Structure, Governance and Management
The Association is a registered charity governed by a constitution. Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees, and the appointment or re-appointment is confirmed annually at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee meets every two months to review strategy, policies and procedures, performance against objectives and areas of activities.
The Management Committee is made up of carers, ex carers, working and retired professionals. The skills mix of the Committee is under constant review.
The Director, under delegated authority, is responsible for the provision of the services, ensuring the achievement of key performance indicators and individual supervision of the Operations Manager and the admin team.
The Operations Manager, under delegated authority, is responsible for the Adult Carers and Young Carers projects and the individual supervision of the staff within those teams.
Related Parties
The Association is a network member of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. We also have a close working relationship with Cumbria Adult Social Care and are part of the strategy group looking at the delivery of services to carers in Cumbria. Through our Young Carers project we are members of Young Cumbria and the Children and Young Peoples Voluntary Sector Reference Forum which influences the delivery of services to children and young people throughout Cumbria.
Risk Management
Where appropriate, systems and procedures have been established to mitigate the risk the charity faces. Financial risks are controlled by the implementation of internal controls, including a Reserves Policy, which is reviewed annually and the Bank Mandate requiring a minimum of two authorised Trustees to sign any cheques or other withdrawal of funds from the bank accounts.
Health and safety procedures are in place to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers including a lone working policy and procedure as a number of staff are required to work alone and visit clients’ homes.
The organisation is currently working towards a quality standard set by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, which is a mandatory requirement of membership.
Objectives and Activities
The principle objective of the Association is to provide support for carers to enable them to continue in their caring role.
The activities set to enable the charity to meet this objective are:
· The provision of carers’ assessments, every carer receives an assessment of their needs which enables us to target the support we offer.
· We provide Contingency plans for carers. In the event of an emergency for the carer the plan ensures the person they care for is safe.
· One to one support with a Carers Support Worker.
· A sitting service for the cared for.
· Counselling.
· Relaxation therapy treatments.
· Monthly support groups.
· A variety of social events.
· Production of two newsletters each quarter, one aimed at young carers and one for adult carers.
· Signposting on to other agencies and organisations where necessary.
We also administer the Cumbria Carers Fund on behalf of all carers’ organisations in Cumbria. The fund is held in our Bank account. Support workers across all the organisations identify carers who would benefit from a one off grant up to £300. They then apply to a panel set up by the Cumbria Carers Strategy Group and individual grants are paid out on production of receipts.
Achievement and Performance
Adult carers support
The Adult carers support project provides a number of activities including the provision of carers’ assessments and contingency plans, a drop in centre one day a week, monthly support groups in different areas of South Lakeland, counselling by qualified counsellors, relaxation therapy treatments by qualified therapists, a quarterly newsletter, training for carers, short breaks, information, advice and signposting.
We employ one full time and three part-time support workers, the part timers work 21 hours, 20 hours and 17.5 hours.
On the 31st March 2009 we had 548 adult carers registered with us.
In the year to 31st March 2009 we received 251 new referrals and completed 267 new assessments, reviews and reassessments of need. Of these 179 carers were not known to us previously.
From Jan 2009 we started providing contingency plans for carers and have completed 21 as at the end of March.
117 carers have received a service or have been able to take a break away of some sort from their caring duties. In total we have delivered 1162 services and breaks for carers, equating to approximately 10 services / breaks per carer.
These services / breaks could include attending one of our support groups or drop in centre, getting some relaxation therapy or going on a social outing. Other services we provide include one to one emotional support, counselling and sitting with the person they care for.
The Relaxation Therapy treatments run 4 days a month using 2 Therapists, giving full treatments to 6 carers each day, as at 31st March 2009 51 carers have received 161 treatments.
The sitting service we run enables the carers to take a short break (up to 3 hours) with the peace of mind that one of our staff or volunteers is on hand in an emergency. This is not a full personal care service and is designed to bridge the gap between nothing and the full service offered by the care agencies, which can be very expensive and inflexible. This year 27 carers have received 92 sitting sessions.
We have run monthly support groups in Kendal, Sedbergh, Grange, and Arnside / Milnthorpe, as well as a drop in centre 1 day a week in Kendal. The drop in has seen 48 carers visit us a total of 151 times. The groups provide an important social outlet for the carers. We organise these groups, including the venue, transport, speakers and activities.
Throughout the year we provide trips and outings for the carers.
