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Blackfriars Settlement

Strategic Plan 2015 - 2020

Sustainability in creating opportunities

ContentsIntroduction...................................................................................................................... - 4 -

Key Aims identified through 2014 Service Reviews..........................................................- 6 -

Children and Young People (CYPS)................................................................................- 6 -

Early Years.................................................................................................................... - 7 -

Play / After School Club................................................................................................ - 7 -

Youth............................................................................................................................ - 7 -

Older People’s Services (OPS)....................................................................................... - 8 -

Learning and Development (L&D).................................................................................- 8 -

Mental Health and Well-being (MHWB).......................................................................- 9 -

Community Buildings.................................................................................................. - 10 -

Cross Settlement Themes........................................................................................... - 10 -

A New Way of Working..........................................................................................................11

The Strategy........................................................................................................................... 12

Centrality of Community Engagement................................................................................12

Doing with, not doing to – Co-Production..........................................................................12

Develop links with Public Sector bodies.............................................................................13

Pre Employability Support............................................................................................13

This provides opportunities for us to develop further effective partnerships with other providers delivering employability/employment support..................................................14

Preventative work in Health and Well-being......................................................................14

Maximise Community Buildings Income.............................................................................14

Income Generation and Deficit Reduction..........................................................................15

Funding for Service Delivery...........................................................................................16

Voluntary Fundraising.....................................................................................................16

Social Enterprise.................................................................................................................16

External Partnerships..........................................................................................................17

Learning and Development – the way forward..................................................................18

Communications and Marketing.........................................................................................18

Impact and Evaluation........................................................................................................18

Staffing................................................................................................................................... 18

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The Executive Team............................................................................................................18

Core Services...................................................................................................................... 20

Finance Department.......................................................................................................20

Community Buildings......................................................................................................20

Volunteering.......................................................................................................................20

Governance............................................................................................................................21

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................21

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IntroductionFor 128 years, Blackfriars Settlement (BFS) has sought to understand the needs of local people and to develop ways of meeting those needs. This has been achieved by being a settled part of the community, well known and respected for its activities. Initially being settled meant a resident community of individuals (all educated women in our case) sharing their privilege and opportunity within deprived communities. This meeting of need has been marked by a listening to local people and together creating opportunities. The Settlement Movement has long embodied the contemporary principle of Co-Production.

An important strand to this is the concept of membership within the Settlement. Currently this term is used in two ways. Formal membership conveys the right to vote at an Annual General Meeting while a looser use describes anyone who uses the services of the Settlement. Both of these are valuable concepts, a revision of the Memorandum and Articles will bring clarity to our use of the term.

This Strategic Plan follows the plan which guided the work of the Settlement for the last 5 years. During that time several significant events have taken place. It is helpful at the start to reflect on what Blackfriars Settlement has done well over that period and what have been challenges to the organisation.

The completion of the our new building on the old site at Rushworth Street has been a major step for the Settlement and provides us with a fit for purpose building for our existing services and with sufficient expansion space for us to develop new activities. While it is an asset from which we can derive unrestricted income, much needed in a period of reducing central and local government funding, its building has depleted the Settlement’s reserves

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The Settlement - Our Successes

Investors in PeopleStaff

Volunteers

OPS - Excellent Volunteers, innovative

approach to outcomes.

Welcoming - local

Reuptation

Support from Corporate partners

Rushworth Street and

Living Space

and distracted management attention away from the development of the Settlement and exploration of new areas of work. This plan will address both of these issues.

Winning the contract to run Living Space from Lambeth Council was also a very significant achievement, against larger and better resourced organisations, however, it is an achievement with a number of major challenges, which this plan will address.

The achievement of the Investors in People award is a credit to the organisation. However, there are issues relating to the well-being of staff and their continuous professional development to which we must pay attention in the future while we make ourselves ready for the next stage of IIP accreditation. An Action Plan has been agreed by the Council and will form a part of this Strategy. (Appendix One)

The Settlement relies heavily on a large number of volunteers in all services and in the management of the business. We are most grateful to these individuals and will ensure that our recruitment, training and support of volunteers is of the highest quality.

