Locality Partnerships.

Fairer Futures Fund and VCFSE Locality Partnerships

Identifying lead VCFSE providers for each Birmingham locality took place from January 2024 with grants awarded. The focus for leads was on developing a business plan for the Fairer Futures Fund investment in the locality and bringing together the VCFSE Locality partnership. A new post was created within the team to support this activity. CVD Outreach Prevention

On behalf of the NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (Integrated Care Board), we undertook project management for the CVD (cardiovascular disease) prevention outreach project: Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme. BVSC worked closely with two VCFSE organisations: Saheli Hub and RAFFA. Both organisations provided outreach support in the community, including CVD mini-health checks. Key focuses of this programme were reducing health inequalities, collaboration, and health promotion. This was part of a wider programme of activities focused on CVD prevention, led by the ICB with other partners.

Working with other teams at BVSC

The Health and Social Care team worked with the BVSC Research team on projects: Birmingham Children’s and Women’s Foundation Trust Health Inequalities strategy; Supporting work around the West Midlands Community Engagement Hub; supporting delivery of the Reach Out project funded through BCHC; and REND mapping.

Family Hubs Co-production - Supported this project that was led within Children, Families & Young People area of BVSC. The Health and Social Care team’s role was co-ordinating the co-production work undertaken by VCFSE organisations.

Social Prescribing / Arts for Health – BVSC Health and Social Care team oversaw the delivery of a small project that ran until March 2024. This focused on improving relationships and networks between the arts for health activity providers network and social prescribing link workers.

Stephanie Bloxham Head of Health and Social Care

Children, Young People and Families

Working alongside the statutory and the voluntary sector, the Children, Young People and Families team have been providing support to the Early Help service and to target child poverty within the city. We aim to promote partnership and collaborative working across sectors and to ensure children and families have a voice within service development and delivery. We have three key areas of work at present, with a view to develop and expand our offer further in coming months.

Early Help

16

BVSC continue to oversee and co-ordinate the VCFSE provision of support to the Early Help service in the City. The offer has been revised and refreshed as of July 2024, with agreements ongoing until March 2027 between Birmingham Children’s Trust, Family Hubs and 5 voluntary sector providers.

Early Help support aims to enable and empower families to overcome challenges without requiring more intensive statutory intervention. The voluntary sector providers deliver short, targeted pieces of work for 4-6 weeks to help families with issues around housing, finances, parenting and much more.

We are also leading on a piece of work with the delivery providers around standardised practice. Ensuring that all families in the city receive the same quality of support. This includes exploring gaps in training and knowledge in each area and how these can be addressed.

Dream Team

This project aims to tackle the issue of ‘bed poverty’ for families across the City. It is funded through the Household Support Fund to provide beds, bedding and sleepwear to families who do not have them. Referrals are taken from schools with a view to improving educational engagement and performance of children by helping them to have a better night’s sleep. It is delivered in partnership with Barnardo’s, who visit referred families to ensure the right support is provided and assess for any other needs the family has that may require additional intervention or signposting. A local company has provided our beds, Westborn, allowing us to access resources at a reduced cost. With the current funding drawing to an end, there will be an application for further funding and exploration of how the project could expand and continue.

Multibank

We are working towards opening a Multibank in partnership with Amazon in the coming months. We are currently looking to secure a suitable warehouse and identifying additional funding streams to support the project. We have funding from Comic Relief, but additional resource is required to ensure the warehouse is staffed appropriately and all costs are covered. Once operational, the multibank will provide essential and useful household items for those in need in the city. This could include a variety of things from washing powder, cleaning products, basic home décor, kitchen equipment and children’s toys. These can be accessed by support workers in the community who can make referrals and collect items for those they are working with.

Case Study:

Working together to Improve the Lives of Children and Families - The VCFSE as Birmingham’s First Response

Introduction

Birmingham Children’s Partnership agreed that one of its key priorities in 2019 was the establishment of a new early help programme and system, this was to ensure that families got earlier support and help with any difficulties they were experiencing. Early help is the total support that improves a family’s resilience and outcomes or rthe likelihood of a problem getting worse. Early help is not a service, but the way professionals, communities and families work tacross Birmingham. This provision is made available via a partnership between the

17

statutory and voluntary sector, with BVSC leading the voluntary sector provision - There are 10 early help (EH) teams based in the 10 localities or constituency areas.

Following the establishment of the early help 10 Birmingham Children’s Trust( BCT) and VCFSE teams, families can now access a range of practical help and interventions to support their needs and prevent escalation into more specialist services. Since its inception the EH Programme has supported 1000s of families in the localities with targeted interventions following an Early Help Assessment (EHA), delivering 1-2-1 and group interventions with families, providing advice and guidance including, links to essential services, connecting families to professionals who can support them and linking families into local community resources to help them be more resilient. The heart of the early help system in each locality is a partnership between the VCFSE lead organisation, and the BCT early help team in that locality, and this had led to some incredible work that has been undertaken:

• Played a pivotal role in mapping community assets by collaborating with Voluntary Sector Leads to gather comprehensive data, co-ordinating efforts to identify and document assets within the community, through ensuring the information was accurate and up to date, facilitating accessibility for families. This directory enabled families and professionals to effortlessly find and utilise community resources, enhancing their quality of life and building their resilience. Through this initiative, community ties were strengthened and supported the wellbeing of families by making essential services readily accessible.

• VCFSE early help leads played a crucial role in promoting early help across the city by fostering a collaborative environment among professionals and community members, through organising workshops and training sessions to educate professionals on the importance of early help and how they could contribute effectively. Through facilitating communication and coordination between various partners, this ensured a unified approach across the city. Comprehensive resources and toolkits have been developed, making it easier for professionals to understand and engage with the early help system. By raising awareness and providing clear guidelines, BVSC and the VCFSE lead partners ensured that early help became "everyone's business," empowering professionals to support families proactively and effectively.

• Played a key role in ensuring that key partners across the city were informed of potential gaps in provision, creating a more robust and responsive system for children and families. Through the development of robust data captures, the VCFSE conducted thorough assessments and gathered feedback from the community to identify areas needing improvement. By facilitating regular meetings and communication among stakeholders, the VCFSE ensured that everyone was aware of the issues and collaborated on solutions. This proactive approach enabled the creation of a more cohesive support network, enhancing the overall well-being and resilience of children and families in the city.

• BVSC worked alongside VCFSE partners to support the delivery of initiatives like the Household Support Fund, providing crucial aid to families in need. By leveraging established networks, BVSC ensured these initiatives reached families reflective of Birmingham's diverse demographic - through co-ordinating efforts with local organisations, ensuring resources were distributed equitably across the city. Through

18

effective communication and collaboration, BVSC and its partners identified and addressed the unique needs of various communities. This joint effort enhanced the support system, ensuring that all families, regardless of background or location, received the assistance they needed to improve their quality of life.

Moving forwards, through utilising established relationships, BVSC and VCFSE partners aims to build the resilience of families by increasing capacity in local communities and grassroots organisations. By partnering with these organisations, we will support through essential resources, training, and support to enhance their capabilities. This collaboration empowers local groups to deliver more effective services and support to families, fostering a stronger, more self-sufficient community. By focusing on capacity-building, we will look to ensure that local initiatives are sustainable and responsive to the unique needs of their communities. This approach not only strengthens the immediate support network but will also promote long-term resilience and well-being for families across the city.

Links

What is Early Help Voluntary Sector Leads

Lianne Shakespeare Head of Children, Young People and Families

Multiple Disadvantage

Too often people with multiple needs have been denied the support they needed. They were labelled as too high risk to work with, ‘hard to reach’ or the extreme poverty and difficulties they found themselves viewed as 'life-style choices'.

However, it is now accepted that Multiple Disadvantage is a systemic, not an individual issue. People are failed by services and systems that focus on singular issues, making it harder for individuals to address their problems.

Working with local partners, using the MEAM model, the team aim to influence change in the way that local services coordinate responses, and provide services to individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage both by making best use of current services and proposing changes in existing systems and commissioning.

In addition to supporting system change the following programmes were delivered in 202324:

Supported Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards (SEAQS)

Working in partnership with Birmingham City Council, the BVSC SEAQS Team developed a set of quality standards to assess and evaluate non-commissioned supported exempt accommodation providers and their managing agents; a key source of housing for those facing multiple disadvantage.

The standards aim to improve the quality, accessibility and quantity of good accommodation offered in the city. By creating more suitable quality accommodation, they aim to improve both outcomes for those in crisis, but also prevent people who are currently stable from deteriorating and support their recovery.

A key recommendation of Birmingham City Council’s review into supported exempt accommodation in the city In December 2021 was for there to be an Approved Supported Exempt Accommodation provider list for the Council and related partners to refer to.

19

The approved Preferred Provider list went live on Monday 11 September 2023 and was shared with other local authorities.

The Probation Service also announced that as of the 1 July 2023 they would only refer into Supported Exempt Accommodation that is provided by housing providers on the Council’s Quality Standards Preferred Provider List.

36 Supported Exempt Accommodation providers and managing agents in Birmingham have been assessed against the BVSC Quality Standards and 29 have passed with a gold, silver or bronze award.

Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI)

Coordinating RSI services to ensure better collaboration within the Rough Sleeper Initiative and other rough sleeping homelessness services. We ensure a flexible, coordinated approach to supporting rough sleepers. The collaboration focuses on crisis prevention, recovery, and resilience. Our goal is to prevent rough sleeping and, if it occurs, to make it rare, brief, and non-reoccurring.

This includes:

• Ensuring a unified city-wide response to rough sleeping and street-based activity.

• Developing preventive strategies to address rough sleeping in Birmingham.

• Developing services that take whole person approach to meeting service user needs and supporting them achieve their desired aims.

• Ensuring front facing homeless services in the city remain committed to working in a trauma informed way.

Criminal Justice Recovery (CJR) Navigator Service

In partnership with BSMHFT (Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust) CJR Navigator was established to support individuals facing multiple disadvantage within the Criminal Justice setting to reduce the level of re-offending and integrate back into the community.

The activity aims to reduce reoffending, reduce unnecessary use of police and court time, ensure that health matters are dealt with by healthcare professionals and reduce health inequalities for some of the most vulnerable in society.

The BVSC Navigator offers short term (12 week) support to adults to access appropriate services applying No Wrong Door principles. To help them to gain confidence and ensuring the smooth transition of client referrals between agencies to reduce the risk of re-offending. The Violence against Women and Girls Strategy Support and Youth Violence Reduction projects funding ended during this year.

Harpal Bath Head of Multiple Disadvantage

Communities and Older Adults

As a dedicated advocate for the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector in Birmingham, the Communities and Older Adults team focuses on empowering and fostering connections among the third sector organisations commissioned by Adult Social Care as part of the prevention agenda. Our collective role goes beyond facilitation; we are connectors equipped with valuable insights into the distinctive needs and challenges faced by these organisations.

At the heart of Birmingham’s Adult Social Care strategy and vision is the Prevention First framework, which takes at its core the aim that “citizens lead healthy, happy, independent lives within their own homes and communities”. The Prevention First framework aims to achieve this by investing in two key areas; developing community assets through the

20

Neighbourhood Network Scheme and investing in communities through the Prevention and Communities grants programme.

Commissioned by Adult Social Care, the Communities and Older Adults team provide support, development, and facilitation through the Citywide Neighbourhood Network Scheme (NNS) and Prevention and Communities (P&C) Grants Programme support service contract. The team proactively and intensively supports more than 50 providers. There are 10 lead organisations delivering NNS and more than 40 providers in receipt of P&C grant funding, delivering activity that supports older adults and adults (18 – 50) with additional needs. The commissioned support function is considered necessary to develop, support and facilitate NNS and P&C providers to ensure the programs are evidenced and sustained.

In the spring of 2023, the P&C re-commissioning process began. Prospective P&C providers had the opportunity to attend a face-to-face or online session to allow them time to talk through their proposals and ask any questions for clarification. Efforts to identify and understand the needs of seldom heard and underrepresented communities was central to BVSC’s approach and we proactively targeted the promotion of the re-commissioning opportunity by being present at stakeholder meetings, visiting community assets, and engaging directly with citizens. A total of 114 advice surgery sessions took place in April and May 2023.

BVSC organised two three-hour sessions with an experienced bid writer to help applicants understand and respond to individual application questions. These sessions were recorded and made available on the BVSC website.

Many applicants had questions about the budget, which were clarified by BVSC and included in a FAQ document. BVSC developed the FAQ format, advertised it, and hosted an FAQ session. Five days before the application deadline, BVSC held two drop-in "last minute queries" events, including an evening session. A total of 28 people attended with various questions.

BVSC provided extensive feedback on draft applications for more than 20 organisations, all of whom were successfully funded.

128 applications were received and assessed, and 45 awards were made totalling £2.7 million pounds of investment. Delivery of the newly commissioned P&C programme began in October 2023.

The Communities and Older Adults team continuously identifies the sector's strengths and needs through regular forums, training workshops, and joint working sessions. Monthly forums for NNS and P&C providers have been pivotal, enabling stakeholders to share insights and data about their localities and communities.

At BVSC Research, we are dedicated to supporting the vibrant and diverse voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector of Birmingham. Our goal is to provide research and evaluation services that help organisations demonstrate their impact, inform policy, and practice, and foster meaningful community involvement

Rosie Barrett Head of Communities and Older Adults

BVSC Grants

BVSC has distributed funding to the VCFSE sector for decades, however this was previously structured within the organisation within defined thematic areas. In 2022 BVSC established a standalone grants function and associated resourcing to meet the increased demands of distributing high volumes of hardship payments because of the Local and National

21

Government funding streams during the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent Cost of Living support packages. BVSC Grants’ aim is to support the wider BVSC objectives of creating a more resilient and sustainable VCFSE sector in the city using proportionate funding distribution models. By using uncomplicated and accessible application processes wherever possible, we aim to support smaller grassroots and community organisations to access funding.

Addressing Homelessness

2023-24 was the second and final year of delivery for this grant activity. The activity focused on raising awareness of the support offer for poorly and precariously housed residents in Erdington, Handsworth, and Spark Hill. One £20k grant and two £5k grants were awarded in each area. Activity to be delivered during 2024-25.

Compassionate Communities

This activity focused on building capacity within Neighbourhood Network Scheme lead partners across defined localities in the city. The activity used the Death Literacy Index tool, helping raise awareness through open conversations about death and dying in the community.

Fairer Futures Citywide Partnerships

Supporting BSOL ICS to identify, broker and develop partnerships across the statutory and VSFCSE sectors to produce proposals to deliver activity that meets the ICB’s identified health priorities. Undertaking the application and assessment processes related to £5.74m of funding, a large proportion of which is expected to be distributed to VCFSE organisations across the city.

Household Support Fund round five

Utilising eight lead partner organisations across the city using the Locality model, primarily with links to Early Help and NNS structures, but encompassing over 400 VCFSE organisations citywide. Generating income into the sector of over £800k this year. Distribution of £8m in £200 payments to households in Birmingham identified as experiencing hardship, particularly food and fuel poverty.

Rosa Spawton-Rice Head of BVSC Grants

BVSC Research

We are committed to providing low-cost, high-quality evaluations tailored to the needs of VCFSE partners, whether for projects funded by funders such as the National Lottery Community Fund or city-wide services commissioned by statutory partners such as Birmingham City Council or the NHS.

We champion research that resonates with the sector, but also acknowledges the unique insights and expertise within the sector. Our aim is to engage the right voices, ensuring policies and practices are informed by those who deeply understand the issues facing Birmingham's communities.

Supporting the sector's capacity for research is a key focus. For example, we connect VCFSE organisations with leading academics; offer training and capacity-building workshops and provide mentorship and access to resources. We regularly bid for external funding for research projects that position the VCFSE sector as key partners, recognising the importance of covering cost and resource implications.

Finally, we help to develop better understanding of the sector through initiatives like our State of the Sector surveys and reports, and through events and workshops addressing critical issues such as the cost of living and the impact of Section 114. Our goal is to highlight the sector's challenges and successes, whilst also ensuring its contribution is consistently recognised and promoted.

Our City

22

Birmingham's unique diversity and demographics drive our passion for place-based research. We collaborate with partners across the city, including the NHS, Public Health, universities, local authorities, and the WM Combined Authority, to ensure our research and evaluation make a real impact.

We also lead the BIRCH network, a collaborative group of organisations interested in research. BIRCH aims to enhance knowledge exchange and close the "feedback loop" between researchers and citizens as well as providing a platform for sharing good practice, resources, and guidance.

Our Citizens

We believe the best research and evaluation involve working with and for citizens, not just doing research about them. Citizen involvement is integral to our work, and we recognise their contributions through initiatives like our Community Research Hub. This hub offers opportunities for active research involvement, training, and mentoring, promoting collaborative social research with practical community benefits.

Beyond the Community Research Hub, we also facilitate Citizen Panels, Patient & Public Involvement in research, and co-production and co-design workshops across a variety of projects.

Key Achievements 2023-24.

• BVSC Research delivered eight evaluations.

• BVSC Research conducted nine research projects.

• Ten workshops, network events and capacity building activities have been delivered with the VCFSE sector.

• Five small grants have been distributed to support VCFSE organisations to work with academic partners to co-design research projects.

• Over £350k of in-year funding has been secured, with 20% of this allocated to VCFSE partners and Community Researchers.

• The Community Research Hub has been established on behalf of Birmingham City Council Public Health team.

• BVSC research has co-designed ‘Foundations of Community Research’ training programme with partners.

• Recruited, trained, and supported 20+ Community Researchers to work on Community Researched led projects.

• Established the BIRCH network, bringing together 60 people from organisations across the public, academic and VCSFE sectors.

Sophie Wilson Director of BVSC Research

Income Generation

The back-office services team continued to provide support to small Voluntary Community Faith and Social Enterprise Organisations, over 70 organisations were supported with their payroll, accounting and HR management.

