olunt ANNUAL REPORT l April 2021- 31 March 2022 Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern Murchfield Community Centre Sunnycroft Lane Dinas Powys Vale of Glamorgan CF64 4QQ Tel No: 02920513700 Email: dpvc@btinternet.com Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern is a Registered Charity No. 502496
OUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF DPVC IS TO:
SUPPORT VOLUNTARY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO SEEK TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE:
FOR THE ELDERLY, FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OR THOSE OTHERWISE DISADVANTAGED AND LIVING IN OUR COMMUNITIES
AND TO ACT AS A FIRST PORT OF CALL FOR THOSE SEEKING HELP OR ADVICE
2
Serving the Community – Our Community
DPVC was first established as the Council of Social Services in 1972 as a result of a meeting of services and voluntary organisations who elected Dr Haydn Jones as chairman. It was later renamed Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern (DPVC). A registered charity, it promotes charitable activities for the benefit of people living in and around Dinas Powys.
DPVC provides a service to individuals, groups and organisations, the elderly and people with disabilities . It does this in many ways such as by:
Recruiting, inducting and training volunteers and holding an Annual Garden Party to recognise their work
Organising a Good Neighbour Scheme and running a wellbeing and befriending scheme for the lonely or housebound for which there is a dedicated coordinator funded by the Integrated Care Fund and DPVC.
Maintaining and running a Minibus/Ambulance used by many organisations in the village such as the RVS and The Wednesday Afternoon Club. It is also used by DPVC for supermarket visits and for conveying older people to various events. In addition volunteers provide a car ferry service for appointments with local hospitals, dentists etc.
the community and producing other information booklets and leaflets
Operating the DPVC office and providing a “first port of call” for those seeking advice and information
Providing a Photocopying, Laminating and Comb-binding Service at the office.
Cooperating with and supporting other Dinas Powys organisations and events
DPVC is managed by a Management Committee of Trustees, responsible for planning, development and financial control. The Committee is supported by five working groups:
Finance
Community Services Publications Transport Services Human Resources and Policies
The DPVC office is the administrative base for all the activities of DPVC. The office is open every weekday to provide help, advice and information about DPVC and other voluntary and statutory services.
DPVC has two part time coordinators. Our DPVC Coordinator’s role is to organise and support the activities of volunteers in the Good Neighbour Scheme. Her role is also:
-
to support DPVC and its administration to publicise DPVC services
-
to manage the office.
Health Centre Transport. Use of a VW Caddy, in partnership with Greenlinks Community Transport for transport to and from Dinas Powys Medical Centre.
Organising and running, with the help of volunteers, a fortnightly “Community Club” at the Lee Hall in Dinas Powys. This is open to all residents of all ages.
The Wellbeing and Befriending Coordinator role is identify those who need support and to recruit, train and support befriending and digital volunteers; and to support the efficient running of DPVC
Our volunteers are key to all our activities and without them the organisation would not exist.
Producing and distributing a twice yearly newsletter, DEPEND, to every home in
3
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern has contributed to the wellbeing of residents in our local community for fifty years and therefore 2022 is being celebrated as our half centenary!
Most of those we support are elderly or have mobility problems, although it has always been the policy of DPVC to offer help on the basis of need and on no other factor. Transport, either through the use of the minibus/ambulance for supported shopping trips or to community activities, or in our Medical Centre VW Caddy to medical appointments, is a core service, but wellbeing and mental health is an integral part of the charity’s services and befriending, in person or by telephone or through social groups has become more integral to the charity’s main aim of enabling residents to maintain independence. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to many of the charity’s services being either suspended or adapted, but the challenges of the last two years have proved how vital many residents find our help and support, and have also created new ways of working, opportunities and projects. In this report it can be seen that, as the Covid pandemic begins to wane, Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern will be looking forwards to new and exciting ventures that will improve the lives of our local residents.
We are extremely grateful to the Vale of Glamorgan Council for the support they give us, both financially and in kind. It is only through this financial support that our part-time coordinators, Wendy Lees and Judith Anderson, can be funded.
At the start of this financial year, Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern, like the whole of the country, and every other voluntary organisation, was still affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and changed working practices were in place to meet the demands caused by Covid regulations implemented by the Welsh and National Governments. Our two Coordinators, Wendy and Judith continued to work by closing the office to all except themselves and, as a result, there has still been no break in the services that they have been able to offer to those in need. Wendy is the contact that many of our elderly, frail, vulnerable and often isolated residents know, and her efficiency and local knowledge ensures that appropriate support and advice can be offered to volunteers as well as those we help.
