Annual Report 2008-2009

The 2008-2009 Annual Report is available to download in a PDF format or is in Word format below.  The Audited Accounts are also available to download in PDF format for the financial year 2008/2009.

Chair's Report
Director's Report
Reception
Funding Information North East
Funding Advice
Capacity Building Project

Gateshead Community Network

VCS Engagement and Positive Steps Programme
Volunteer Centre

Local Involvement Network (LINk)
Community Accountancy Project

Payroll
Gateshead Advocacy and Information Network

Focussed Implementation Site

aTENSION Project in Gateshead

Finance Section

Staff and Volunteers

Management Committee 2008/2009

Chair's Report

Welcome to GVOC's Annual Review for the year 2008-2009, a year that has seen some significant changes within the organisation and significant changes to the situation of the voluntary sector in general.

The Focussed Implementation Site for delivering race equality in mental health across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear has come to the end of its three year period leaving the legacy of a thriving mental health partnership for race equality.  The Volunteer Centre has a new manager and the youth volunteering project, vInvolved, has fully established itself as part of the Centre's work.  Also, GVOC won the contract to support the Gateshead Local Involvement Network (LINk) and a new staff team recruited over the course of the year.

This level of change is a feature of working in the voluntary sector providing at once an exciting but potentially unsettling environment.  GVOC's management and staff are adept at riding out these changes whilst providing an efficient and valuable service to the voluntary and community sector of Gateshead.

There are a number of achievements I would like to highlight:

• 2008 was Gateshead's Year of Volunteers and the Volunteer CEntre worked with Council staff to make this a lively and successful year culminating in an elaborate party in January to celebrate the role of volunteers in Gateshead.

• The Community Network, supported by GVOC staff, developed a joint Community Development Strategy that will be launched later in 2009.

• Gateshead LINk was one of the few, possibly the only LINk in the country, to start on the prescribed date of 1st April 2008.

• GVOC's staff have worked closely with the Birtley Community Partnership and are proud to be associated with the first successful community asset transfer in the country.

• vInvolved have helped young people to form a Youth Action Team to support youth volunteering in the borough.

Last year we had to report on some significant health issues amongst key members of staff.  I am delighted to report that these issues are now behind us and the staff members affected are back at work and in good health.

For the sector in general the economic climate has taken a turn for the worse and we are all waiting to see how this will affect the sector's ability to support the most vulnerable people in Gateshead and to create new and exciting projects.  GVOC is determined to use these events to the sector's advantage and is working with the Council, the Primary Care Trust and the Gateshead Strategic Partnership to create new commissioning regimes and sustainable funding processes to ensure that the sector is there during the recession for Gateshead's communities.

Finally, I would like to thank all of GVOC's funders and supporters, my colleagues on the management committee for their dedication and time and all of the staff of GVOC who ensure the smooth running of the organisation.

Anne Marshall

Acting Chair

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Director's Report

In my report last year I felt compelled to warn of difficult times ahead for both infrastructure organisations and for the voluntary sector in general.  I cannot claim some form of supernatural or psychic powers yet it was, unfortunately, a very timely warning.

As we now all know the financial institutions were about to implode leaving a legacy of uncertainty for the general economy and, specifically, for the voluntary and community sector.  I'm sorry to have to say this but the worst is yet to come.  Public sector spending cuts are imminent and our sector will not be immune.

GVOC's role, as I see it, is to work with the statutory authorities to ensure that their funding regimes in relation to the voluntary and community sector are fair and based upon a true assessment of the value that our sector provides not just in terms of direct service but also in prevention and added value in the form of attracting other resources such as volunteers, employment opportunities and finance from outside of Gateshead.

Strategically, GVOC has been supporting the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Corporate Vitality in its review of volunteering in the borough.  We have worked in partnership with the Council to make Gateshead's Year of Volunteers a success and have ensured that volunteering and a thriving third sector are part of Gateshead's Local Area Agreement with the Government.

We are working with the Gateshead Strategic Partnership to widen the scope of the voluntary sector Compact to encompass a new community development strategy and a volunteering strategy for the borough.  The new Compact will be clear on commissioning arrangements with the sector and hopefully will acknowledge the need for sustainable funding agreements with the sector and hopefully will acknowledge the need for sustainable funding agreements over more than one year.

With these measures in place we may be able to, at least, preserve what we are currently achieving even if we enter a period of little or no growth.