The building was purchased as a going concern, and we inherited a number of tenants from the previous owners of Latham House. This year has been used to manage these tenants and to start to look at how the vacant space in the building is used and refurbished. The income from existing tenants has been used to support the costs of running the building and underpin the activities of the charity.

23

Our People and Culture Our Teams At BVSC. our employee5 are the cornerstone of our success. bringing passion. expertise. and a commimient to excellence. Across all roles. whether they are working direcrly with our parrners or supporting opeTations behind the scenes. our stsff embody our core values of Commitment. Collaboration. Integrity. and Inclusion. guiding their artions and reinforcing the positive impact they make for BVSC. Our Senior Management Team Our Senior Management Team is comprised of our CEO. Deputy CEO. Programmes Direttor. Director of Research. Head of People and Culture. and Head of Strategic Parnierships and Sertor DevelopmenL They provide strategic leadership. ensure the effertive implementation of organisational goals. arKI oversee day to day operations. guiding BVSC towards long-temb success. P•apl• Ethnieity of swr members Vllwte Enuliyh. Wel5￿ Sronish. NDnI￿rn *iyfv w Brit15fv Asian or Asian •rn￿h lThlvAn Averaje £62873 50 Disability or health c(XKliti rythinSN 24

Our Staff Team 78% of ourstaff tearn work full time 22% of our staff work part time All part time members of staff are female 64¥0 ofour full time staff rnember5 are fema 36% of our fijll time staff member5 are male 16-24 IbU•d￿luIl 25

io Future Focus As we move forward. we will continue ro strengrhen our recruitment proie5se5. ensunng they Temain fatr. Inclusr¥e. arKI aligned wtth our organisational values. We are committed to ensuring that our proce55e5 remain transparent and crÈate an equitablÈ patTr￿ for all candidates. thrive wor ilding on our existing perforniance mana9ement framework. wt will continue to recognise and reward employee growth through consistent feedback and career development opportunities. Utilising our compererKy frame%bixk. Our focus remain5 on maintaining a culture of conrinuou5 improbtment. with a Strong emphasis on recognirion and motivation. Through regular benchmaTking. will ensure our pay and bEnefits packages remain competttive. reflerring ourcommirment to fair and meaningful compensation. SECOND CHANCE5 Employee V•*llbein9 rem￿￿$ Centr￿ to our approach_ As a Ltving Wage employer. and OUT Foundatitin Level athievemÈnt In the Thrive at Work programme and Silver Accreditation in the Second Chances Charter, we are pro￿￿ to demonstrate our dedication to inclusivity and support. We ￿11 continue io promoie flexible w￿rking. mental health sup￿rt. and phy5icaJ wellbeing initiaii¥es. ensuring our hybrid working environment remain5 cohe5i¥e and supportive for all. 26

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Going Concern

The trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charitable company has adequate resources to continue to operate in the foreseeable future. They therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details can be found under the Accounting Policies. They acknowledge the next few years will utilise most of the free reserves, paramount will be the investment needed in the building, which will set the charity up with independent income in future years. There will be a dip in free reserves, which may be negative, however this will be monitored by the board along with the cashflow and action taken if required to ensure the short-term viability and the long-term sustainability of the organisation.

Financial Review

In the statement of financial activities, (SOFA) BVSC reports a deficit of £126km in the year, which is made up of a deficit in unrestricted funds of £167km and a surplus of £41k in restricted funds after transfers.

The surplus in restricted reserves is made up of increases and decreases in funding held for specific activities note 19 gives a breakdown of all these projects. Some projects utilised reserves brought forward from the previous year and some held funding in reserves at the end of the year for delivery of activities in the coming year.

The biggest single activity during the year was that of grant making. We distributed significant funds to organisations in the Voluntary and Community sector in Birmingham and we distributed significant resources to families and individuals suffering hardship. Most of this because of the on-going impact of the cost-of-living crisis. The grant making activities accounted for just under £12.8m of our income and expenditure during the year.

Incoming Resources and Resources Expended:

The charts below give a breakdown of how BVSC spent its income to deliver its aims and objectives and who funded BVSC during the year.

Expenditure on Activities during the year:

27

Sources of Income:

Review of the Performance of Subsidiaries:

BVSC Enterprises (company registration number 1660160), with the sale of BVSC’s building during the year, conferencing was closed down.

The Enterprise board has four directors; two nominations from BVSC’s board of management, BVSC’s CEO and one director with a specific emphasis on business/entrepreneurial skills and experience, there is currently two vacancies. Since the sale of 138 Digbeth in 2022, we have not delivered any conferencing services.

BVSC KickStart Limited (formerly Talent Match Birmingham and Solihull Limited) (company registration number 09112870). No activity was delivered through this company during the year.

The board is made up of the two directors, we currently have one.

BVSC Management Services Limited (company registration number 3130064) is a dormant company.

Reserves Policy:

The trustees reviewed and updated the reserves policy during the year to enable the charity to proactively manage its reserves over the next few years.

BVSC’s reserves policy is to maintain at least three months unrestricted expenditure as free reserves, this should enable the charity to manage any unforeseen financial circumstances in the short term.

Exceptional Circumstances:

28

In exceptional circumstances, the Board of Trustees may take a strategic decision to utilise unrestricted reserves to invest in the charity and its ability to deliver its objects. This decision may lead to reserves that do not meet the reserves policy or result in negative reserves for a short period. This approach will be a managed process, aiming to secure the long-term future of the charity.

Free unrestricted reserves needed to cover 3 months of unrestricted expenditure in 20242025 is £263k.

The unrestricted reserves for the year totalled £3.753m of these £3.730m are invested in assets. Therefore, the current level of free unrestricted reserves is £23k. The board are aware there may be further depletion of the free reserves in the short term whilst investment into the building continues and are proactively monitoring and managing this. Plans are being prepared to forecast when the investment in the building will bring returns that can be used to start building the reserves up again.

PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

What we do

We are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of people in Birmingham and we believe that the key to this is found in our communities.

By supporting a robust voluntary and community sector informed by the lived experience of local people, we enable organisations and individuals working to deliver social change, to identify and build on existing strengths and to enhance these through volunteering and social action.

Our aim is to support a vibrant and resilient sector which in turn ensures that people from across the city feel included and engaged and have access to appropriate support from people who understand the issues and challenges they face.

Our strength comes from working in partnership with the voluntary, community, public and private sectors to develop effective responses to these challenges and to engage citizens in an exciting journey towards a better, stronger future.

Our passionate and dedicated staff team leads on the three key areas of our work, which are:

• Being a helpful membership organisation - Providing infrastructure, training, research, consultancy, volunteering, and practical and strategic support to our members and partners.

• Being a trusted partner - Developing, leading, and supporting effective peoplecentred collaborative approaches across the public, private and third sectors.

• Being a values-driven organisation - Offering constructive advocacy and representation services in order to ensure that the unique and diverse contribution of the voluntary and community sector is recognised, valued, and celebrated.

Our Vision

29

BVSC’s vision is a Birmingham in which all people enjoy lives of inclusion, safety, wellbeing, and fulfilment.

Our Mission

BVSC's mission is to support and advocate for a strong and influential voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector.

Our Values

All our work is under-pinned by a commitment to our organisational values, which are:

• Commitment - Supporting positive change through passion, innovation, and social action.

• Collaboration - Connecting individuals and organisations to work together to improve people’s lives.

• Inclusion - Empowering everyone to get involved in creating a fair and equitable Birmingham.

• Integrity - Building trust through transparently working in the interests of our sector and our citizens.

Our Aims and Objectives for 2024-2025

1. To ensure citizens are supported to contribute to, and benefit from, civil society.

• a) Champion and develop volunteering and voluntary action at both a city-wide and grassroots level.

• b) Use data to deepen our understanding of citizens’ needs, concerns, and aspirations.

• c) Highlight and celebrate the strengths and assets within our communities, fostering a culture of appreciation and empowerment.

• d) Facilitate citizen-led engagement and involvement through research, co-design, and coproduction activities, ensuring that citizens play a central role in shaping and delivering policies and services.

• e) Advocate for policies and practices that prioritise equity, striving for fair and inclusive outcomes for citizens, particular those from underserved groups.

2. To ensure VCFSE organisations have access to the knowledge and resources needed to achieve their aims.

• a) Provide infrastructure support, resources, information, advice, and guidance to VCFSE organisations that improves their effectiveness and impact.

• b) Offer high quality research, evaluation, analysis and learning opportunities to support organisations to evidence their impact and build their own capacity.

30

• c) Offer business development and fundraising support.

• d) Maximise investment into the VCSFE.

• e) Provide regular networking opportunities across the VCFSE to share learning and best practice.

• f) Coordinate the distribution of grants.

3. To ensure the voluntary sector is influential as a force for positive change.

• a) Work to increase access to and use of information, intelligence, and data so the VCFSE sector and its partners can better understand and serve the needs of Birmingham’s citizens and communities.

• b) Increase the reach and impact of research and evaluation with, for, and about the VCFSE sector.

• c) Promote the VCFSE sector’s role in influencing positive systems change within Birmingham.

• d) Connect and promote the range of VCFSE sector voices across the city.

