helplines partnership annual review 2013
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On behalf of the Board and senior management team we are delighted to present Helplines Partnership’s first Annual Review, following the mergers of Mental Health Helplines Partnership (mhhp), The Helplines Association (THA) and ICIS: information for life (ICIS). This brings together 50 years experience to the help sector, focusing on extending our reach and building on quality, choice, capacity, access and governance for a sustainable future. Helplines Partnership will continue to provide all of its key services to members, with many benefits being amalgamated and new services provided for an enhanced membership package, delivered by an increased team of specialist staff, working together to raise the profile of the sector.TRANSCRIPT
Annual Review 2013
The merging of mhhp, THA and ICIS: information for life, brings together 50 years of experience to form the national membership body representing the help sector
Theodore Spyrou Chief Executive
Annual Review 2013Helplines Partnership is the membership body for organisations that provide helpline services in the UK and internationally.
On behalf of the Board and senior management team we are delighted to present Helplines Partnership’s first Annual Review, following the mergers of Mental Health Helplines Partnership (mhhp), The Helplines Association (THA) and ICIS: information for life (ICIS). This brings together 50 years experience to the help sector, focusing on extending our reach and building on quality, choice, capacity, access and governance for a sustainable future.
Helplines Partnership will continue to provide all of its key services to members, with many benefits being amalgamated and new services provided for an enhanced membership package, delivered by an increased team of specialist staff, working together to raise the profile of the sector.
We would particularly like to acknowledge the contribution of Trustees, the senior management team and our staff members in enabling us to achieve a unified and worthy organisation for both our members and stakeholders.
Foreword
Liz FeltonChair
Theodore SpyrouChief Executive
Annual Review 2013 l Page 3 of 12
An Award Winning Team
Under the leadership of our Board and new Chief Executive, the team has developed a wealth of knowledge and expertise for the organisation. Helplines Partnership has produced sustainable strategic development plans for the next three years. These reflect the needs of members and their callers. The organisation
has grown from a small national charity of approximately 50 mental health mhhp members to over 400 members with an expanded remit to address the needs of all helplines in the UK and internationally.
For ensuring the future of three charities our Chair was a finalist for the Charity Staff Foundations ‘Trustee of the Year’ award, creating a merger to form the major body within the helpline sector. Through this creation and development of opportunity for all staff, our Chief Executive won the Charity Staff Foundation’s
‘Social Entrepreneur of the Year’ award, for organisational growth in a period of economic downturn.
Staff roles were reviewed for the benefit of both employees and the organisation, with specialist positions created in quality and training, service development, marketing and communications, fundraising, policy, memberships, finance, information systems and services. Our Director of Membership and Marketing was
a finalist for The Economist, Microsoft Dynamics ‘Change Ambassador’ People and Culture award.
CHARITY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS AWARDS
WINNER 2013
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
CHARITY STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS AWARDS
WINNER 2013
CHAIR OF THE YEAR
‘Excellence in Multi-Channel Support’
Helplines Partnership has promoted the voice and value of the helpline sector and the public benefit it provides with participation in government roundtable discussions, national debate and policy
developments.
Support for callers and their needs is provided by the following:
� Availability 24/7 � Contactable through telephone helplines,
texting, email and websites � A listening ear, emotional and psychological
support, information, signposting � Accessible to anyone in need, their families,
carers and professionals
National Helpline Champion
More than 3,000 users a month have searched the Helplines Directory, three times as many as
the previous year
Our new and improved website and newsletters have ensured the regular promotion of helplines and provided the sector information keeping members and the public informed at all times.
Delivering Public Benefit
The directory provided for our organisation by Helplines Partnership is accurate and relevant, and improves the information we give to carers. We trust the quality of the information they supply and it saves us time finding and updating the information ourselves
Liz Catchpole Carers Support West Sussex
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The help sectors’ diversity encompasses voluntary, statutory and private providers both nationally and regionally. We have supported our members to develop the quality of their services for the benefit of callers, staff, volunteers, funders and other stakeholders, through our Helplines Standard
accreditation. Helplines Partnership will combine the two former quality standards to create a new unified Helplines Standard to meet the needs of our members.
Setting National Standards
12 helplines achieved the Helplines Standard
accreditation
524 participants developed their skill
sets through 54 training courses
Representing the help sector as the membership body, has enabled us to offer a wider range of training material tailored to specific needs to support the sector to deliver
effective, high quality services.