GVOC has dedicated and talented staff whose job satisfaction is to see the sector thrive.  They are here to support all of you in the voluntary and community sector.  If you are experiencing difficult times use the resources we have to offer.  If you are unclear as to what they are, the rest of this report outlines them and their many achievements clearly.

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Reception

The team deal with more than 500 visitors and 1000 telephone calls per month.  This is very slightly down on previous years, the reason being the massive increase in internet use.  The number of emails received now averages 380 per month, most requiring some sort of reply of response.  As well as the above, the team still handle the day to day tasks of printing, photocopying, room bookings, stationery ordering, admin support to projects and invoicing.  They also help co-ordinate many of the changes that happen in and around the building such as; painting and decorating, updated signs, furniture moving and general maintenance.

The team offer a consistently reliable service and are highly thought of, this is apparent from the many positive comments received by people using the building and from GVOC project staff.  Marge Greatbatch, the Admin Manager and PA to the Director, has been with GVOC for almost 14 years, Marion Verow, Admin Officer is in her seventh year in reception and Jaime Wilkie, also Admin Officer has been at the desk almost four years.

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Funding Information North East

FINE is managed by GVOC and is a joint project of seven Councils for Voluntary Service (CVS) and Rural Community Councils (RCC).  Its purpose is to support the voluntary sector across the North East region by:

• Researching potential sources of funding and keeping organisations informed of funding opportunities via publications, information bulletins, online databases and its website.

• Supporting Funding Advisers working in Local Development Agencies throughout the North East.

• Developing and maintaining links with funders and regional agencies.

2008-09 was a year of change and uncertainty for FINE.  The scarcity of funding programmes for infrastructure organisations at the beginning of the year led to fears that FINE would have to close.  Long-standing staff left, taking years of experience and knowledge with them.  The future seemed gloomy.  Despite these difficulties FINE maintained and developed services throughout the year.  By March 2009 FINE had overcome funding problems and was recruiting permanent staff ready to begin a new chapter in its story, renewed and reinvigorated.

FINE delivers information directly to front line organisations through its website, email bulletins, databases and guides which are essential resources for many voluntary sector organisations.  FINE has long-established links with many north east funders enabling it to provide uniquely tailored and relevant information.  Throughout the year, in good times and bad, FINE continued to research and produce weekly email bulletins and a monthly grants bulletin.  In January 2009 it produced the 10th Edition of the North East Guide to Grants for Voluntary Organisations, a guide to charitable trusts.  In total 539 people purchased or subscribed to FINE's information services in 2008/9.

FINE's training programme came to an end in April.  In June 08 an evaluation of the last three years training programme found that the targeted programme delivered to funding advisers was highly valued.  "FINE is consistently informative and more importantly, relevant to the role which I carry out.  Other trainers tend to offer generic training which is often not relevant."

The findings of this evaluation were to form the basis of a successful funding bid to Capacity Builders, giving rise to a   new project in FINE: The Funding Advisers Procurement and Commissioning Support Projects, commencing in 2009.  This provides FINE with the resources of funding such as contracting opportunities.  The project kicked off in February with the recruitment of a new Training and Support Worker.

FINE facilitated the North East Funders Forum and the Funding Advice Workers Network, organised a programme of high quality speakers on topical issues and enabled debate and networking.  FINE also provided the opportunity for collaborative work and to influence policy.

The project continued to act as a conduit for policy makers and funding advisers through a strategic role at, amongst others, the Regional Infrastructure Consortium and the Third Sector Strategic Forum.

FINE held two conferences this year.  In May, in partnership with members of the North East Funders Forum, it planned and organised the Equality and Diversity Conference.  In October it held a micro conference for funding advisers where 25 delegates learned about the changing face of funding advice across the UK and in the north eastern region.

The biggest change at FINE in many years was faced with the departure of Linda Whitfield after 7 years as Project Manager in December.  Linda's skills as a trainer, the relationships she developed with funders and her understanding of the issues faced by voluntary organisations and those who fund them, is a great loss to the project.

Thanks to Linda's hard work FINE ended 2008-09 with a brighter future following a number of successful partnership bids being approved for the coming year.

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Funding Advice

40 People in Need searches have been carried out.  Requests for assistance ranged from educational and change of career expenses; training costs to participate in Team Great Britain in selected sports and alterations to homes to allow independent living for relatives.

Almost 70 Funding advice sessions have taken place.