• e) Deliver and support effective VCFSE contributions to cross-sector activity within the city.

• To ensure BVSC is an independent, effective, inclusive, and sustainable organisation.

• a) Continue to build an inclusive, values driven, positive and supportive working environment.

• b) Develop our staff to work effectively and realise their potential.

• c) Ensure financial stability and sustainability through effective governance and management.

• d) Take a balanced approach to the funding environment. Focusing on securing resources for BVSC in a way that is reflective of the make-up of broader investment into the VCFSE.

• e) Ensure our operational infrastructure supports effective delivery.

• f) Maintain a strong voluntary sector-led governance structure.

• g) Develop BVSC’s building to support the presence of the VCFSE within Birmingham City Centre and BVSC’s ongoing financial stability.

• h) Improve our digital offer.

31

STATEMENT OF DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The directors are responsible for preparing the Report of the Directors and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and the group and of the surplus or deficit of the company and the group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and the group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity’s website.

STATEMENT AS TO DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO AUDITORS:

So far as the directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information (as defined by section 418 of the Companies Act 2006) of which the company’s auditors are unaware, and each director has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a director in order to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information.

In preparing this report the Directors have taken advantage of the small companies’ exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006

AUDITORS

The auditors have indicated their willingness to continue in office and the auditors, Dains Audit Limited, will be proposed for reappointment in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006 at the next meeting of the trustees.

Approved by the Trustee Board and signed in their behalf:

Chair Lisa Martinali

Date 29th October 2024

32

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL (A company Limited by Guarantee)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (the 'parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (‘the group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated and charity balance sheets, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the related notes, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the group’s or the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

33

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Annual report other than the financial statements and our Auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

• the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the group and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of Trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• • the Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies’ regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a Strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees' responsibilities statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary

34

to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s or the parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

• the senior statutory auditor ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities, and skills to identify or recognise on-compliance

• with applicable laws and regulations;

• we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the charity sector;

• we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct

• material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company, including the financial reporting legislation, Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation,

• anti-bribery, employment, and environmental and health and safety legislation;

• we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and

• • identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

• making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected, and alleged fraud; and

• considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

35

• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

• tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;

• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and

• investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

• agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

• reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and

• reviewing correspondence with HMRC, relevant regulators and the company’s legal advisors.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission, or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and its members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Andrew Morris FCA (Senior statutory auditor)

for and on behalf of Dains Audit Limited

Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants

Birmingham

Date: 29 October 2024

36

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCORPORATING THE INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE INCOME Donations and legacies Income from charitable activities: 3 Grants and contracts receivable 4 Income from other trading activities 5 Investment income 6 Other income TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE 7 Expenditure on raising funds 8 Expenditure on charitable activities TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 13 Net gains/(losses) on investments NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) BEFORE TRANSFERS Gross transfers between funds NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) AFTER TRANSFERS NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 1,846 150 1,996 1,973 - 16,125,451 16,125,451 18,391,524 221,228 64,995 286,223 124,162 15,797 - 15,797 17,564 17,304 112,187 129,491 3,278,498
	256,175 16,302,783 16,558,958 21,813,721
	180,400 - 180,400 23,419 243,443 16,262,079 16,505,522 18,953,626
	423,843 16,262,079 16,685,922 18,977,045
	992 - 992 (2,050)
	(166,676) 40,704 (125,972) 2,834,626 705 (705) - -
	(167,381) 41,409 (125,972) 2,834,626
	(167,381) 41,409 (125,972) 2,834,626 3,919,973 1,525,814 5,445,787 2,611,161
	3,752,592 1,567,223 5,319,815 5,445,787

37

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024

Company Registration: 00421688

NOTE FIXED ASSETS 13 Tangible Assets 14 Investments TOTAL FIXED ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS 15 Debtors Cash at Bank & in Hand TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS LIABILITIES 16 Creditors-Amounts falling due within 1 year NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 22 NET ASSETS THE FUNDS OF THE CHARITY 20 Restricted Income Funds 21 Designated Reserves 21 Unrestricted Income Funds 22 TOTAL FUNDS	GROUP 2024 2023 £ £ 3,724,414 20,850 5,588 4,596 3,730,002 25,446 1,346,382 594,961 1,824,203 8,598,050 3,170,585 9,193,011 1,580,772 3,772,670 1,589,813 5,420,341 5,319,815 5,445,787 5,319,815 5,445,787 1,567,223 1,525,814 3,730,002 3,600,000 22,590 319,973 5,319,815 5,445,787	COMPANY 2024 2023 £ £ 3,724,414 20,850 5,689 4,697
		3,730,103 25,547
		1,346,382 615,276 1,819,978 8,573,207
		3,166,360 9,188,483
		1,580,751 3,772,652
		1,585,609 5,415,831
		5,315,712 5,441,378
		5,315,712 5,441,378
		1,567,223 1,525,814 3,730,002 3,600,000 18,487 315,564
		5,315,712 5,441,378

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to the small companies’ regime.

Approved on behalf of the Board:

Chair Lisa Martinali

The notes on pages 41 to 80 form part of these accounts

Date: 29/10/24

38

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Notes Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities (a) Returns on investments and servicing of finance Investment income Bank Charges Capital expenditure and financial investment Surplus on disposal of fixed assets Sales Proceeds from disposal of assets Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets Net cash inflow/(outflow) before financing Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the year	15,797 (24,471)	2024 £ (3,000,173) (8,674) (3,765,000)	17,564 (14,700)	2023 £ 6,079,293 2,864 (572,209)
	0 (3,765,000)		(2,973,205) 3,550,000 (4,586)
		(6,773,847)		6,654,366
		(6,773,847)		6,654,366

39

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Notes Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities (a) Returns on investments and servicing of finance Investment income Bank Charges Capital expenditure and financial investment Surplus on disposal of fixed assets Sales Proceeds from disposal of assets Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets Net cash inflow/(outflow) before financing Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the year	15,797 (24,471)	2024 £ (3,000,173) (8,674) (3,765,000)	17,564 (14,700)	2023 £ 6,079,293 2,864 (572,209)
	0 (3,765,000)		(2,973,205) 3,550,000 (4,586)
		(6,773,847)		6,654,366
		(6,773,847)		6,654,366

40

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

GENERAL INFORMATION

BVSC is a charity and private company limited by guarantee, company registered no 00421688, registered charity no 218795, registered address 5[th] Floor Latham House, 33-34 Paradise Street, Birmingham, B1 2AJ.

NOTE

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.1. Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention amended for the revaluation of investment assets and in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards. The accounts have been prepared in compliance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019)- Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. BVSC meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

1.2. Basis of consolidation

The group financial statements include the financial statements of the parent company and of its wholly owned subsidiary undertakings, BVSC Enterprises Limited, BVSC Kickstart Limited (formerly TMCO Birmingham and Solihull Limited) and BVSC Management Services Limited. The results of the subsidiaries are consolidated on a line-by-line basis.

1.3. Company Status

The charitable company is a company limited by guarantee. The members of the company are voluntary and community organisations in Birmingham. The trustees and directors of the company are listed on page 3 and 4. In the event the company is wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charitable company.

1.4. Income and Expenditure

A separate summary income and expenditure account dealing with the results of the company has not been prepared as permitted by the Companies Act 2006.

All income is recognised when the charitable company has entitlement to the income, and it is probable the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably.

Grants are included in the Statement of financial activities on a receivable basis. The balance of income received for specific purposes but not expended during the period is shown in the relevant funds on the Balance sheet. Where income is received in advance of entitlement of receipt, its recognition is deferred and included in creditors as deferred income. Where entitlement occurs before income is received, the income is accrued.

41

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided or on completion of the service.

Government grants in support of the Coronavirus response are credited to the Consolidated statements of financial activities as the related expenditure is incurred.

Expenditure is recognised when there is a liability that has been incurred for a period of activity. The costs of delivering activities are made up of direct costs and shared costs which include support costs. Direct costs are charged against specific activities, shared costs are apportioned to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Expenditure on raising funds is those costs attributable to income generation and trading activities, expenditure on charitable activities are direct support costs of delivering the charities objectives.

1.5. Intangible assets

Amortisation is calculated to write off the intangible assets over their estimated useful lives.

1.6. Tangible assets

Depreciation is calculated to write off the tangible assets over their estimated useful lives. The valuation of Freehold Buildings is depreciated on a straight-line basis, over its expected useful life of 50 years. The cost of Equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis over their expected useful of 3 years. The cost of fixtures and fittings is depreciated over 10 years. Freehold Land is not depreciated.

1.7. Investment Policy

No powers have been delegated to managers for the investment of funds, at present all investment decisions are referred back to the Board of Trustees.

Investments in listed company shares are remeasured to fair value at the balance sheet date with reference to readily available market prices. Gains and losses on remeasurement are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

1.8. Grant Making Policy

Grants are made to organisations in accordance with the arrangements and conditions set out in the funding agreements for specific projects and programmes.

1.9. Fund Accounting

42

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

General funds are unrestricted funds that can be used in accordance with BVSC's charitable objectives at the discretion of the Trustees and have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds received for a specific purpose or activity which has been specified by the donor.