4
Judith is the Befriending and Wellbeing Service coordinator and recruits both volunteers and users for this invaluable service. The Befriending Scheme includes telephone befriending and digital support. Judith also coordinates the “Borrowing Bus” and the new project – the DPVC Wellbeing Garden - and deals with DPVC’s grant funding for new and existing projects.
DPVC has a great team of volunteers that we can call on, often at short notice. Their experience and local knowledge ensures that our users receive the help and support that we strive to give. However Covid’s continued presence has meant that the support of our volunteers in helping with shopping, prescription collection and as telephone befrienders is still vital. Many of those who used the DPVC minibus for shopping were still isolating or shielding and unable to shop for themselves. The use of the minibus was limited but September saw it being used by one of the local churches on a Sunday and shopping trips to local supermarkets was reintroduced at the beginning of March 2022. A small number of drivers of the Medical Centre vehicle, which was being used for urgent medical appointments and for prescription collection, were in place to limit cross contamination. The minibus continued to be used as a “Borrowing Bus” and for visits to the vaccination centres.
My thanks go, once again, to our two coordinators, Wendy and Judith, for their dedication, resilience and professionalism in ensuring that community needs were addressed during the ongoing pandemic.
The “Borrowing Bus” project, for which the DPVC Minibus was adapted to provide a “mobile library” service of books, DVDs and jigsaws donated by the community, helped to alleviate loneliness and isolation caused by the Covid pandemic continued to be a success. My grateful thanks to the volunteer drivers who help to make this a safe and successful project. The consequential development - the setting up of an on-line bookshop by the coordinators to sell surplus books and jigsaws - is continuing to raise funds for DPVC.
The DPVC Wellbeing Garden Project at Nightingale Gardens was established in 2021/22, has received grant funding for equipment and raised beds and is a successful new venture. The Memory Café was re-introduced in October 2021.
In summary, the last 12 months have continued to be very eventful and uncertain, but thanks to the hard work, initiative and resilience of our coordinators and the willing and generous support from our volunteers and trustees, DPVC has helped to alleviate loneliness and isolation has been able to
5
meet many of the needs of our community that have been amplified by the ongoing Covid pandemic.
We are also extremely grateful for the financial support we have received from the Welsh Government, GVS, Vale of Glamorgan Council and from the local community, which has been vital to offset the continued loss of income and extra costs caused by the Covid pandemic. Please refer to the financial report for more details about these. This support has proved vital to the charity. Without this support, we could not have continued to serve our community. Even though the pandemic is still with us, DPVC is looking forward to yet another successful year and new and exciting projects are well under way.
John Fanshaw
6
CO-ORDINATORS’ REPORT
The tables below show a breakdown of the number of enquiries and transport help we have provided over the last year.
| Nature of enquiry | Number of enquiries |
|---|---|
| Prescription collection | 31 |
| Practical help/gardening | 3 |
| Practical help/ removals | 1 |
| Practical help/ other | 52 |
| Practical help/ house | 3 |
| Transport | 72 (excluding Caddy) |
| Shopping by volunteers | 326 |
| Befriending |
20 |
Shopping by volunteers was our most used service as some residents continued to shield or were unable to access the shops. Practical help included posting and pension collecting.
The wellbeing and befriending service continues to grow. In 2021-2022 we had 20 new referrals. The telephone befriending continued. This form of befriending is particularly suited to those who may not want a stranger visiting their homes but who would like some social interaction. Referrals come from social services, support workers, family and friends and self-referrals.
Judith successfully applied for 2 grants of £3000 (Community Foundation Wales) and £1000 (GVS) to start The Wellbeing Garden project. A local gardener J Sissons cleared the area to be used at the Nightingale community Gardens and Colin Turner volunteered to put together the raised beds. It took 5 tons of soil to fill the raised beds this was completed with help from volunteers from Dinas Powys Football club. Meeting of Volunteers and participants finally got underway towards the end of the summer 2021. There was a short break in December- February but resumed with even more enthusiasm in March 2022.
In February 2018 we partnered with NEXUS, part of Cardiff and The Vale Action for Mental Health and started Dementia Friendly Art Classes. These art classes resumed alongside our Memory Café, on the 2[nd] and 4[th] Friday of the month, in October 2021. Judith successfully applied for a grant from the Community Foundation Wales to cover the Memory Café costs and this event is well supported by 4 volunteers Di, Linda, Sally and Val. This is open to all friends, family and carers and anyone affected by memory problems.