Six funding sections of GVOC's newsletter have been produced.

There are 13 Information Sheets relating to funding and funding issues available.

GVOC's Funding section on the website and in the GVOC library is frequently updated and in one year has received 1800 visits.

Grassroots Grants Scheme 2008 - 2009

Community Foundation of Tyne & Wear was successful in securing the contract for Grassroots Grants where small grants of up to £5,000 can be awarded to the local community.  GVOC are happy to assist the Foundation in the administration of these grants.

Grassroots is a three year funding stream from Central Government.  Gateshead received nearly £89,000 in year one, have received over £95,000 in year two and will receive just over £99,000 in year three.  Any funding not spent will be sent back to Central Government.

GVOC is pleased to report that all of Gateshead's allocation was well spent in year one and is likely to reach spending targets for year two also.

John Haswell Memorial Trust Annual Report 2008-2009

The John Haswell Memorial Trust discontinued in January 2009.  This will be a great loss to Gateshead as small grants of up to £400 could be awarded within a matter of weeks.

However, the hard work of volunteer Simon Baker didn't go unnoticed as GVOC nominated him for the Regional Volunteer of the Year.  Simon didn't receive the award on this occasion but did get to meet Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson.

The John Haswell Memorial Trust awarded grants from £25 - £400 for start up costs, equipment, activities, education and general charitable activities.  Eight groups were awarded nearly £2,500.

The Trust still administers two other funds, the Great North Forest travel grants and the Safe, Sensible, Social grants scheme.

Safe, Sensible, Social Grants awards grants of up to £5,000

On behalf of the NHS Trust South of Tyne & Wear, GVOC are administering small grants of up to £5,000 to projects and activities which help alleviate alcohol related issues in the local community.  Criteria for the fund is:

• Increasing community safety initiatives

• Enhancing education, employment or skills opportunities for people affected by alcohol

• Improving health and well-being of local people

• Aiming to tackle alcohol related crime

• Increasing services and activities of disadvantaged people focussing on alcohol prevention and education

Health and Safety

GVOC's Health and Safety Sub Committee is made up of several staff members who meet regularly to review and implement all Health and Safety matters for John Haswell House and GVOC staff.

Whilst they are not by any means experts, they have gained considerable knowledge in a variety of Health and Safety aspects in the workplace.  They are happy to give initial advice and help to organisations on improving Health and Safety in the workplace.

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Capacity Building Project

The Community Capacity Building Project was ser up in 2002 and offers information, training and advice to voluntary organisations and community groups throughout the Borough of Gateshead.

Over the past twelve months the project has delivered a large part of the training offered to the voluntary sector.  The project staff have worked with 30 voluntary organisations and community groups, identifying their training and development needs and assisting them to address those identified needs.

The project has provided 31 one-day, non-accredited training courses as part of the GVOC training programme, providing volunteers, staff and paid workers from a variety of organisations and community groups with the knowledge and skills to operate more effectively.  The project has delivered 8 courses as part of GVOC's 'Voluntary Sector Toolkit' programme, accredited through Open College Network North East.  A total of 289 individuals have benefited from the training offered by the project this year.

The project has also been able to offer a sign-posting service, so that any enquiries received can be passed on to other GVOC projects or to appropriate external organisations.

The projects has taken over the Children's Workforce Development Council work within GVOC, offering outreach, signposting and other work to voluntary and community organisations around the children's workforce agenda.

This year has seen the project involved in the National Outcomes Programme, delivered through the Charities Evaluation Service and funded by the Big Lottery Fund; the project has offered a number of training courses to voluntary organisations around implementing an outcomes focus.  The project will continue to support those organisations involved in the programme.

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Gateshead Community Network (GCN)

Gateshead Strategic Partnership agreed in principle to fund the NEtwork for 3 years from April 2008.

In May 2008 the Network Steering Group agreed to drop the term 'Empower' from the network's name.

GCN continues to support the members and representatives on the Gateshead Strategic Partnership and the following Themed Partnerships: Children and Young People, Safer Stronger Communities and Culture, Adult Social Care & Health, Economy, Skills, Housing and Transport.  In addition the NEtwork was asked to co-host a regular Transport Forum on behalf of the Economy, Skills, Housing and Transport Partnership to enable partners and voluntary and community sector groups to come together to discuss transport issues and feed them into the main partnership agenda.