1.10. Financial Instruments

The charitable company only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. These basic financial instruments are recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

1.11.Cash at Bank and In Hand

Cash is represented by cash in hand and deposits with financial institutions repayable without penalty on notice of no more than 24 hours.

1.12.Operating Leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charges to the income and expenditure account on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

1.13. Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at settlement amount, prepayments are recognised at the amount prepaid.

1.14. Liabilities and Provisions

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Liabilities are recognised at the amount the charitable company anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advance payments for goods or services it must provide. Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation.

1.15. Pension Scheme

The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund. The costs of the company's contributions to the pension scheme are charged to the income and expenditure account in the period in which they become payable. There are no unpaid or prepaid pension contributions to the defined contribution pension scheme at the balance sheet date (last year no unpaid or prepaid pension contributions).

43

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

2. NET INCOME FROM TRADING ACTIVITIES OF SUBSIDIARIES

The charity has three wholly owned trading subsidiaries which were incorporated in the UK. BVSC Enterprises limited, a private limited company, registered no 01660160, provides conferencing facilities primarily to the voluntary sector.

BVSC Management Services Limited, a private limited company, registered no 3130064, is a dormant company.

BVSC KickStart Limited formerly Talent Match Company Birmingham and Solihull Limited, a private company, registered no 09112870, provides support to deliver the Kickstart placement programme.

All three companies are registered at 5[th] Floor Latham House, 33-34 Paradise Street, Birmingham, B1 2AJ. Theses subsidiary accounts are consolidated into the group.

44

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

2. Turnover Cost of sales Gross Profit Interest receivable Administration Gift aid to BVSC Operating (Loss)/Profit	BVSC BVSC KICKSTART Management Enterprises Limited Services 2024 2023 Limited Limited Total Total £ £ £ £ £ 94 - - 94 44,886 - - 0 (27,705)
	94 - - 94 17,181 - - 0 0 (400) - - (400) 4,286 (0) (21,467)
	(306)- - (306) 0

The assets and liabilities of the subsidiaries were:

Assets Liabilities Net assets/(liabilities) Representing: Share capital Profit and loss account Shareholders' funds	£ £ 4,225 - -	£ - (21)
	4,225 -	(21)
	100 - 4,125- 4,225-	1 (22)
		(21)

45

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

3.	Grants and Contracts Receivable - Restricted Funds	2024	2023
		Incoming	Incoming
		Resources	Resources
		£	£
	Accessible Social Investment for B'ham (Barrow Cadbury Connect Fund)	-	1,000
	BIG Lottery - Good Practice Mentors Project	-	50,000
	BIG Lottery Ageing Better	(4,602)	(14,821)
	BIG Lottery: Birmingham Changing Futures Together	-	(110,144)
	Birchfield Big Local Partnership	202,040	74,053
	Birchfield Big Local Partnership other income	12,100	10,368
	Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership	200,000	200,000
	Business Support Coordination	(20,400)	-
	Community Development Practice Hub	100,000	104,000
	Community Leadership Training	-	75,000
	Creative Civic Change	-	48,474
	Early Help -Children and Families	2,105,114	2,017,704
	Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards	132,495	88,603
	Firs and Bromford Local Partnership	123615	-

46

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Fairer Futures Grants	117,902	209,687
Health Projects:
Digital Inclusion	-	83,333
Health - VCS support	33,332	143,667
ICS Strategy Engagement	-	19,250
Integrated Care System	63,816	85,000
Long Covid Community Engagement	198,506	95,000
Roots to Wellbeing	-	65,000
Women's Hormonal Health	183,821	80,999
Covid Vaccination Programme - engagement of communities	-	50,000
Household Support Fund -Bed Poverty Project	1,200,000	-
Household Support Fund	9,901,255	13,863,808
Kickstart	-	13,376
Local Energy Advice Demonstrator	355008	-
Living Wage -engagement and awareness (Barrow Cadbury)	8,000	8,000
Mental Health Transitional Worker	40,454	-

47

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NAVCA Small Grants Neighbourhood Network Support Neighbourhood Network Support - Fuel Poverty NHS Bham and Solihull ICB Parenting Support for Fathers Redundancy and Retraining Research Rough Sleepers Initiative Shelter Grants Ukraine -Support grants Violence Against Women and Girls Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager	- 99,904 - 4373 180000 78,141 282,022 143,204 106,666 30,000 60000 151,471 37,214 **16,125,451 **	10,000 99,972 49,957 - - 72,452 206,126 51,454 113,332 311,000 - 158,651 57,223
		18,391,524

48

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

4 INCOME FROM OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

Consolidated trading subsidiary income Consultancy fees Rental income Business solutions	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 94 - 94 44,886 - 64,995 64,995 17,520 159,340 - 159,340 875 61,794 - 61,794 60,881
	221,228 64,995 286,223 124,162

NOTE 5 INVESTMENT INCOME

INVESTMENT INCOME
Deposit interest	2024 £ 15,797 **15,797 **	2023 £ 17,564
		**17,564 **

49

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 6 OTHER INCOME

OTHER INCOME
Book and 'Update' income Training income Income for moving costs Surplus on Sale of building Change Into Action Digital Inclusion Exempt Accommodation - charges to organisations Local Trust partnership programmes Research Secondment Other income	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 13,426 - 13,426 18,527 (637) 3,558 2,921 11,250 - - - 200,000 - - - 2,973,205 - 8,602 8,602 11,432 - 3,454 3,454 - - 11,717 11,717 7,779 - 20,960 20,960 - - 8,691 8,691 - - 43,804 43,804 43,653 4,515 11,401 15,916 12,652
	17,304 112,187 129,491 3,278,498

50

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 7 EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS

Service Charge cost - tenants Consolidated trading subsidiary expenditure BVSC Enterprises KICKSTART	Unrestricted Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 180,000 - 180,000 - 400 - 400 (4,286) - -27,705
	180,400 - 180,400 23,419

NOTE 8 RESOURCES EXPENDED ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - Restricted Funds

			Grants to
		Activities	Individuals
		Undertaken	and	Support
	Charitable Activity	Directly	Organisations	Costs	Total 2024	Total 2023
			(Note 8d)	(Note 8a)
		£	£	£	£	£
BG	Lottery - Good Practice Mentors Project	-	-	-	-	48,532
BIG	Awards for All	-	-	-	-	9,950
BIG	Lottery Ageing Better	-	-	-	-	6,794

51

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

BIG Lottery: Birmingham Changing Futures Together	- -	-	-	75,840
BIG Lottery: Birmingham Changing Futures Together (ICAT)	- -	-	-	6,268
BIG Lottery: covid support IT (capitalisation of cost IT
equipment)	11,189 -	-	11,189	16,666
Birchfield Big Local Partnership	115,332 -	5,570	120,902	121,082
Birchfield Big Local Partnership other income	6,109 -	-	6,109	10,860
Birmingham City Council Covid Recovery	30,593 -	6,715	37,308	800
Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership	195,397 -	15,500	210,897	231,524
Birmingham Parent Carer Forum Secondment	34,148 -	3,000	37,148	36,988
Birmingham Volunteer Strategy	33,920 -	4,000	37,920	-
Business Support Coordination	9,722 -	-	9,722	-
Building Grant	- -	-	-	967
Change Into Action	15,800 -	-	15,800	4,801
Commonwealth Games Legacy Grants	- 8,220	-	8,220	228,965
Community Development Practice Hub	29,696 -	22,500	52,196	-
Community Leadership Training	32,589 -	-	32,589	44,177
Compassionate Communities/Covid Recovery Grants	10,280 129,558	-	139,838	6,700

52

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Creative Civic Change	3,678	500	-	4,178	55,804
Domestic Abuse - Mapping	-	-	-	-	14,371
Early Help -Children and Families	186,272	1,893,225	15,000	2,094,497	2,026,958
Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards	129,500	-	18,739	148,239	124,776
Firs and Bromford Local Partnership	114,887	-	-	114,887	-
Fairer Futures Grants	410	279,838	2,794	283,042	-
Health Projects:
Cardiovascular Disease	16,927	-	2,200	19,127	-
Digital Inclusion	2,000	11,630		13,630	66,512
Health - VCS support	8,345	-	25,000	33,345	204,406
ICS Strategy Engagement	-	-			19,250
Integrated Care System	29,198	13,630	-	42,828	83,871
Long Covid Community Engagement	12,585	170,500	3,500	186,585	95,765
Personal Health Budget	-	-	-	-	2,599
Population Health management	-	-	-	-	12,000
Roots to Wellbeing	37,835	835		38,670	22,802
		-

