Scarborough & Dist C.A.B. at 62 Roscoe St., Scarborough YO12 7BY - and - Church House, Flowergate, Whitby YO21 3BA Chair's Report Astonished how much has been achieved & how far we’ve come ... CEO’s Report Last year we told you some of our clients’ stories. This year I’ll tell you the bureau’s story from April 2008 to March 2009 ... Debt Over £16M ... CONTENTS .. Quick Links Chair’s Report As I look back on the bureau’s 2008/09 year I am astonished at how much has been achieved and how far we have come. You will see from the CEO’s report that every month has brought something new.   Thanks to the first of three years secure funding we have expanded our service – telephone advice resumed, evening opening on a Wednesdays.  We have changed the way we deliver our service seeing more clients and turning fewer away.  We have started new projects and developed established ones.  To all of this the staff have responded positively, rising to every new challenge and, as ever, delivering.  On behalf of myself and the other trustees I offer sincere thanks to them all especially to the cohort of volunteers who give their time for free! Meanwhile, we are aware that the environment in which we work is changing and throwing up new challenges all the time.  The voluntary and community sector is being encouraged by government to take on more through contracts and commissioning.  Scarborough CAB is a successful organisation at the moment but we need to ensure that it remains so in the changing world. As I write the Welfare Benefits team are responding by developing proposals for a partnership approach to LSC contracting in the autumn.  On a wider front Advice North Yorkshire the county-wide CAB consortium is looking at ways of sharing costs and reducing overheads as well as undertaking joint projects and contracts. Will the consortium prove to be a sufficient vehicle to rise out the challenges ahead or should we be considering mergers as has happened elsewhere?  Do we need to be more proactive in developing partnerships with non CAB organisations?  In becoming more competitive and business like how do we protect our values and principles as a voluntary organisation? These are the big questions for the future. Pat Chandler Chair Made with Xara Web Designer Chief Executive Officer’s Report April 2008 The start of the bureau year. We completed the refurbishment of the new call room in Scarborough and recommenced advice by telephone on 08451 202930 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10.30 – 3.30. Prior to this there had been no telephone advice since the Call Centre in Filey closed at the end of January. As a bureau that serves a large rural area with a scattered population as well as the towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Filey, we accept that many people may have problems accessing our services in person so we need to make advice by telephone available as widely as possible. Callers who ring when no adviser is available can access pre-recorded advice on various topics via the options menu. In partnership with Scarborough Borough Council Housing Benefits Department we started a new project helping Housing Benefit claimants with problems we both thought would arise from the introduction of the new Local Housing Allowance. Henry Rowlands was employed one day a week for a year helping people who needed to open bank accounts to receive payments or who needed their rent paying direct to their landlord for any reason. This was a good illustration of partners working successfully together both before and during an anticipated change in legislation – the work put in beforehand meant that the problems were nowhere near as bad as we had anticipated. May  2008 We changed the way we deliver advice! CABx have always prided themselves on their ability to provide full holistic advice and support clients in taking action, but this takes time. Lots of people don’t need this – they just need some information or a pointer in the right direction so they can take things forward themselves. We had people wanting quite simple things waiting in the queue behind others who needed intensive support, the queue was getting ever longer and some people were leaving without any help at all. Under the new system from 6.5.08 all new face-to-face clients in the Scarborough office are now offered an Assessment Interview lasting 10 minutes. If the issue is simple, information can be provided, if there’s someone else in Scarborough that can deal with it better than us we signpost the client to them, otherwise we make them an appointment to come again with an appropriate general or specialist adviser and make sure they know what to bring with them. Experienced advisers were recruited and trained to do the assessment interviews. Initially this change produced exactly the result we wanted. Face to face clients seen in Scarborough increased by 27% in June compared with June 2007 and receptionists reported that no-one was leaving without being seen. Of course there’s been a recession since then. By the last quarter of 2008/9 we were seeing nearly 70% more clients than the same period in 2007/8 and an average of 20 people a week were again leaving without being seen. So we have to start thinking again .. June 2008 The Whitby service is particularly important because the cost of travel between Whitby and Scarborough is too high for many of our clients. We had been keeping the Whitby bureau open for general advice 2 days a week using