There are 5 Area Forums in Gateshead.  They were developed to enhance partnership working through producing joint solutions to local issues and concerns.  Representatives from GCN attend the meetings.

Neighbourhood Plans

Gateshead Council commenced their Neighbourhood Planning process in January 2009.  GCN are working in partnership with the Council's Neighbourhood Management Team to ensure that local people can play an active part in consultation and planning solutions to locally identified needs.

Examples of Partnership Working

• GCN staff and local volunteers continue to deliver consultations on behalf of Northumbria Police in local neighbourhoods.

• Gateshead Central Library has been successful in acquiring almost £2 million to redesign the Library.  The Network is a member of the Library Partnership Board and continues to advise on the Library's community engagement plan.

• In May 2008 GCN in partnership with the PCT and Gateshead Council conducted a pilot consultation in the Bensham and Saltwell area.

• GCN were involved in planning and organising a Fire Service Open Day in Birtley in July 2008.  GCN continues to support the development of the 'Friends of' groups at each of the Community Fire Stations.

• As a result of a piece of GCN consultation work conducted in Whickham, Go North East have produced a Whickham Guide to bus services and distributed it to all residents within the consultation area.

• Community Development.  In December 2008 the Council and GSP endorsed the Gateshead Community Development Strategy.  GCN, the Primary Care Trust and Gateshead Council have worked together to develop the Strategy and are in the process of developing an Action Plan that will align with the Community Cohesion Strategy.

GCN Small Grants Fund

There were a total of 38 applications this year.  Only one application was not successful.  The total grants awarded amounted to £39748.

Work with Young People

GCN's second School Councils' conference took place in October.  107 students and 24 staff from 17 schools took part in the day with partners facilitating the workshops.  The theme of the conference was Community Cohesion.  A DVD of the conference, produced by one of the pupils, has been presented to the GSP, Children and Young People's Partnership, Gateshead Community Network and the East Area Forum.

From October 2008, Lord Lawson, Colegate and Bill Quay Primary Schools co-hosted the Junior Network.

GSN has been involved in working with Ryton Comprehensive Year 8 students around the citizenship part of the curriculum.

Staffing changes

Emma Kellie, Community Development Officer, decided not to return to work following her maternity leave and resigned in September 2008.  Ruth Dodds, Community Development Officer, who had joined the staff team in December 2007 as maternity leave cover for Emma subsequently took up the post.

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VCS Engagement and Positive Steps Programmes

These two pieces of work came to an end in March 2009.

The Positive Steps Programme was funded by the Tyne and Wear City Region Employment Consortium, Disadvantaged Area Fund (DAF) via Gateshead Council.  It had been identified that interventions in Gateshead to address worklessness issues were not reaching all benefit recipients, where large numbers of residents who required support to access employment were being excluded from the labour market because of varying barriers.  The key to reducing the economic inactivity and increasing the employment rate in Gateshead is client engagement, where the VCS can play a vital role.

The Positive Steps programme aimed to provide a holistic support programme to address barriers clients face when moving from key benefits to employment.  It used coaching techniques to identify and map goals then broke them into smaller achievable steps to help facilitate sustainable employment.  The programme complemented the intensive range of multi-agency support currently being focused by other initiatives such as the job centre plus new deal programme, progress to work, pathways to work and others.

The benefit of this approach was to help clients move in the right direction of employment, by providing them with a powerful support system of life coaching.  In addition to the life coach, the client also had access to the 'Well Being Fund', to guide and assist in personal presentation, image, clothing style etc.  The aim of the fund was to increase confidence and self esteem, giving clients the opportunity to present themselves appropriately for interview.

The Disadvantaged Area Fund was also used to reinforce the role of the voluntary and community sectors within the worklessness, employment and skills agenda by building capacity through VCS engagement.  The main achievement is a coherent programme of Information Advice and Guidance training for people in the sector.

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Volunteer Centre

Gateshead's Year of Volunteers was launched early in 2008, and the year has been incredibly successful and busy for the Volunteer Centre.  The Volunteer Centre has been involved in a series of events throughout the year to promote volunteering and recognise the achievements of volunteers.  During Volunteers Week (1st - 7th June 2008), the Centre with the Council held a festival of volunteering in Saltwell Park.  Local organisations provided information stands and a number of bands volunteered their time to entertain the public at the festival.  Other highlights of Gateshead's Year of Volunteers included a Volunteers Fair and the final celebration event in January where volunteers were thanked for their contributions to the communities of Gateshead.

