REPORT TO ANNUAL REVIEW 9^th DECEMBER 2003

MONEY

This year we have managed to stick to our budget, National Lottery is pleased that we met our targets for the year and agreed the final 12 months money in this grant period. Barclays Bank continued to support the salary of the Financial Exclusion Project post and have also indicated that another 12 months money will be available.

Our dues donations dropped slightly this year, which is disappointing; dues payment has always been seen as a solid indication of the members’ commitment. Members of the strategy team recently appointed two delegates to work with the Treasurer to address the issue.

As many of you are aware we are now only 8 months away from the end of our grant from NLCB, many hours of the Organiser’s time is being put into securing future funding. Applications are being sent to NLCB, Tudor Trust, Esmee Fairburn, Joseph Rowntree and others. There are no guarantees.

TRAINING

This year has been our most successful year to date with training.  We have held 3 residential events with over 75 people attending. Many of those who have attended are now becoming part of action teams and involved at an organisational level.

3 more member communities have taken part in institutional development - with nearly 200 people involved – Sacred Heart Hillsborough, St Mary’s Beighton and St John’s Ranmoor.

There have been many training events held in member groups around issues and actions. The Making It Clean Groups held a one-day event in August and some of those attending went on to do the November residential training.

The feedback from training events is overwhelmingly positive; as always our admin skills could do with some tweaking hopefully now we have Claire Furbey in place things will improve.

ACTIONS

Bernard Rd Incinerator – After the planning meeting in September 2003, the group involved in the action around the incinerator were very down hearted and it has taken time to get the momentum going again. We have met several times and it was agreed that we would monitor Onyx’s progress to build a new incinerator. Members have attended Area Panel meetings, Cabinet meetings and raised the issues with Councillors and at our accountability meeting in April. In October we held a demonstration outside the incinerator to show our disapproval at Onyx celebrating the start of the re-build. Onyx had to cancel their party.

Other RABID members have kept in touch with the process of looking at the health impact of Parkwood Landfill site.

Financial Exclusion – The team were deeply disappointed to be refused funding for the Loan Company, it appears Yorkshire Forward had less money to give out than they realised. The team have continued to press the issue, Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council and Vince Taylor of Sheffield First meet almost monthly with the team.

On December 12^th the team will attend a meeting in London with HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions, Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and Social Inclusion Unit to discuss a citywide strategy to deal with financial exclusion. The team has become recognised locally and nationally for their understanding of issues around debt. The team has been expanded this year to include members of the Credit Union movement.

Maureen Aitken’s work with Credit Unions has meant a Credit Union collection point has started at Grace Owen nursery and that two other schools are ready and willing to start the process. We are working closely with three credit unions to encourage the creation of a citywide credit union and common bond. This will hopefully mean that people with no access to Credit Unions at present will be able to join. The City Council has agreed to start an employees payroll deduction scheme.

The Church Urban Fund have agreed a small grant of £9,000 per year over 2 years to part fund the salary of a Development Manager for the Loan Company.

Stocksbridge By-pass – The team have continued to liase with Highways Agency and the Police since speed cameras and road markings were introduced. In July a survey of over 200 people concluded that the safety measurers had improved the road and that further measurers needed to be looked at. The team is still liasing with the appropriate people at Highways and has been invited to attend a presentation this month.

Work with Dignity – Roger Wilde and a small team of people secured a grant of £4,000 to do a pilot piece of research, in Rotherham, to look at what the effects of living on a low income and under several different employment contracts have on people. We worked with Church Action on Poverty, UNISON, and The Centre for Public Services and Industrial Mission. Reports are available from the office. The action is on the back burner until we can secure funding to take the work forward.

Care and Dignity of the Elderly – Initial research into the issues surrounding the Care and Dignity of the elderly started in May. The team is from across the organisation. Conversations are being had with many stakeholders across the City. The team plan to hold an Accountability Meeting with the Social Services and others in March 2004.