The IIP Report highlights what it describes as a “parental” style of management which resulted in a high degree of staff dependency on management. Decisions are often referred up the chain when they could be taken at a level closer to those they affect. True Co-production will be best served by subsidiarity in decision making. The existence of deputies at several levels of the organisation embodies this.

There are also significant areas of weakness and challenge to the Settlement

The external environment has changed very significantly; the government’s austerity policy has brought deep cuts to publicly funded services and a steep increase in those applying to Grant Making Trusts whose resources remain constant. This makes it imperative that we

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The Settlement - Challenges over

the last five years

Fundraising: External pressures

Need a plan

Quality & Impact Measurement

Knowing the needs of our communities

Communications and Marketing

Making the most of our buildings

diversify our income streams and reduce our dependence on public funds to achieve our goal of sustainability in creating opportunities.

In this context, many funders, both public and charitable are now asking for a much greater level of impact measurement focusing on outcomes rather than outputs. It is no longer sufficient to say how many people have used our services, we now have to account for the impact that the use has had on individual lives. We have not had a consistent method of doing this and as a result it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the impact of our work. We have commissioned Community Action Southwark (CAS) to put such a method of measuring and recording impact in place across the Settlement. Its implementation is a Cross-Settlement Priority and a key part of this strategy and will require training for staff in the use of Excel and an efficient database. The project has been funded by the Social Investment Bank (SIB).

In recent years the assessment of the quality of the Settlement’s governance and management has been raised and an intention to undertake Pqasso (covering all aspects of an organisation, from governance to service delivery and monitoring outcomes). accreditation has been discussed. During the life time of this plan it is important that the Settlement achieves Level 2 Accreditation, acknowledged by the Charity Commission as a good starting point.

The area of North Southwark in which we are placed and to a lesser extent the location of Living Space, North Lambeth, have changed enormously over the last few years with major regeneration taking place. This has impacted on the demographics of the area and means that our knowledge of the communities around us is less strong that it has been.

As noted above, the significance of our highly motivated staff and volunteers is central to the delivery of our objectives. We will continue to support staff through a revised Appraisal Scheme setting work priorities which will drive forward the achievement of this plan. We will also continue to encourage volunteering in the Settlement both by individuals and corporate supporters.

In all of this we are ambitious for our clients and will focus our energy on ensuring sustainability in creating opportunities.

Key Aims identified through 2014 Service ReviewsThis Plan was formed through a process that began with the Service Reviews of 2014. Each of our Service Teams and our Community Buildings Team carried out an in depth review of their activities, coordinated by the Senior Services Manager to ensure consistency. The reviews have been scrutinised by the Finance Sub Group and accepted by The Settlement Council. The Review Objectives have been updated where appropriate:

Children and Young People (CYPS)The Service will:

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Build and develop opportunities for partnership through expansion of the Lambeth Youth Provider’s forum and other such groups.

Work with partners (existing and new as appropriate) for service delivery and seek opportunity for funding applications to support sustainability.

Ensure discussion and exploration of joint opportunities with other Blackfriars services.

Early YearsTo raise funding through grants and possibly private or corporate funding for a community facility for parents and children based at one of our two centres.

That EY provision should be a part of a progression through play and youth for a joined up service to families.

Play / After School ClubPreventative services for young people, including support service for those in need of additional support and for those at risk. Including a focus on those exhibiting Mental Health issues but below the threshold for CAHMS intervention.

Increased opportunities for partnership and building consortia

Increase health and well-being activity

Increased attendance at After School Club (Breakfast Clubs – Homework Clubs?)

Youth Preventative services for young people, including support service for those in need

of additional support and for those at risk. Increased opportunities for partnership and building consortia Increase health and well-being activity

A key priority will be to improve on how we publicise our services; our Young Leaders group are keen to support us in this area. They have lots of ideas of how we can use new technology to reach more young people to raise awareness of the services and activities that we have to offer.