The Volunteer Centre also carried our a piece of research into volunteering in health and social care.  The final report explored the need for new and creative approaches to volunteering in this field.

The three year vinvolved project began in April 2008 and was tasked with creating 2770 opportunities for young people aged 16-25 to volunteer in Gateshead.  The vinvolved team is supported by a group of young volunteers called the Youth Action Team (YAT).  They have supported staff to organise events including the vwarehouse party and an intergenerational volunteering project with Rowlands Gill Live at Home Scheme.  The vinvolved team are becoming widely known across Gateshead and are accepting referrals from a wide range of organisations including Gateshead College, The Asylum Team and the Prince's Trust.

Facts and figures

• The Volunteer Centre has given advice about volunteering to 474 people over the age of 25.

• 77 people came in for a face to face interview about volunteering.

• The vinvolved team created 1,032 new volunteering opportunities that appeal to young people.

• The vinvolved team worked with 59 organisations by recruiting volunteers, supporting them to develop policies and delivering training.

• 333 young people received a face to face interview with the project staff and were supported to access volunteering.

• 18 young people received v50 certificates for contributing 50 hours to their volunteering.

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Local Involvement Network (LINk)

Gateshead LINk (Local Involvement Network) is made up of individuals and community groups who work together to improve local health and social care services.  The LINk is part of a national government initiative, governed at a local level, and all local authorities with responsibility for social care services will have a LINk.  These are often hosted by an organisation in the voluntary and community sector.

GVOC successfully tendered to become the Host Organisation for Gateshead LINk.  The contract with Gateshead Council commenced on 1 April 2008 and will run until March 2011, subject to satisfactory contract performance, with a possibility option for an extension until March 2012.

The LINk has a budget of £130,000 per annum.  This budget it to support all LINk activity, including staff and administration costs.

Three full time staff members support the work of the LINk.  The Project Co-ordinator and LINk Administrator commenced on 1 October 2008 and the Communications and Engagement Officer on 23rd March 2009.

Project achievements to date:

An Interim Steering Group was formed.  This group, supported by Governance, Organisational and Promotional Groups, has been instrumental in developing policy and procedures to enable the LINk to operate effectively.  All groups are made up of local people interested in deciding how the LINk should be run and managed.

A public meeting was held in October 2008 and attended by over 70 stakeholders.  The governance structure was adopted at this meeting and workshops held to assist the LINk develop their priorities around health and social care issues, as suggested by the people of Gateshead.

From this event four working groups were established to explore the areas identified:

• Mental Health

• Carers Issues

• Residential Care

• Hospital Discharge procedures

The group members are currently developing work plans to identify key themes for Gateshead and intend ultimately to influence better service provision for Gateshead.

The LINk is constantly striving to 'spread the word' and encourage more people to join.  They are attempting to do this in a way that suits people's personal circumstances.  The commencement of the Communications and Engagement Officer in late March will be invaluable with this area of work.

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Community Accountancy Project

This was the last year the project was funded by Northern Rock Foundation, which ran out at the end of February 2009.  Funding to continue the project for two days per week was secured from Gateshead Council and, at the last minute, from the Capacity Building Modernisation Fund via Tyne & Wear Infrastructure Consortium to fund a Tyne & Wear wide Community Accountancy Project with GVOC taking the lead.

Accountancy services supplied to organisations continued throughout the year included:

• Financial Health Checks

• Help with financial systems, particularly if a new organisation, or one that has grown quickly in size, and needs a robust financial system to reflect this

• Budgeting/cash-flows - usually needed in the first instance for a funding bid

• Monitoring of the above

• Training in the above in conjunction with the Capacity Building project

• Inland Revenue queries and Payroll in conjunction with the IT Officer, Colin Bell

• Computerised accounts, the IT Officer receives regular requests regarding this

• Information Sheets - both hard copy and via the website

• Reporting and returns to the Charity Commission and HM Revenue and Customs

• Year end accounts and Independent Examinations

In total support has been given to 92 groups and over 284 sessions.  The type of support given is as follows:

GVOC will continue supporting groups, both old and new, during the coming year and will be looking at developing the Tyne & Wear Community Accountancy Project to fill any gaps in provision of service and to ensure all voluntary organisations in the sub region have access to a good quality service.