Drugs and Ethnic Minority Groups – The Islamic Society of Great Britain have met with Phoenix House drug rehabilitation project to discuss a series of “happenings” across our communities that will share the experience of drug addiction and how families can support each other. Work has started to include Making it Clean Groups in the organisation. At a training session the MIC groups identified several issues they would like to work on including support for ex-offenders when they leave prison.

Sheffield ME Group – We have supported the M.E Group in their attempts to secure funding for a clinic for M.E sufferers in Sheffield. Questions were asked at the North Primary Care Trust about the possibility of applying for funding from central government, the Trust agreed to work with the M.E group. We are currently working towards meeting with Department for Work and Pensions to look at benefits forms.

Abbeydale Corridor Forum – The group met several times this year to look at forming a forum, in October they decided the way forward would be a clearing house for ideas and support rather than an formal organisation. Several groups from the Forum are showing an interest in membership of IMPACT – Abbeydale Tenants, the Everyone Centre and Abbeydale Grange School.

Anti-social behaviour – A new action planned for 2004, mums at Arbourthorne Primary school are deeply concerned about the fact that crime and anti-social behaviour is out of control on the estate. They are planning to meet with Police and the City Council to look at ways of combating problems like muggings, burglary, dangerous quad bikes, verbal abuse, vandalism and drugs.

Traffic problems at Hillsborough and Loxley Rd – Petitions and letters of complaint have been sent to North Area Planning Boards regarding both areas. A small team from Sacred Heart has met with Police and Councillors, in the New Year they plan to attend Area Panel meetings and planning meetings to press for improvements.

Islamic Society of Great Britain – a peace vigil was held in the Peace Gardens in February that around 200 people attended.  We supported ISB’s event in November during Islam Awareness Week, 35 of us attended a small conference.

We have recently supported a member of ISB’s family who’s 7 year old son has been abducted, letters to MPs and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have been sent requesting that they do their best to return the boy to his mother. A recent meeting with Richard Caborn MP was very helpful.

MEMBERSHIP

Most of the member communities have been involved in the organisation during the year, attending the strategy team meeting, training sessions, meeting decision makers, the accountability meeting, doing surveys and questionnaires.

Sadly a couple of organisations have taken a back seat this year and we have missed involvement from Stephen Hill and Church of Christ, though these members haven’t left IMPACT I hope they will get more involved next year. We are changing and that may mean some groups do actually decide not to be involved.

We have interest in membership from several new organisations the Everyone Centre, Abbeydale Tenants, Sheffield Social Forum and the Making it Clean Groups. As always we have a list of people who are interested and who we need to make time to include.

Final word(s)

It has been an incredibly hectic year!

Highlights for me this year has been:

• The amount of people involved and learning from training;

• Re-establishing our relationship with TCC in North Wales;

• Building a relationship with Church Action on Poverty nationally;

• The continuing success of institutional development;

• The staff team becoming more confident in their understanding of organising;

• Progress made with the Credit Unions; and,

• The growing interest being shown in the way we work by people across the region.

• In July a team of leaders concluded that we were doing well and should be proud of the work we do and that we need to secure future funding because IMPACT is important to the City.

• Bob Kerslake (Chief Executive, Sheffield City Council) said to Ian McCollough and I, that the City needed to have an organisation like IMPACT, that the fact that we stood outside the formal structures of the City meant we could raise issues that sometimes ruffled feathers! Ye Ha!

Its people that make an organisation, we have over 200 people involved in issues and actions. The action teams have grown and some leaders have moved on and been replaced by others. We are becoming much more diverse; the average age on the November training was under 35!

There are many people to recognise for their commitment and hard work; you know who you are! I just want to mention 6, Mary, Iris, Bernice, Edith, Mabel and Winnie average age ??, I’m too polite to say - They are an example to us all and an inspiration to the sometimes battle weary.

We have a responsibility to survive and grow; people count on us.   We have offered hope to people who thought there was none; it will take all of us to continue making it work.

  Mandy Aitken

2^nd December 2003