53

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Telephone Trees	-	-	-	3,535
Women's Hormonal Health	72,311 105,014	5,996	183,321	81,306
Covid Vaccination Programme - engagement of communities	- -	-	-	18,000
Holiday Activity Fund	- -	-	-	9,698
Household Support Fund	252,200 9,640,231	49,459	9,941,890	13,923,094
Household Support Fund -Bed Poverty Project	486,246 33,173	112,730	632,149	-
Housing First	43,608 -	11,714	55,322	2,008
Local Energy Advice Demonstrator	98,432 230,743	28,224	357,399	-
Living Wage -engagement and awareness (Barrow Cadbury)	8,888 -	3,750	12,638	7,149
Mental Health Transitional Worker	34,988 -	4,748	39,736	24,027
NAVCA Small Grants	- 500	-	500	4,000
Neighbourhood Network Support	109,701 -	9,400	119,101	120,331
Neighbourhood Network Support Fuel Poverty	- -	-	-	76,338
NHS Volunteering Covid Project	8,972 -	1,970	10,942	-
Parenting Support for Fathers	8,181 82,600	14,400	105,181	-
Redundancy and Retraining	85,634 -	1,979	87,613	61,383
Research	378,835 7,686	47,000	433,521	231,709

54

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Rough Sleeping Initiative Shelter Grants Ukraine -Support grants Violence Against Women and Girls Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager Total Resources Expended on Charitable Activities	89,697 - 8,152 97,849 60,437 - 141,152 788 141,940 3,057 23,394 77,901 3,113 104,408 228,009 18,211 - 8,030 26,241 20,497 167,855 - 8,393 176,248 144,697 32,012- 5,202 37,214 51,476
	2,985,577 12,826,936 449,566 16,262,079 18,650,779

8a ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS

		Accommodation	Finance	Human		Total
Charitable Activity	Management	Costs	Costs	Resources	IT	2024
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Birchfield Big Local Partnership	1225	1,560	1,393	836	557	5,570
Birmingham City Council Covid Recovery	1477	1,880	1,679	1,007	672	6,715
Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership	3410	4,340	3,875	2,325	1,550	15,500
Birmingham Parent Carer Forum Secondment	660	840	750	450	300	3,000

55

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Birmingham Volunteer Strategy	880	1,120	1,000	600	400	4,000
Community Development Practice Hub	4950	6,300	5,625	3,375	2,250	22,500
Early Help -Children and Families	3300	4,200	3,750	2,250	1,500	15,000
Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards	4123	5,247	4,685	2,811	1,874	18,739
Fairer Futures Grants	615	782	699	419	279	2,794
Health Projects:
Cardiovascular Disease	484	616	550	330	220	2,200
Health and Social Care	5500	7,000	6,250	3,750	2,500	25,000
Long Covid Community Engagement	770	980	875	525	350	3,500
Women's Hormonal Health	1319	1,679	1,499	899	600	5,996
Household Support Fund	10881	13,849	12,365	7,419	4,946	49,459
Household Support Fund -Bed Poverty Project	24801	31,564	28,183	16,910	11,273	112,730
Housing First	2577	3,280	2,929	1,757	1,171	11,714
Local Energy Advice Demonstrator	6209	7,903	7,056	4,234	2,822	28,224
Living Wage -engagement and awareness (Barrow
Cadbury)	825	1,050	938	563	375	3,750
Mental Health Transitional Worker	1045	1,329	1,187	712	475	4,748

56

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Neighbourhood Network Support NHS Volunteering Covid Project Parenting Support for Fathers Redundancy and Retraining Research Rough Sleeping Initiative Shelter Grants Ukraine -Support grants Violence Against Women and Girls Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager Totals Support costs are allocated to projects on a mixture of time percentage of the value of the contract.	2068 2,632 2,350 1,410 940 9,400 433 552 493 296 197 1,970 3168 4,032 3,600 2,160 1,440 14,400 435 554 495 297 198 1,979 10340 13,160 11,750 7,050 4,700 47,000 1793 2,283 2,038 1,223 815 8,152 173 221 197 118 79 788 685 872 778 467 311 3,113 1767 2,248 2,008 1,205 803 8,030 1846 2,350 2,098 1,259 839 8,393 1144 1,457 1,301 780 520 5,202
	98,905 125,878 112,392 67,435 44,957 449,566
	spent and number of staff or as a

57

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

		Accommodation	Finance	Human		Total
Charitable Activity	Management	Costs	Costs	Resources	IT	2023
	£	£	£	£	£	£
BIG Lottery - Good Practice Mentors Project	550	700	625	375	250	2,500
BIG Lottery Ageing Better	1,119	1,424	1,272	763	509	5,087
BIG Lottery: Birmingham Changing Futures Together	4,617	5,876	5,246	3,148	2,099	20,985
Birchfield Big Local Partnership	1,254	1,595	1,425	855	570	5,698
Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership	3,410	4,340	3,875	2,325	1,550	15,500
Birmingham Parent Carer Forum Secondment	660	840	750	450	300	3,000
Change Into Action	251	319	285	171	114	1,140
Community Leadership Training	770	980	875	525	350	3,500
Creative Civic Change	439	559	499	300	200	1,997
Early Help -Children and Families	4,400	5,600	5,000	3,000	2,000	20,000
Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards	4,123	5,247	4,685	2,811	1,874	18,739
Health Projects:						-
Digital Inclusion	1,100	1,400	1,250	750	500	5,000
ICS Strategy Engagement	220	280	250	150	100	1,000

58

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Integrated Care System Long Covid Community Engagement Roots to Wellbeing Women's Hormonal Health Covid Vaccination Programme - engagement of communities Household Support Fund Mental Health Transitional Worker Neighbourhood Network Support Research Rough Sleeping Initiative Ukraine -Support grants Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager Totals

2,640 3,360 3,000 1,800 1,200 12,000 557 709 633 380 253 2,531 2,024 2,576 2,300 1,380 920 9,200 619 788 704 422 282 2,815 880 1,120 1,000 600 400 4,000 47,161 60,023 53,592 32,155 21,437 214,367 1,045 1,329 1,187 712 475 4,748 2,200 2,800 2,500 1,500 1,000 10,000 2,456 3,125 2,791 1,674 1,116 11,162 715 910 813 488 325 3,250 685 872 778 467 311 3,113 1,506 1,916 1,711 1,027 684 6,844 1,144 1,457 1,301 780 520 5,202

86,543 110,146 98,345 59,007 39,338 393,378

Support costs are allocated to projects on a mixture of time spent and number of staff.

59

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 8b RESOURCES EXPENDED ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - Unrestricted Funds

Activity Business Solutions Tenants Training Membership and Communications Strategic work Management and Administration Building negotiations costs Accommodation costs Finance, HR, IT Conferencing costs not charged to subsidiary Total Resources Expended on Charitable Activities	2024 £ 43,577 - 1,180 69,144 13,841 8,621 19,061 43,043 44,977 - 243,443	2023 £ 49,666 797 2,000 29,234 26,309 18,488 34,129 86,615 53,942 1,667
		302,847

60

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

8c RESOURCES EXPENDED ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Expenditure Staff costs Running costs Computer costs Room hire/catering Professional fees/consultancy Publicity/publications Cleaning Maintenance and repairs Depreciation Heat/light/rates Insurance Bank charges Sub-contracts with partners Other direct delivery costs Grant payments Volunteer expense Governance Total Resources Expended	2024 £ 2,063,612 19,512 101,718 35,550 73,079 4,363 5,575 23,948 61,436 7,308 12,257 24,471 140,850 1,073,807 12,826,936 1,205 29,895 16,505,522	2023 £ 1,903,334 31,869 84,875 38,055 25,578 34,658 21,436 8,113 29,662 12,723 (3,456) 14,700 (3,768) 812,932 15,918,835 1,941 22,139
		18,953,626

61

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE
8d RESOURCES EXPENDED ON GRANT PAYMENTS
			2024
	No of grants	No of grants	Grants
Grants Programme	to individuals	organisations	paid
Commonwealth Games Legacy Grants		6	8,220
Compassionate Communities and Covid Recovery		13	129,558
Creative Civic Change		1	500
Early Help -Children and Families		8	1,893,225
Fairer Futures Grants		31	279,838
Health Projects:
Digital Inclusion		6	11,630
ICS Strategy Engagement		1	13,630
Long Covid Community Engagement		31	170,500
Roots to Wellbeing		6	835
Women's Hormonal Health		2	105,014
Household Support Fund Bed Poverty		1	33,173

62

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Household Support Fund Household Support Funds - Lead Agencies Grants Local Energy Advice Demonstrator NAVCA Small Grants Parenting Support for Fathers Research Shelter Grants Ukraine -Support grants Total	46,345 9 9 1 12 1 10 8 46,345 156	8,875,126 765,105 230,743 500 82,600 7,686 141,152 77,901
		12,826,936

2023 No of grants No of grants Grants Grants Programme to individuals organisations paid Commonwealth Games Legacy Grants 84 198,510 Creative Civic Change 2 10,225 Early Help -Children and Families 7 1,810,118 Health Projects:

63

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Digital Inclusion ICS Strategy Engagement Long Covid Community Engagement Population Health management Women's Hormonal Health Household Support Fund Household Support Funds - Lead Agencies Grants NAVCA Small Grants Neighbourhood Network Support Fuel Poverty Redundancy and Retraining Research Ukraine -Support grants Total	5 17 25 12 2 90,274 24 9 1 1 1 17 90,274 **207 **	46,002 12,000 75,000 12,000 44,570 12,901,175 500,000 4,000 30,000 51,608 4,300 219,327
		15,918,835

64

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

9 STAFF COSTS AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Wages and Salaries Redundancy Costs Social Security Costs Pensions	2024 £ 1,758,051 5,939 179,862 84,329 2,028,181	2023 £ 1,569,641 - 163,394 70,657
		1,803,692

Redundancy costs relate to the payment to two staff as a result of their projects finishing and one post as a result of restructuring in a team. No payments were outstanding as at the 31st March 2024.