Part of our wellbeing programme now includes Tai Chi classes which started in September 2021. Judith again successfully applied for £1200 grant from the winter pressure fund to help fund this initiative which runs every Friday 2pm-3pm at the Murchfield Community Centre. The class is now part of the Vale of Glamorgan Council Golden Pass Scheme, which allows those 60+ to access 8 weeks of free exercise classes across the Vale.
The transport service using a VW Caddy to and from the Dinas Powys Medical Centre continued Monday to Friday throughout the year. Covid procedures were still in place with 1 passenger per journey, wearing of masks and cleaning after each journey. As volunteer drivers restarted Wendy took a step down from driving daily and just filled in when necessary. September and October were very busy as lots of our service users had both flu and Covid booster vaccine appointments, we were able to provide over 30 lifts on one day in September to the health centre for the flu vaccine. Despite the unpredictability of appointment times and
7
traffic congestion the service runs well thanks to the patience and resilience of our drivers. The figures are shown in the following table.
- CADDY SUMMARY OF USE 1/4/21 31/3/22
Mileage 2490 Passenger journeys 1034
The other form of transport our minibus, has had limited use throughout the year. One of our volunteers Jan Flye who coordinated the supermarket runs for over a decade continues to call several of our previous shopping service users during covid, maintaining contact even though shopping runs were postponed for most of the year. A twice weekly shopping run resumed at the beginning of March 2022. Below shows the usage of the minibus by DPVC and other local organisations for the last year. St Marys Church resumed transporting congregation members at the start of September 2021. The “Borrowing Bus” continued throughout the year delivering books and jigsaws on the 2[nd] Wednesday of the month
| ORGANISATION | MILEAGE | PASSENGER |
|---|---|---|
| JOURNEYS | ||
| DPVC | ||
| All shops | 139 | 112 |
| Maintenance | 873 | 0 |
| Borrowing bus | 48 | 2 |
| Health appointments 255 | 124 | |
| St Marys Church | 144 | 150 |
Wendy Lees Judith Anderson
8
TRUSTEES/MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 2021 – 2022
Officers
John Fanshaw (Chairman)
Chris Franks (Vice Chairman)
David Thomas (Treasurer)
Wendy Lees* (Hon Secretary and Coordinator)
*NB Paid employee without Trustee status
Members
Judith Anderson* (Wellbeing and Befriending Coordinator)
*NB Paid employee without Trustee status
Chris Bee
Wendy Bourton
Robert Crowley
Pam Gay
Keith Hatton
Colin Turner
Brian West
9
TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31[ST] MARCH 2022
The annual accounts for this financial year show a cash balance of £55108 represented by £9133 in the current account and £45975 in the deposit account.
At the year-end Reserves amounted £55850 an increase of £14200 on the previous year due to the minibus replacement reserve increasing by £8400 and the Unrestricted Fund Reserve being increased by £5800.
Total income for the year amounted to £48941 down by £1861 from the previous year. DPVC received generous donations from a number of organisations and Individuals to numerous to name in full. Funds raised from Events were curtailed due to Covid 19 restrictions but we did receive £351 from Cecil Townsend’s pumpkin competition.
Again this year we would like to acknowledge and thank the “DPVC Supporters” for their donations which provide, with the attaching Gift Aid, a welcome source of regular funding.
Our grant funding from the Vale of Glamorgan amounted to £19310 which is slightly below the previous year. These grant funds were very much appreciated given the financial pressure that all Local Authorities are currently facing. Without this funding from the Vale of Glamorgan the on-going financial viability of DPVC would be uncertain.
The DPVC Coordinators did a superb job in sourcing other grants that were available to provide relief for the impact of the Covid 19 restrictions on DPVC’s income. These grants in total amounted to £13424 and made a significant positive impact on the financial position of DPVC
The total expenditure for the year was £48284 which was up by £759 on the previous year. Two new projects were commenced. £2738 was spent on the Community Garden Project and £1178 on the Memory Cafe. This expenditure was largely funded by specific grants received.
I am pleased to say that our cash reserves are still at a healthy level at the year end.
Finally we would like to formally record our gratitude and thanks to Mr Martyn Warren the Independent Examiner of our Accounts.