Develop a model of co-production and design; building on the success of the Young leaders project and continuing to improve public perception of young people. Use Jack Petchey Awards Scheme and other youth-led funding opportunities to recognise their contributions.

Increase volunteer recruitment from within the service and externally to support service delivery

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Older People’s Services (OPS)The service will focus delivery in 3 areas

Preventative services for older people 50+ including befriending, activities, groups and clubs

Increased support and activity for dementia and malnutrition prevention and support for older people and their carers

Increase health and well-being activity

We will:

Increase volunteer recruitment from within the service and externally to support service delivery

Build on the strong partnership work with COPSINS (a consortium of organisations offering services to older people and funded by the London Borough of Southwark).

Continue to work with partners (existing and new as appropriate) for service delivery and seek opportunity for funding applications to support sustainability. This will include discussion and exploration of joint opportunities with MHWBS.

Learning and Development (L&D)Using our strengths in ESoL provision, using a variety of vehicles, we will:

Develop informal and formal learning to promote Blackfriars Settlement as a community learning service on our own site and in other community settings.

Research gaps in the local market to develop a strategy for growth in Learning and Development

In forming this strategy going forward, 5 areas need to be considered:

1. Viability and Sustainability of the current model both financially and administratively

2. Alternative/additional sources of funding for the service e.g. grant funding

3. Accommodation requirements and benefits of delivery off site (in the community and at Living Space)

4. Future and further partnership working

5. Identifying and meeting the skills needs of the community and of funders.

This will provide a framework to:

Agree an appropriate and effective staff team supported by IT systems to enable the service to grow and develop.

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Extend Information and Guidance. Become Matrix accredited to demonstrate the quality of Information, Advice and

Guidance offered to students. Identify skills need in the community and where L and D can fill the gaps both

publicly and privately funded.

Mental Health and Well-being (MHWB)The priority aim will be to generate income to sustain and grow the service through grant and contract funding and an increased appeal to personal budget holders. This will mean identifying alternative fund generating options by:

Increase the number of people with personal budgets (PB) who are accessing the service including from neighbouring boroughs ie Lambeth, Camden and Islington to generate income.

Explore more joint working with SRA (another social enterprise) to improve the sustainability and social value of Art2Print

Develop more activities around physical health as a support to improved mental health through the pilot of The Whole Health Cub, funded by Guys and St Thomas’s Trust

This will be underpinned by a focused service delivery approach in the following areas

Increased attendance at and delivery of, service strength areas (i.e. Most popular and most likely to attract personal budget holders) – art, craft, woodwork and IT. These areas represent recovery through social inclusion, skills development and independent living)

Develop peer led and peer supported activity for evidence of, and opportunity for, increased independence and recovery and to continue to build a co-produced model of delivery.

Increase physical activity opportunities and improved health options. Develop the employment/employability side of the service to offer stronger

pathways for those who want it as well as the surround support that this group will need to achieve their goals.

We will work with CYPS to develop new work in supporting young people who exhibit mental health issues.

Community BuildingsWe will invest in both people and buildings to ensure that we maximise the return on our investment while still providing space from which our services can operate and a resource to the local community.

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Recruit suitably qualified staff to strengthen the team in lettings management and marketing

Invest in training for all team members Build the support to existing staff through a pool of caretakers Invest in additional administrative, reception and sales staff time Invest in upgrading the bookings system Invest in upgrading rooms to let to premium level Take full advantage of the upgraded ballcourt at Living Space for both community

and wider use. Reduce the loan finance that Rushworth Street has to repay Negotiate lease extension at Living Space to provide ongoing services to young

people and their families

Cross Settlement ThemesThese Service Reviews suggest a series of Cross-Settlement Themes, which were articulated first in the Consolidated Service Review.