We produce a newsletter quarterly. Primarily this goes to the carers but is also distributed to various outlets throughout South Lakeland to raise awareness of carers including GP surgeries and other Voluntary Sector organisations. We circulate the newsletter to all the carers registered with us.
The newsletter gives a mix of information and articles including updates on relevant issues such as benefits and Hospital / Community health services, new information relevant to carers, details of forthcoming social activities and reviews of the previous events.
All our support workers provide a listening ear to carers at times of need either on the phone or face to face. For more complex cases the Support Workers can refer carers to our counselling service, which has 3 qualified counsellors and 1 counsellor in training. This can help the carer over a crisis point in their lives and enable them to continue their caring role. At the end of March 200 26 carers had received 169 counselling sessions.
We have run monthly support groups in Kendal, Sedbergh, Grange, and Arnside / Milnthorpe, as well as a drop in centre 1 day a week in Kendal. The drop in has seen 48 carers visit us a total of 151 times. The groups provide an important social outlet for the carers. We organise these groups, including the venue, transport, speakers and activities.
Throughout the year we provide trips and outings for the carers.
We produce a newsletter quarterly. Primarily this goes to the carers but is also distributed to various outlets throughout South Lakeland to raise awareness of carers including GP surgeries and other Voluntary Sector organisations. We circulate the newsletter to all the carers registered with us.
The newsletter gives a mix of information and articles including updates on relevant issues such as benefits and Hospital / Community health services, new information relevant to carers, details of forthcoming social activities and reviews of the previous events.
All our support workers provide a listening ear to carers at times of need either on the phone or face to face. For more complex cases the Support Workers can refer carers to our counselling service, which has 3 qualified counsellors and 1 counsellor in training. This can help the carer over a crisis point in their lives and enable them to continue their caring role. At the end of March 200 26 carers had received 169 counselling sessions.
Young Carers
As at the 31st March 2009 we had 51 young carers registered with us.
Our young carers’ service is primarily aimed at providing one to one support for young people in a caring role. For each new referral we complete an assessment of need, much like the adult service, and then categorise the young person into a high medium or low level of need. For those in a high or medium category we put together an action plan to help them, the aim of which is to bring them into the low category. The plan could include such things as one to one support from the Support Worker, training such as assertiveness, anger management or dealing with bullying and extra tuition for those doing GCSE or A levels. All young carers then have access to the support groups and trips we organise. This year we received 27 new referrals and completed assessments for 21.
During the year we have run 2 young carers support groups every month, in term time, one for the juniors and one for the seniors.
As well as a large range of activities we run at the support group nights we also organise trips and outings. By the end of the year 20 young people had benefited from a total of 221 breaks and services.
We employ 1 part time Development Worker working 20 hours a week and 1 part time Support Worker for 17.5 hours per week.
Carers Emergency Alert Scheme
The alert card is designed to give the carers peace of mind if they are involved in an accident to ensure their cared-for is looked after. We promote the use of the card to all carers we are in contact with.
Plans for the future
Operational Priorities
There are many requirements of the on-going activities that demand priority. The Director has a number of continuing responsibilities.
1. First and foremost, to maintain and continue to develop the existing services.
2. To motivate and develop the existing staff, ensuring that performance reviews are conducted and that each member of staff has an active development plan.
3. Gain every possible advantage from membership of the Princess Royal Trust, including gaining the Princess Royal Trusts' Quality Mark.
4. Work with other Carers' Associations in Cumbria to develop a county-wide network that can present a seamless interface to funding bodies such as the County Council.
5. Maintain high standards of administration, record keeping, financial control, and budgeting, and full compliance with the requirements of the association's constitution and those of the Charity Commission.
Development Objectives
There are also a number of priority areas for future development:-
A. Income Generation and Security
1. Develop long-term (3+ years) contracts and supply agreements with funders, so that at any one time, at least 50% of funding is secured for at least 12 months.
2. Raise the profile and the influence of the organisation both in the public domain (via the media) and in political and other organisations able to influence funding decisions (such as local authorities and NHS trusts).
B. Expansion of Services
1. Develop and expand the sitting service (using volunteers-see below). Target to deliver at least 4 sessions per week in 2010.
2. Identify and support a further 30 young carers each year, and gain the funding to support this.
3. Expand existing services for adult carers such as counselling, relaxation therapy, and training, such that activity increases by 25% per year over the period 2009-11.
4. Maintain the current level of volunteers by ensuring any leavers are replaced with new volunteers..
Financial review
Approved by the Trustees on ……………………and signed on their behalf by:
Mr William J Wood
Chairperson of the Trustees