David Thomas Treasurer
10
RECEPTS Tot31 Total Mlnlnbus Donatlons Indlwdual Contribuliowts Orrdnisatron Contrsbutlon5 Caddy Donions 157 1058 1298 Bethesda Chapel donation Methodisl Churth Carrier Ba8s & Charlty 8oxes Me8an Ivllson Donation DPVC Supporters & Sundry Donattons Vale of Glamot8an Counol 6NS Grant Vale of Glamorg3n Befriending Grant Vèle of fjlamor8an grant A8e Cymru grant Commynlty Fourxlation Wales GVS Covid 19 8rant Vale 0fGlamodn Community Transport Grant Cecil Townsend Legal & General Community Fund GVS Comic Relief grant VHG Heroes Grant Natlonal Garden Scheme Townsend Funeral D Bfuchette Book Sèles Tennls Club Ashman Jubllee Donation opcc St Peter's Womens Fellowshlp Dinas Po¥ry5 Art Group Colin Thomas Funeral Donation WRVS Luncheon cltsb Fairoak5 Contert Scouts Donation Valley Vlew Spons1 Events Rock & Chip5 StrawberryTea Quiz Ni8ht Coffee MOrnibB/Aftem( Tea Xmas Cards Caiois around the tree White Geeko Cafe Ent 270 330 4757 7552 I80 I80 12(Kl 2257 337 351 1558 12 160 411 540 163 212 Insurance daim flood PhotrKopying Pfinting Refvnds Fuel Rebate HMRCGiftAid Matheson Shopping Refund 502 41 669 1716 2214 1865 224 DeposltTrnnsfer Cash Oo¢)kT¢>tal
PAYMENTS 2021122 2020121 Tt)tal Totsl Mlnlbus Costs Fuel Repalrs and Mairtenace Insurance CTA Costs Garage Rental 950 351 1432 156 1145 1374 61 516 516 CRC +GNS Costs Coordinator Payroll and Pension Costs Rent Telephone and Broadband Insurance ststionery.P05tage & petty Cash Dats Protection DPCC Hire of Hall 32599 1722 14(K) 507 153 35 33621 1722 1407 353 35 83 GVS Membership DBS Checks 34 Quiz Night Taichi classes CommunttyGarden Project Memory Cafe Furniture & phones Portacabin plans Marketin DependlLeaflet Print4nB& Dlstrlbutlon Computer Equlpment ITlwebsite costs Xmas Gfts Volunteers Petty Cash Royal British Legion Advertisement Parish News Volunteer Travelling Expenses Volunteer Falr Costs Val Hartr Bench Matheson shopping Hendereson Shopping Phillips shopping Hardship Fund 720 2738 1178 151 1704 450 162 1532 80 1608 1502 1227 706 22 15 15 34 185 107 33 161 643 Totsl payments 47525 12
RESERVE POLICY
1.The Trustees of DPVC aim to maintain a level of unrestricted reserves allowing the
the continuation of DPVC's core activity for a period of unforeseen difficulty while it considers the best way forward.The level deemed appropriate equates to twelve months expenditure less income likely to continue but excluding Grant Funding and exceptional large one off donations.
This amounts to £22600 in 20/21 which the Trustees will review on an annual basis.
2.The minibus replacement reserve fund has been set up at an amount of £700 per month commencing in January 2019
This reserve will amount to around £60,000 in 7 years time when DPVC will be considering replacing the minibus again.
Our Reserves Position at March 31st 2021
| Unrestricted Funds (Reserve) Mini Bus Replacement Mini Bus Key Deposits |
Current Year Previous Year £ £ 22600 17800 18900 10500 150 150 41650 28450 |
|---|---|
13
Indè en ent Examrners R ort to the Trust e5 of Dln SPO 5 Volunta Concer I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above Charity for the year ended 31" March 2022. RÈS onsrbilitie5 and basis of the re As the Trustees of the Charity you 8Te responsible for the preparation of the accounts in acmrdance wlth the requirements of the Charltles Act 2011 (the Attl. I report In respect of my examination of the Charitvs accounts tarried out under Section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Direction5 given bv the Charity Commissioners under section 14515llbl of the Act. Inde èndent Examiners statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connettion with the examination which give5 me cause to believe that in any material respect= l. The accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charit¢s Art, or 2. The accounts do not accord with those records I have no concerns and have come atTOSS no other matters In connection with the examination to whlch attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned- Date- 12th July 2022 NamÈ- M8rtyn Warren Relevant prnfesslonal body- InstltLrte of Chartered Accountants 14