Community Engagement Co-production Links with Public Sector Pre Employability support Preventative work in Health and

Well-being Maximising Income from

Community Buildings

Income Generation Control of Expenditure – Core

Functions Social Enterprise Forming Strategic Partnerships Communications and Marketing Rationalising Staffing Patterns Impact and Evaluation

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A New Way of WorkingThese cross-settlement themes underline that the organisation should move from 4 distinct service areas that have been described as silos into a more integrated model of delivery in which the areas of overlap between the services are exploited in service delivery:

Instead we will integrate our services

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The

Sett

lem

ent

CYPSOPS

L & DMHWB

L&D

Health and Well-beingCYPS

The Settlement

A proposed new staffing model outlined below will enable this overlapping model to become key to the way in which the Settlement operates while the process of Community Engagement and the resulting Business Development will result in further, overlapping circles each contributing to the others and creating opportunities for local people.

The StrategyAt the heart of our strategy for the next five years lies the principle of Community Engagement. This will be a Cross Settlement activity and will be the subject of a major application to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, a process that will take 6 months to complete.

Centrality of Community EngagementAs indicated in the Consolidated Services Review, engagement with local communities is seen as crucial by a number of partners: Southwark Council (LBS) have funded Community Action Southwark (CAS) to develop Community Engagement at a Community Council level; we are part of Borough, Bankside and Walworth. The Settlement will contribute to this process.

United St Saviours are appointing a Head of Community Investment reflecting their view that engaged organisations will bring transformation to local communities and that they believe they have the resources to fund the development of organisations like BFS to achieve this.

The Settlement believes that through this process we can be an instrument of community cohesion and the integration of diversity within our communities.

Since the Consolidated Service Review a partnership between four Settlements1 in North Southwark has emerged and will be an important part of our bid to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund.

Doing with, not doing to – Co-Production“Doing with, not doing to” is a simpler way of understanding the term Co-production which is open to a variety of misinterpretations. The focus of the Settlement should be based on our Strap Line – Creating opportunities together. A key function of the Settlement is to empower our staff to work with local people to identify what opportunities are needed and to develop them into service delivery.

Good examples of this can be seen in much of the Settlement’s work.

1 See note under Partnerships

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The CYPS Young Leaders who mapped out the summer holiday activities assisted by staff and the result was an excellent series of events.

Member led activities in MHWB, the Photography Club, Green Walkers Group and Reading Group; in spite of reducing resources this area of work has grown over the last 6 months.

Joining Hands is a totally co-produced model of older people leading the planning, design and delivery of this outreach project. As a result, Frank’s Club, the new meeting place for men over 50 was formed, named and led by its members.

For genuine Co-Production to become deeply embedded in the VCS, it needs to be a part of the practice of funders, particularly in the Public Sector. The London Borough of Lambeth has adopted this principle and its benefits can be seen in the commissioning of youth work through the Young Lambeth Co-operative.

Develop links with Public Sector bodiesAs local government further reduces its spending, the requirements of those who bid for what remains will become increasingly complex. In order to best position the Settlement to take advantage of the funding that is available we will continue to build close relationships with public bodies such as the CCGs and London Boroughs in order to understand their priorities. The Director will continue to be part of local networks, such as the Council / VCS Liaison Group for Southwark and we will play a role in the Neighbourhood Plan process for Waterloo and Bankside. Other members of staff will ensure that they play a key role in other such groups.

Our links in Southwark are well established, but with the exception of CYPS we are less well engaged in Lambeth. We will develop these links in order to exploit our location which straddles borough boundaries.

Pre Employability Support

There is considerable provision for employment support in Southwark driven by Government and local aims to reduce the numbers of people who are unemployed. An identified gap is the pre-employability support for young people, people with mental health issues and people for whom English is not a first language. Services at BFS have considerable experience of working with these groups and this provides an opportunity for further service development building on existing work and service expertise. Learning and Development offer CV writing, Interview skills, Food hygiene and working with Children Level 1 and 2. These courses can be adapted, expanded and developed to meet the needs

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of the 3 groups identified. MHWBS has offered a confidence building course and also works with corporate volunteers from Lloyds to help people to think about developing their CVs.

There are volunteer opportunities in MHWBS, Facilities, L and D and in A2P that will provide people with different work experiences and help them to develop skills in a safe and supportive environment. We will begin to build evidence of impact of these interventions to secure additional funding to develop a wider pre-employability programme

This provides opportunities for us to develop further effective partnerships with other providers delivering employability/employment support.