Directors and trustees received no benefits, expenses, or remuneration during the year.

One employee received emoluments in the band of £70,000-£80,000 (last year one employee in the band of £70,000-£80,000).

The trustees consider key management personnel comprised of the CEO and the Deputy CEO. The total amount employee benefits received by key management personnel are £161,354 (last year £152,787).

65

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

10 NET INCOME FOR THE YEAR

Net Income is stated after charging:

NET INCOME FOR THE YEAR Net Income is stated after charging:
	2024	2023
	£	£
Depreciation and amortisation	61,436	29,662
Auditor's remuneration - audit fee	14,100	10,680
Operating Lease Income	159,340	875

NOTE

11 AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

The average number of employees, not including Directors during the year was as follows:

Senior managers Project Staff Corporate services and income generation Total number of staff	2024 11 24 11 46	2023 11 27 12
		50

66

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

NOTE
12 INTANGIBLE ASSETS GROUP AND COMPANY Cost or Revaluation at 31 March 2023 Additions Disposals At 31 March 2024 Depreciation at 31 March 2023 Charges for the Year On Disposals Depreciation at 31 March 2024 Net Book Value at 31 March 2024 Net Book Value at 31 March 2023	IT Software £ 131,740 - 131,740
	-
	131,740 - 131,740
	-
	-
	-

67

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

13 TANGIBLE ASSETS GROUP AND COMPANY

Cost or Revaluation at 31 March 2023 Additions Disposals At 31 March 2024 Depreciation at 31 March 2023 Charges for the Year On Disposals Depreciation at 31 March 2024 Net Book Value at 31 March 2024 Net Book Value at 31 March 2023	Equipment Fixtures Land Freehold Total and Fittings Property £ £ £ 85,947 - - - 85,947 3,421 118,555 900,000 2,743,024 3,765,000 - -
	89,368 118,555 900,000 2,743,024 3,850,947
	65,097 - - - 65,097 17,921 2,370 - 41,145 61,436 -
	83,018 2,370 - 41,145 126,533
	6,350 116,185 900,000 2,701,879 3,724,414
	20,850 - - - 20,850

Building

BVSC bought a building during the year, Latham House.

68

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE
14	FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS			Gain/(loss)
				in the
		2023	Disposals	year	2024
	UK Listed Investments	£			£
	1075 Aviva Plc 25p Ordinary Shares	4,346	-	992	5,338
	(Original Cost £1,231)
		4,346	-	992	5,338
	Unlisted investments	250			250
	Group	4,596	-	992	5,588
	Shares in Wholly Owned Subsidiary Companies:
	BVSC Enterprises Limited	100	-	-	100
	BVSC Management Services Limited	1	-	-	1
	Company	4,697	-	992	5,689
NOTE
15	DEBTORS (FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR)
		GROUP		COMPANY
		2024	2023	2024	2023
		£	£	£	£
	Trade debtors	707,519	506,358	707,519	505,206
	Other debtors	638,863	88,603	638,863	88,603
	Amounts owed by subsidiary undertaking	-	-	-	21,467
		1,346,382	594,961	1,346,382	615,276

69

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 16 CREDITORS (FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR)

Other creditors *Funds held on behalf of Voluntary Organisations Taxation & social security Accruals & deferred income	GROUP COMPANY 2024 2023 2024 2023 £ £ £ £ 713 959,253 692 959,232 64,775 64,775 64,775 64,775 78,839 147,112 78,839 147,115 1,436,445 2,601,530 1,501,220 2,601,530
	1,580,772 3,772,670 1,645,526 3,772,652

• Funds held on behalf of external organisations that we provided accountancy services for, these organisations no longer exist. These funds have been in the accounts for over 15 years. The board have approved using these funds to support the development and delivery of a Birmingham Volunteering strategy.

70

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 17 DEFERRED INCOME Deferred income:

Early Help Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards Fairer Futures Grants Household Support Fund Research Rough Sleepers Initiative Tenants Rent Total	B/fwd 2022 Released 2023 Deferred Income C/fwd 2023 £ £ £ £ 122,313 (122,313) 179,742 179,742 50,000 50,000 105,010 105,010 70,000 70,000 203,342 (128,410) 136,761 211,693 45,000 45,000 32,244 32,244
	325,655 (250,723) 618,757 693,689

NOTE PAYMENTS TO OR ON BEHALF OF TRUSTEES AND CONNECTED 18 PERSONS

No Trustees of the charity received any emoluments during this or the preceding year. No out-of-pocket expenses were paid to trustees during the year, (Nil paid in 2023). Trustees’ liability insurance has been obtained as part of the overall insurance cover - no details are available as to the separate cost of this.

71

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE 19 OPERATING LEASES

At 31st March 2024, the group had future minimum lease payments under non cancellable leases as follows:

< 1 year 1-5 years Lease Receipts: Tenants Receipts: < 1 year 1-5 years	2024 2023 £ £ - 38,644 - 0
	- 38,644
	2024 2023 £ £ 36,280 - 258,869 -
	295,149 -

72

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

NOTE

20 RESTRICTED INCOME FUNDS

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trusts to be applied for specific purposes.

		Movement in Funds	Movement in Funds	Movement in Funds
	Opening	Incoming	Outgoing		Closing
	Balance	Resources	Resources	Transfers	Balance
	£	£	£	£	£
BG Lottery - Good Practice Mentors Project	1,468			(1,468)
BIG Lottery Ageing Better	2,551	(4,602)		2,051
BIG Lottery: covid support IT (capitalisation of cost IT
equipment)	11,189		(11,189)
Birchfield Big Local Partnership	(63,073)	203,200	(120,902)		19,225
Birchfield Big Local Partnership other income	3,821	15,985	(6,109)		13,697
Birmingham City Council Covid Recovery	37,308		(37,308)
Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership	(5,270)	203,558	(210,897)	5,500	(7,109)
Birmingham Parent Carer Forum Secondment	3,907	43,804	(37,148)		10,563
Birmingham Volunteer Strategy		150	(37,920)		(37,770)
Business Support Coordination	30,000	(20,400)	(9,722)	122
Change Into Action	29,999	8,602	(15,800)		22,801
Commonwealth Games Legacy Grants	(14,707)		(8,220)		(22,927)
Community Development Practice Hub	104,000	100,000	(52,196)		151,804
Community Leadership Training	30,823		(32,589)		(1,766)
Compassionate Communities/Covid Recovery Grants	443,168		(139,838)		303,330
Creative Civic Change	10,494		(4,178)		6,316
Early Help -Children and Families	43,030	2,105,113	(2,094,497)		53,646
Exempt Accommodation Quality Standards	40,975	144,212	(148,239)		36,948
Firs and Bromford Local Partnership		125,551	(114,887)		10,664
Fairer Futures Grants	209,687	117,902	(283,042)		44,547

73

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Health Projects:
Cardiovascular Disease			(19,127)		(19,127)
Digital Inclusion	16,821	3,454	(13,630)		6,645
Health - VCS support	60,259	37,100	(33,345)		64,014
Health Engagement Grants	10,700				10,700
Integrated Care System	1,129				1,129
Integrated Care System	15,556	63,816	(42,828)		36,544
Long Covid Community Engagement	(765)	199,055	(186,585)		11,705
Personal Health Budget	(2,068)				(2,068)
Population Health management	13,000				13,000
Roots to Wellbeing	39,889		(38,670)		1,219
Women's Hormonal Health	(307)	183,821	(183,321)		193
Covid Vaccination Programme - engagement of communities
Household Support Fund	72,191	9,901,254	(9,941,890)		31,555
Household Support Fund -Bed Poverty Project		1,200,000	(632,149)		567,851
Housing First	74,829		(55,322)		19,507
Housing First Personalisation Fund	7,666				7,666
Local Energy Advice Demonstrator		355,008	(357,399)		(2,391)
Living Wage -engagement and awareness (Barrow Cadbury)	4,851	8,000	(12,638)		213
Mental Health Transitional Worker	57,042	40,453	(39,736)		57,759
NAVCA Small Grants	6,000		(500)	(5,500)
Neighbourhood Network Support	32,913	100,214	(119,101)		14,026
NHS Bham and Solihull ICB		4,372			4,372
NHS Volunteering Covid Project	10,942		(10,942)
Parenting Support for Fathers		180,000	(105,181)		74,819
PCC- Mapping	7,426				7,426
PCC-Funding Officer	8,472				8,472
Redundancy and Retraining	11,069	78,141	(87,613)		1,597
Research	5,430	355,708	(433,521)		(72,383)
Rough Sleepers Initiative	(8,983)	149,982	(97,849)		43,150
Shelter Grants	110,275	106,666	(141,940)		75,001

74

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Ukraine -Support grants Violence Against Women and Girls Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager	82,991 30,000 (104,408) 8,583 (20,497) 60,000 (26,241) 13,262 (15,041) 165,451 (176,248) (25,838) 4,654 37,212 (37,214) 4,652
	1,525,814 16,302,783 (16,262,079) 705 1,567,223

Note 21 UNRESTRICTED INCOME FUNDS

Unrestricted funds Designated Funds*	Movement in Funds Opening Incoming Outgoing Unrealised Closing Balance Resources Resources Transfers gain (loss) Balance £ £ £ £ £ £ 319,973 256,175 (423,843) (130,707) 992 22,590 3,600,000 130,002 3,730,002
	3,919,973 256,175 (423,843) (705) 992 3,752,592

*2024 Amounts tied up in fixed assets.