money from the will of a former adviser Martyn Fothergill, but this was about to run out and we were looking at having to cut the service back to one day a week. In the nick of time we heard from Lord Normanby that the Normanby Charitable Trust had awarded us enough money to keep the extra day going until March 2011. July 2008 Year 2 of our 5 year Triple Chance project, funded by the Big Lottery Reaching Communities programme started. We set about recruiting a worker to deliver advice in the Esk Valley. In year 3 we will be offering advice in Filey and Eastfield as well. August 2008 Thanks to an anonymous donation we were finally able to increase our provision of telephone advice to cover Monday to Friday 10.30 – 3.30 again. September 2008 Barbara Lynas started 27.9.08 delivering advice in the Esk Valley, visiting clients in their homes because of the problems they encounter getting in to Whitby. October 2008 The government was worrying about people suffering the effects of the recession and agreed to put money into CABx for extra advice. We’d already seen an increase in the demand for advice – would we get anything for Scarborough? Henry Rowlands and I attended a conference in London and met with Chris Cunningham of the Royal British Legion to decide on submitting a bid to deliver advice to members of the armed forces, veterans and their dependants. Becca Robinson, Welfare Benefits Worker in Whitby for many years, resigned to devote herself to the family businesses in jet and sweeties and was replaced by Sarah Peaker. November 2008 We had our Annual Liaison Visit from Eddie Collins of Citizens Advice – an opportunity for the trustees to look at the operation of the bureau with an outsider, assess the various risks we face and discuss how to address them. We were please that our overall risk was assessed only as Medium but can’t pretend that it always feels that way! December 2008 Henry Rowlands started as full time advice worker on the Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and Citizens Advice Benefits and Money Advice Service. Joanne Foster was recruited as his admin worker. The public launch was scheduled for 23.1.09 at the Town Hall. We were all deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and unexpected death on 19.12.09 of our Welfare Benefits Admin Worker Julie Maskill. Julie had been with us since the opening of the Call Centre in 2003. She was always cheerful, helpful and good at her job and we still miss her very much. January 2009 Following negotiations with the Legal Service Commission we increased our specialist Welfare Benefits provision by 12 hours week. Agata Szymanska was recruited to do the extra work. She is a Polish speaker, was extremely useful before this when she was a volunteer adviser and is more so now helping EU nationals and others with benefit issues. (During the year we started another Polish advice volunteer in training and found an interpreter willing to help the rest of our advisers). February 2009 Our bid to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (see October) for cash to provide additional face-to-face advice in Scarborough on Wednesdays 10.30 – 3.30 and 5.00 – 6.00 succeeded and the extra work will start on 1.4.09. 25.2.09 we and the other North Yorkshire CABx met with North Yorkshire County Council to look at possible input from them to mitigate the effects of the recession. We said we needed in- depth casework to back the additional general advice above. March 2009 After a meeting with members of the Housing Benefit Department and the Council Tax Recovery section at Scarborough Borough Council they agreed to fund a further 2 sessions a week for a year, one in Whitby and one at the Town Hall, also in response to the recession. These will start on 1.5.09 and offer advice on Welfare Benefit entitlement and debt. On 24.3.09 Barry Soper, our IT and admin volunteer, was given one of only two Highly Commended Awards in the Community class and an engraved glass plaque at the Mayor’s Big Thank You Awards ceremony at the Spa. It was good for everyone to see a backroom boy celebrated in this way – usually no-one notices they’re there but their contribution is every bit as important as that of those who are more visible. What’s still in the pipeline as at 1.4.09? • Starting our new face-to-face sessions at Esk Moors Lodge in Castleton. This is a pioneering development of rural sheltered housing, with associated care packages, and we are delighted to have been invited to add to the many activities and services they are making available to the whole local community. • Looking for more accommodation in Scarborough to house our ever-increasing staff numbers. • Continuing to negotiate with North Yorkshire County Council about any possible recession-related cash. • Thinking and possibly negotiating with others about the future of the Legal Services Contract in Welfare Benefits after April 2010. • Recruiting and training Advisers (always ongoing) • Thinking about how to deal with the ever-increasing demand for our services. If 2008/9’s anything to go by who knows what’s next? Right now it’s hard to balance our long term plans with the need to offer a speedy response to the current situation. A busy year? Yes! Did we do any good? Figures on advice delivered and outcomes follow. What will the bureau look like in the future?  