Preventative work in Health and Well-being The introduction of the Better Care Fund with its focus on early intervention and preventative strategies gives rise to a cross settlement health and well-being approach to meet the priorities of the CCG and LBS. We will actively participate in discussions around the shaping of Social Prescribing which remains a major piece of work that we can hope to be a part of. We will maintain our close links with the CCG in this and further links with the Local Care Network which includes GPs, Pharmacists and District Nurses etc. There are also opportunities to position ourselves in relation to patient voice organisations across South East London.

As these new ways of working emerge, we are working with LBS and Southwark CCG in developing a new VCS Strategy and a Mental Health Strategy for the borough. In addition, involvement with the CCG led Integrated Dementia Pathway, the Age Friendly Borough programme and Dementia Action Alliance mean that we are well placed to enter into fruitful partnerships in the health economy.

Maximise Community Buildings IncomeThe graphs below show clearly that income from our two buildings has increased substantially over the last year. The most up to date figures available are for the first quarter of the financial year (RS 74,804, LS 23,776: 14-15 RS 34,175 LS 9,247 an increase of c40K for Rushworth Street and c15K for LivingSpace for the quarter) These figures include long term tenants but show that the push to increase lettings is paying off.

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During the next financial year Living Space will begin to receive the fees for letting the Football Pitch to www.Playfiveaside.com.They have a partner organisation, www.Londonfitnessclasses.com who have started a series of weekday fitness classes which will further increase potential income at Living Space.

There are 5 important issues to consider:1. The end of the Lambeth grant in March 2017. In order for LS to be viable we have to

both reduce costs and increase income to cover the £150K shortfall. The first quarter income figures for LivingSpace show that progress is being made but this remains a significant challenge.

2. There is a balance to be struck between those commercial activities which bring in unrestricted income which we can then use to fund our own priorities and the use of our buildings for direct delivery by our own services. This requires some careful planning if we are not to simply become a lettings agency.

3. We are also mindful of our commitment to make community space available to build community participation. Rushworth Street site has dedicated spaces for this purpose are been well-used. We will also make Living Space more available to community activities at an affordable price.

4. The staffing of both Rushworth Street and Living Space needs to be reviewed so that we are providing a consistent service in the most cost effective way. This will be discussed in the staffing section of this plan.

5. A review of our pricing structure will ensure that we are competitive with others and contributing appropriately to the core costs of the Settlement.

Income Generation and Deficit ReductionWe will reduce our deficit through two channels of income generation which will be underpinned by changing the balance between public funds and grant making trusts and our

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Apr-14

Jun-14

Aug-14

Oct-14

Dec-14

Feb-15

Apr-15

Jun-150.00

2000.00

4000.00

6000.00

8000.00

10000.00

12000.00

14000.00

16000.00

18000.00

20000.00

External + internal Income without external or inter-nal office space Rushworth StreetExternal + internal Income without external or inter-nal office space Living Space

own income generation This is currently 65% / 35%. During the lifetime of this plan we will aim to reverse this. This will secure our sustainability and give us greater control over the services that we provide.

This will be achieved through securing a greater income from our buildings, a sharper focus on voluntary fundraising and the development of additional social enterprise type models of activity. In addition we will reduce costs through the Core Services Review and external partnerships.

Funding for Service DeliveryWe will continue to make applications to public bodies and grant making trusts to fund our service delivery. These applications will be strengthened by:

More effective Impact monitoring through the use of Lamplight, a database system designed for charities.

A reduced % of core costs through rationalising staffing in these areas. A reduced % of costs for space hire as we use unrestricted income from letting our

buildings.

Voluntary FundraisingWe have a very strong network of corporate supporters, many of whom have indicated that they would be willing to work more closely with us to develop our work. The Fundraising Subcommittee has been re-constituted with new trustees and others to develop the following key areas:

A new Voluntary Fundraising Strategy. Data – knowing who we are in contact with, how they support us and what impact

their support has. The database referred to above will have the capacity to manage this information.