2023 -Reserves designated for the purchase of a new building.

75

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Notes to Restricted Reserves:

BIG Lottery – Good Practice Mentors Project – Underspend from the Ageing Better programme was agreed to support an additional year activity to support the embedding of learning and legacy of Ageing Better in Birmingham

BIG Lottery- National Lottery Community Fund - Ageing Better - funding to develop a vision and strategy for the Aging Better program to support older people who are isolated. This program was extended for a year to the end of March 2022, to support older people through the impact of the pandemic. The negative income was repayment of underspend.

BIG Lottery-- National Lottery Community Fund: Covid Support IT – Funding for capital spend on IT to support BVSC to support the sector, this will be depleted through depreciation charges over the lifetime of the IT equipment.

Birchfield Big Local Partnership: BVSC is the accountable Body/local trusted partner for the partnership to deliver services and improve the Birchfield local area. The partnership is funded by the Local Trust who is funded through the BIG Lottery.

Birchfield Big Local Partnership other income- Funding raised by the Birchfield Partnership to support the local community in Birchfield.

Birmingham City Council Covid Recovery – Funding from Birmingham City Council to support the Voluntary and Community Sector to recover from the impact of COVID.

Birmingham City Council Strategic Partnership- Funding to enabling more effective public/third sector engagement, strategic alignment, and collaboration in Birmingham. A New Integrated Programme of Strategic Support & Development for Voluntary and Community Sector.

Birmingham Parent Carer Network Forum – a seconded post, employed by BVSC working with the network.

Birmingham Volunteer Strategy – funding allocated from historic funds held by BVSC to develop the strategic volunteering strategy for Birmingham.

Business Support Co-ordination – to provide support to organisations in Birmingham.

Change into Action - An initiative with West Midlands Combined Authority for donations through Just Giving to support individuals who are homeless.

Commonwealth Games Legacy Grants – a grants program to build stronger communities in light of the Commonwealth Games that were being hosted by Birmingham in 2022.

Community Development Practice Hub - is a resource for people and organisations who ‘work with’ people in Birmingham so they can take collective action to make changes to things that are important to them and their communities.

76

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Community Leadership Training – training to cascade key public health information out to the community on the learning of key skills.

Compassionate Communities/Covid Recovery Grants – funding repurposed for work on compassionate communities and to focus of prevention in older communities.

Creative Civic Change – BVSC became the Local Trusted Organisation for the is collaborative project between the Birchfield Big Local and Welsh House Farm Big Local partnerships.

Early Help -Children and Families-Funding from BCC to support families and vulnerable children through ten Voluntary Sector led local lead agencies, community grants to organisations and resilience grants to families and young adults.

Exempt Accommodations Quality Standards - Birmingham has the largest Exempt Supported housing sector in the country. With greater and more effective scrutiny this could be an asset, enhancing the offer of accommodation for individuals experiencing homelessness. The Quality Standards alongside the ‘Charter of Rights’ aim to support this complex issue.

Firs and Bromford Local Partnership – BVSC became the local trusted organisation for this local area. Funding from the Local Trust to empower local residents to improve their local area.

Fairer Futures Grants - an initiative developed by partners in the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System to tackle health inequalities.

Health:

-Digital Inclusion –, this project was first phase public engagement exploring Accessibility, Connectivity and Digital Literacy

-Health – Various funding to develop and engage the the voluntary and community sectors in Birmingham with health, including the Integrated Care System.

-Health Engagement Grants – to small organisations to support vaccine uptake.

-ICS Strategy Engagement- VCFSE organisations were provided with micro grants to engage with communities on the ICS 10 Year Strategy

• Integrated Care System - Funded through the ICB and working in partnership with WCAVA, delivered various strands of activity and further developed relationships with system partners

-Long Covid Community Engagement - small grants to engage within their communities to increase awareness of Long Covid

-Personal Health Budget – a pilot project to support people with end-of-life care

-Roots to Well Being – The portal for GPs to access third sector services for their patients was adapted and developed to provide support through the pandemic to those who needed it most.

77

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

-Women’s Hormonal Health – working to develop a new service to support working women with menopausal issues to stay in or return to the workplace

-Covid Vaccination Programme – Funding to engage with communities to encourage uptake of the covid vaccination

Household Support Fund – Funding from BCC to support people/families in hardship with small grant payments.

Household Support Fund – Bed Poverty Project (Dreams) – funding to address bed poverty by providing beds and additional support to families with children who do not have appropriate sleeping arrangements.

Housing First - Funding to support homelessness across the West Midlands using the principles of the Housing First model.

Local Energy Advice Demonstrator – a project to support and advise households with reducing their impact on the climate.

Living Wage – engagement and awareness – funding from Barrow Cadbury Trust to engage the sector on being Living Wage employers.

Mental Health Transitional Worker - funding secured to support the work of Birmingham Changing Futures Together.

NAVCA – small grants – small grants to support organisations to support people with the cost-of-living crisis.

Neighbourhood Network Support - To provide support to neighbourhood network schemes across Birmingham, this funding and the network were used to co-ordinate support across Birmingham during the lockdowns.

NHS Volunteering Covid Project – Funding to support the NHS with volunteers during the pandemic.

Parenting Support for Fathers – To scope and develop options for the delivery of City-wide evidence-based parenting programmes for LGBTQ+ community, Fathers, South Asian & Muslim Communities.

PCC-Funding Officer -Funded by the Police Crime Commissioners office to support voluntary and community organisations to access funding to address guns, gangs, and violence and to address elderly isolation. Additional funding was secured to map the sector.

PCC- Mapping – funding secured to map the sector.

PCC - Peer Mentors- The Police and Crime Commission have part funded the position of two Peer Mentors to support them to support people under the BCFT that are homeless, have mental health issues, are at risk of re-offending or substance misuse.

Personal Health Budget Project: Funding to support individuals to use their personal budgets to access end of life care.

78

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

Redundancy and Retraining – Support for older adults facing redundancy, to support them to retrain with a view to gaining alternative employment.

Research - Research function in BVSC, funded by various funders and income generation, there has been significant development of research projects during the year- please see the Trustees report for information.

Rough Sleepers Initiative – Work in collaboration with the Rough Sleeper Initiative providers, other rough sleeping homelessness service partners and providers and the BCC Rough Sleeping Lead Officer (Project Officer), to develop joint working protocols, enhance partnership work and management of risks and where possible develop service improvements and practice in line with overall rough sleeping strategy of the city

Shelter Grants - Working with organisations to raise awareness of housing issues and homelessness in specific communities in three geographical locations in Birmingham.

Ukraine – Support grants – a grant scheme to support organisations working with refugees displaced as a result of the Ukraine war.

Violence against Women and Girls - embedded worker to support Birmingham City Council undertake a needs assessment around violence against women and girls.

Welsh House Farm Big Local Partnership- We are the Local Trusted Organisation of the Welsh House Farm project funded by the Local Trust; a community led partnership approach to support the local residents to address local issues.

Youth Violence Prevention Programme Manager - a secondment to support youth violence prevention.

NOTE 21 ANALYSIS OF GROUP NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

31st March 2023

31st March 2023
Tangible Fixed Assets Fixed Asset Investments Net Current Assets Total Net Assets	Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds £ £ 3,724,414 - 5,588 - 22,590 1,567,223 3,752,592 1,567,223	Total Funds 2024 £ 3,724,414 5,588 1,589,813
		5,319,815

79

BIRMINGHAM VOLUNTARY SERVICE COUNCIL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 MARCH 2024

31st March 2023

31st March 2023
Tangible Fixed Assets Fixed Asset Investments Net Current Assets Total Net Assets	Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds 2023 £ £ £ 9,661 11,189 20,850 4,596 - 4,596 3,905,716 1,514,625 5,420,341
	3,919,973 1,525,814 **5,445,787 **

NOTE 22 Pension

Employees have the option to join the company's defined contribution pension or have contributions made directly to their private pension scheme. There are no unpaid or prepaid pension contributions as at the balance sheet date. Pensions are allocated to unrestricted expenditure or to restricted expenditure depending upon where the salary costs for individual staff have been charged.

NOTE 24 Related Party Transactions

There were no related party transactions during the year.

80