Bigger and better we hope. CABx are there to help people and improve their lives. We’ll keep on trying to seize every opportunity to maintain and improve what we’re doing. Debts dealt with for clients Scarborough 11,389,815 Whitby 678,333 Financial Inclusion Fund 3,191,627 The Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and Citizens Advice Benefits and Money Advice Service 894,665 Money Advice to Prevent Homelessness 179,269 Total  £16,333,710 Bankruptcy petitions completed  91 Financial gain for clients with Employment issues         £34,500 Benefits Gained for Clients in 2008-09 Scarborough £ Disability Living Allowance                                     555,178 Attendance Allowance                                            110,632 Other                                                                       395,430 TOTAL                                                                1,061,241 Whitby Disability Living Allowance                                        67,335 Attendance Allowance                                              15,265 Other                                                                         25,440 TOTAL                                                                    108,040 R U Getting it? Disability Living Allowance                                          8,338 Attendance Allowance                                               18,767 Other                                                                        731,380 TOTAL                                                                     758,485 Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund and Citizens Advice Benefits and Money Advice Service TOTAL                                                                       35,210 OVERALL TOTAL                                                  £1,962,976 During the year ending 31st March 2009  £3,198 was raised by the Publicity and Fund- raising Group and the bureau was featured in the local newspaper on several occasions.  Particularly the fund-raising event at the Tap and Spile pub. We would like to thank the following for their kind donations ... W Boyes Burniston Parish Council Cloughton Parish Council Danby Parish Council Festive Spectacular Hutton Buscel Parish Council Lythe Parish Council Mccains Newholm-cum-Dunsley Parish Council Normanby Charitable Trust Raflatac Soroptomist Society St Nicholas Lodge Staintondale Parish Council Tap & Spile Pub Trafalgar Pub West Ayton Parish Council Westborough Church We would also like to thank the many clients who have left donations at the Whitby and Scarborough Bureaux.  This amounted to £972.91 for the year. We are at present adhering to Citizens Advice recommendations that we hold three months’ running costs as a reserve. Such funds are to be held as a contingency for redundancies and funds allocated for future years expenses as determined by some donations received. The healthy state of our finances at present is testament to the careful monitoring and strict control of the management and directors.  Continued adherence to these aims and ideals will ensure a healthy financial future. Home     Annual Report     Get Advice     Locations     News     Plain Text     Recruitment      Pension Credit     Useful Links      Debt Welfare Benefits Nearly £2M gained for clients ... Welfare Benefits Service Details Service Details Getting Advice - Where and When ... Treasurer’s Report Treasurer’s Report Enquiry Statistics Statistics Client Enquiries & Service Outlets ... Staff List Management Committee Pat Chandler Chair Ken Dale Vice Chair Dave Hawley Treasurer Andrew Backhouse Ordinary Member Dawn Birkett Law Society Dorothy Clegg Ordinary Member Tony Fenter Ordinary Member Ian Poole Ordinary Member Martin Smith NYCC Brian Watson Scarborough Borough Council Eddie Collins Citizens Advice Bureau Sue Butcher Minute Secretary Ken Nikolic Staff Rep (Paid) Tony Bellwood Staff Rep (Volunteer) Lisa Nortcliff Resigned 9th September 2008 Jo Drydale Staff Rep - Resigned 6th April 2008 Paid Staff Ed Barker Financial Inclusion Fund Worker Rachel Boyes Welfare Benefits Worker Maurice Le Cuirot Outreach Worker Barbara Lynas Outreach Worker Jill Mandy Chief Executive Officer Julie Maskill Welfare Benefits Administrator Ken Nikolic Service Manager Sharon Noble Office Manager Sarah Peaker Welfare Benefits Worker Becca Robinson Welfare Benefits Worker Henry Rowlands Money Advice Worker Sally Simmons FIF Admin Worker Victoria Smith Financial Inclusion Fund Worker Agata Szymanska Welfare Benefits Worker Phillipa Valentine Guidance Tutor Julie Wardle Cleaner Volunteer Advisers Paul Bateson Tracy Jarratt Paul Seddon Tony Bellwood Maurice Le Cuirot Vicki Smith Heather Bogg Mary Mynot Carole Spink Greta Griffin Maggie Ratcliffe Susan Thompson Ally Harrison Angela Richings John Truscott John Harrison Peter Rothery Josie Williams Volunteer Trainee  Advisers Dave Baker Anne Jenkins John Raine Chris Bailiffe Iwona Karwowska Rose Rylands Pat Church Shirley Keyworth Ian Scorah Kay Edwards Eleanor Lawler Jacqui Smith Lucia Goodman Chris Lightfoot Graham Snelson Jenna Holliday Hilly Longly Harry Stevens Jim Howsam Sue McAdam Agata Szymanska Gwynneth Townson Carol Watts Volunteer Guidance Tutors Maggie Ratcliffe Carole Spink Volunteer Adminstration Adrian Andrews Lionel Beck* Jamie Myers Dan Scotson Ian Clark Jo Drydale Anne Phillips Barry Soper *Webmaster Volunteer Receptionists Christine Baxendale Gillian Marsden Jamie Myers Sylvia Smith Steve Drydale Arliene Monsey Chris Parsons Wendy Wilson Tracey Gingell Anne Moore Christine Raper Kathy Hardy Pauline Moss Lynne Reed Staff List