Tailored Training
Helplines Partnership provided high quality support which fully matched our requirements. Their knowledgeable staff took time to undestand our needs, thoroughly review the information available to them and deliver a helpful report containing practical recommendations to underpin our service development
Kate Bunting Cats Protection
‘Excellence in Multi-Channel Support’
We have hosted four of our newly formed themed, interactive conferences, attended by 128 helpline representatives throughout the year. This year’s annual conference has also
seen the greatest level of participation to date.
Networking
A diversified range of guest speakers have delivered information and expertise around best practice, new service development and resources to our members and the help sector.
Sharing Expertise and Best Practice
The voluntary sector plays a vital role in supporting people with a wide range of physical and mental health concerns and worries, supplementing and supporting the work done by the NHS. At Anxiety UK we really value the support of Helplines Partnership in assisting us with the provision of this essential service to people with anxiety disorders
Nicky LidbetterAnxiety UK
Members are seeing an increase in call complexity and some members have
reported call increases of up to 40%
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Management of the Special Freephone Tariff scheme is ongoing. The scheme provides mobile callers with free access to freephone numbers.
Cost Effective Telephony Solutions
1.2 million minutes of calls were handled through the
Virtual Call Centre
11.4 million minutes of calls were handled through 203 Special
Freephone Tariff numbers
We continue to provide a Virtual Call Centre (VCC) system which is available to enable members to route calls efficiently, gather real time activity information and produce management
information reports. The system allows members to share calls, giving callers wider choice in the helplines they access, with additional features such as SMS text and web chat offering greater choice over how services are accessed.
A Telecoms Virtual Call Centre
Brighter Futures has used the Helplines Partnership Virtual Call Centre (VCC) for many years to deliver services. The cost effective, reliable and high quality VCC system enables us to flexibly provide multi-channel support by phone, text and web to benefit our customers and staff
Sharon SharmanBrighter Futures
‘Excellence in Multi-Channel Support’
Statement of Financial Activites for year ending 31 March 2013
Incoming Resources from Generated Funds
Voluntary Income
Investment Income
Incoming resources from charitable activities
Other incoming resources
Total incoming resources
Resources Expended Costs of Generating Funds
Fundraising trading - cost of goods sold
Charitable Activities
Governance Costs
Other resources expended
Total resources expended
Net (expenditure) / income for the year
Fund balances at 1 April 2012
Fund balances at 31 March 2013
221,227 1,230 222,457 -
- - - 16,044
26,859 - 26,859 43,761
432,005 1,230 433,235 136,577
559,195 141 559,336 487,000
86,978 - 86,978 26,384
74,191 - 74,191 -
727,919 141 728,060 526,669
(295,914) 1,089 (294,825) (390,092)
1,837,075 8,783 1,845,858 2,235,950
1,541,161 9,872 1,551,033 1,845,858
7,555 - 7,555 13,285
183,919 - 183,919 76,772
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds Total 2013 Total 2012
Annual Review 2013 l Page 9 of 12
Breakdown of Incoming Resources
Investment Income
Membership
Virtual Call Centre and SpecialFreephone Tariff
Training, Quality Standards, Translation and Supported Services
Merger Transfer of Restricted Funds
Merger Transfer of Unrestricted Funds
Fundraising trading: cost of goods sold
Membership and Strategic Partnership
Virtual Call Centre and SpecialFreephone Tariff
Training, Quality Standards, Translation and Supported Services
Merger costs
Governance costs
Conferences
Staff Costs
Accountancy
Deprecation and Bad debts
Premises
Management, Administration and ICT
Breakdown of Resources Expended
‘Excellence in Multi-Channel Support’
Balance Sheet as 31 March 2013
Tangible assets
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Represented by
Restricted funds
General funds
Designated funds
117,192 48,814
216,858 1,931
216,858 1,931
1,345,690 1,897,779
1,334,175 1,843,927
1,551,033 1,845,858
9,872 8,783
1,028,811 1,647,000
512,350 190,075
1,551,033 1,845,858
128,707 102,666
2013 2012
Fixed assets
Current assets
1,462,882 1,946,593
These figures have been extracted from the audited accounts of Helplines Partnership for the year ended 31 March 2013. Full copies can be downloaded from the Charity Commission website.
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Business Design Centre52 Upper StreetLondon N1 0QH UK
T 0300 330 7777E [email protected]
Registered Company Number. 6484279 Registered Charity Number. 1125840
© 2013 Helplines Partnership
‘Excellence in Multi-Channel Support’
Increasing Sector Recognition and Sustainability
Enhancing Quality, Choice and Access
Excellence in Multi-Channel Support