Programmed outreach to potential funders through a series of events, starting with the fundraising dinner at a Shangri-La which will both raise funds and begin the formation of networks of support, as below:

Development of Corporate Friends of Blackfriars Settlement to coordinate the activity of our supporters

Patrons: The development of a network of supporters who, through their own networks, can be advocates for the work of the Settlement.

Social EnterpriseOur experience of social enterprise with Art2Print has been varied. The social impact, based on numbers of individuals moving through the programme to employment is small; however, the achievement of those individuals is considerable. There are possibilities for

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partnerships with other social enterprises. The continued need for financial support for Art2Print means that its future needs to be reviewed.

The Settlement will continue to explore how a social enterprise model might both bring good outcomes for service users and support our work in the future.

External PartnershipsIt is increasingly difficult for VCS groups like ourselves to stand alone in a fiercely competitive funding environment. We should secure Structural Partnerships to ensure the long term sustainability of all involved:

Mary Ward Settlement – Discussions have been underway for some time and Heads of Agreement have been drawn up that define the areas in which agreement is needed.

Settled Futures – As noted above we are in active discussion with four other Settlements in Southwark.2 This partnership is provisionally known as Settled Futures and the four Settlements will submit a bid to the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund before Easter 2016, this bid will also include The Company of Community Organisers. In addition, the partnership is working with Locality, the umbrella body for settlements and community development trusts on becoming a legal entity and contract ready.

We are also involved with the following partnerships:

COPSINS – Services for older people in Southwark Southwark Adult Learning - ESoL Managers Learning Unlimited – Working Men’s College 3Cs - Mental Health support services across Southwark

2 Bede House in Bermondsey, Time and Talents in Rotherhithe and Pembroke House in Walworth

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Learning and Development – the way forwardOur current work in L&D is limited to ESOL in a variety of forms, vocational courses in Child Care and employability skills. As central funding is being reduced so our delivery is threatened. Our Community Engagement process will reveal areas in which the community sees possibilities for education in its broadest sense.

Our excellent facilities at Rushworth Street will accommodate a wider range of adult learning opportunities, which do not require external accreditation and could be a valuable source of unrestricted income. We will explore options for partnerships with other providers, or developing this work through our own initiatives.

Communications and MarketingAs a priority we will develop and put into practice a Communications Strategy to guide our use of traditional and new medias. In particular Twitter and Facebook.

An internal communications protocol is now agreed and in place for accurate dissemination of information and a mechanism for all staff to contribute ideas, suggestions and issues.

Marketing remains an expensive and illusive commodity. Several lines of enquiry are in progress but we may need to invest in some professional advice.

Impact and EvaluationSee page 6

Staffing

The Executive TeamThe team currently consists of the Director, Deputy Director, Senior Services Manager and CYPS Manager.

The fulfilment of this Strategic Plan will require a different focus:

Oversight and External Partnerships – Director

Finance Head of Finance

Service development, new business Head of Services

Community Buildings and IT Head of Buildings

This Executive Team will require Administrative Support to ensure the best use of the member’s time and expertise. This outline model will be subject to full consultation with those concerned and the Settlement’s JNC

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Provisional Staffing Structure – subject to consultation

Key: Executive Service Delivery Core Function

Service LeadershipOver the years a confusing system of responsible posts in our services has arisen. There are two titles, which historically described different roles but in more recent years reflect similar levels of responsibility: Manager and Coordinator. It is proposed that all those who lead our services should be described as Team Leaders and where they have assistants, Assistant Team Leaders. Discussions with staff and consultation with the JNC will take place in order that Job Descriptions can be revised to take account of this.

Central to this change of name is a change of attitude: Service Coordinators is an essentially passive title, simply bringing together those who are involved in delivery. Service Leaders will take responsibility for leading their service, managing their budgets, recruiting, training and developing staff and ensuring that members are involved at all levels of co-production, thus growing both their skills and their confidence.