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Payroll

GVOC offers a service to groups and individuals to support them with payroll administration.

There were 30 groups using the service.  GVOC calculates their wages, issues payslips and reports and makes payments to staff and the Inland Revenue on their behalf.

GVOC also provides a service to individuals receiving Direct Payments/Individual Budgets from the local authority, to employ person assistants.  This service expanded during the year from 82 to 110 clients.

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Gateshead Advocacy Information Network

GAIN has continued to develop its work in supporting organisations delivering advocacy services within the borough.

The key driver of the year has been the government agenda for the Transformation of Health and Social Care.  GAIN has responded by representing advocacy organisations on a range of Gateshead Council partnership boards and Gateshead Primary Care Trust forums to ensure independent advocacy is seen as critical to supporting service users to achieve the services they want, when they want them and where they want them.

For much of the year there has been some uncertainty about the continuation of funding to support GAIN and it was not until March 2009 that funding was secured from Gateshead Council and Gateshead PCT 2009/2010.  The extension of financial support from these two organisations is greatly appreciated.

GAIN has also been successful in an application for project funding to the Department of Health under the Third Sector Investment Fund.  This three year project aims to establish the place and role of advocacy within the personalisation of Health and Social Care and develop an outcomes focussed strategy for the commissioning of advocacy services by bringing together advocacy organisations within the borough and commissioners from Gateshead Council and Gateshead PCT.  The project will commence in April 2009.

The Gateshead Advocacy Code of Practice has been reviewed and following extensive consultations with advocacy organisations, advocates and other key stakeholders a new version based on Principles, Standards and Performance Indicators is now at the design stage.

GAIN has continued to facilitate the Support Network for advocates working within the borough, deliver advocacy awareness training to social care staff and respond to national, regional and local policy consultations and developments.  The GAIN web site has been updated and GAIN continues to work closely with the NOrth East Regional Advocacy Network.

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Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care (DRE),

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear

This was the final year for this three year project often referred to as the FIS (Focussed Implementation Site).  The full work programme was completed and the original co-ordinator left at the start of the summer.

GVOC employed a co-ordinator for the final six months to ensure that the project was closed down efficiently and that a legacy was left for the community development workers to build on.

A report, Positive Steps, was produced revealing the success of the initiative and a mapping exercise on the work of the community development workers across the whole of the area completed.

A new high level Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Partnership was formed to bring together all the main stakeholders and this led to the formation of a Gateshead Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Forum.  The Forum reports to the new DRE Partnership and acts as a sub-group of the Gateshead Mental Health Partnership.

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aTENSION Project in Gateshead

Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health

The past year has been a challenging year for the aTENSION project as it has had a growing influence both in the community and with health care providers.  In the last year the project has supported six BME patients at the Tranwell Unit with matters such as catering, advocacy and support access to outside services.  It has directly helped four people take up the Direct Payment and Individual Budget care schemes.  In the weekly support group the project is working with six service users and survivors and around a dozen vulnerable women from ethnic communities.  Through capacity building aTENSION has managed to encourage volunteers to come forward.  Five women now help run the support group, one will sit on the regional service user and carer group and another volunteer plans to apply to be the regional mental health ambassador.

The project continues to signpost the community to services and link service providers to BME organisations and the community.

In the past twelve months, the staff have completed a multi-lingual talk therapy pilot and a South of Tyne and Wear BME mental health needs assessment.  Both reports are currently being prepared to influence commissioners.  To promote the project, they have attended numerous statutory and community events such as the Diversity Day event and the Diwali Festival, respectively.

To raise community awareness about mental health the project has produced a community flyer which will be widely disseminated and they plan to follow this up with multi-lingual workshops and possibly two large community events.  To carry forward the work of delivering race equality in mental health and equally important, influence commissioners, the Gateshead DRE Forum and the regional DRE Partnership Group have been set up and are successfully running.

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Finance Section

A hidden but essential part of GVOC is the Finance Section.  GVOC has a relatively large budget and is a complex organisation with core staff and project staff all paid for through a myriad of funding streams.  The three finance officers manage all of this plus the payroll service (reported on separately) in an efficient and creative manner ensuring that limited resources are put to the best purpose on behalf of GVOC and the Gateshead voluntary and community sector.

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Staff and Volunteers

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Management Committee 2008/2009

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GVOC

GVOC gratefully acknowledges the assistance from all its funders and supporters and in particular Gateshead Council for its major contribution.