Service Leaders will have responsibility for undertaking appraisals and supervisions using the Settlement’s new Appraisal Policy. This is a key tool in ensuring that this Strategic Plan is

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Director

Head of Finance

Finance Assistant

Bookkeeper

Head of Community

Buildings

Structure to be agreed

HR Support Administrative Support Head of Services

Team Leaders

Team Staff

Fundraising Support IT and Database

fulfilled, each member of staff, no matter how part time, set clear objectives and targets that will lead to the flourishing of the Settlement.

To facilitate these changes and to improve staff morale a regular programme of staff meetings will be a feature of Settlement life. This will include mix of business and social gatherings. In addition, JNC will be strengthened and adequate training be provided for members.

Core ServicesIt is clear that our core expenditure represents too great a proportion of the total expenditure of the Settlement and this must be rationalised. Following the Service Reviews, the Settlement has begun a process of reviewing all of the core functions. The Finance Department has already been reviewed and considerable savings both in time and money will be achieved through the new structure. The process will continue with IT, HR and the draft proposal for the restructuring of the Executive will form part of the review of the management of the Settlement.

Finance Department Following the retirement of Jackie Wray, deputy director and finance manager, the new structure will be Head of Finance and a Finance Assistant. New financial management systems will be put in place to make better use of the capacity of Sage Line 50 software. This will enable better reporting to budget holders and Trustees.

Community Buildings.In order to maximise the return on our investment and provide a sustainable and well-manintanied base for our own services, we will appoint a Head of Community Buildings.

This Head of Community Buildings, once in post, will be charged with devising a strategy, in consultation with staff members that will ensure that the Community Buildings Team is both efficient and affordable and that the right balance between the use of our buildings by our own services and for income generation in maintained. The staff consultation will begin with consideration of an internal restructure and only after this has been precluded will we consider external appointments.

The particular challenges of Living Space centre around it being available to the local community and, in the absence of financial support from the London Borough of Lambeth, viable as a part of the Settlements work across two boroughs. The detailed plan for this work was agreed with LBL prior to the agreement over the lease and this remains the priority for our work there.

VolunteeringThe contribution made by volunteers and the impact of the time and energy given by these individuals and groups on our services is enormous. This has been marked in the Southwark Stars Awards for 2016 in which VTB won the category for Corporate Volunteering for their

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work in telephone befriending and Charlie Brown as the best volunteer in the Health and Social Care category for his work with OPS. We congratulate them both and recognise that they are the tip of the iceberg!

We will continue to provide excellent recruitment, training and retention of our volunteers and identify pathways by which both individuals and groups can develop their volunteering experience with the Settlement.

The review of core staffing will have to take into account the growth of volunteering and the pressure this puts on administration.

GovernanceThe Settlement Council has overseen the work of BFS with great skill and a considerable commitment of time and energy. For this the Settlement is very grateful. The recent recruitment of new Council members has been a gratifying experience with individuals of calibre coming forward to be members.

There are several issues for the Council to address:

Succession planning for the officer posts of the Council The provision of adequate training opportunities for Council members to fulfil

their responsibilities. Ensuring that the reporting patterns currently in place provide sufficient detail

and knowledge of the Settlement for Council to make informed decisions and monitor the progress of this Strategic Plan

Reviewing the Committee Structure (Finance, Governance, Fundraising and JNC) to ensure that it meets the needs of the Settlement.

ConclusionThis Plan describes a series of activities for the next five years of the Settlement’s life which will position it to continue to create opportunities for the people of the area. Detailed business planning for these activities will be provided alongside this plan.

In addition, the plan highlights several areas of strategic planning that need to be developed: Voluntary Fundraising, Communications and Marketing. These plans will be developed in the coming months. In addition, the Settlement’s Equality and Diversity Policy has been reviewed, the Continuous Professional Development Policy and the Appraisal and Supervision Policy will be reviewed in late 2015.

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Version control

Version no Date Circulated

Amendments Made

Approved

0.1 26/10/15 Exec Following comments from SU and changes made by MB

2.0 20/1/16 All Staff For consultation

2.01 23/2/16 Executive

Request to re-read

4 26/2/16 Trustees Amendments from JW and SU

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