Vicki Beere – Chief Executive
Lynn Lawson – Director of Development and Communications
Michael Ng – Director of Operations
Philip Taylor – Deputy Director of Operations
Jan Mayor – Director of Learning, Development and HR
Julie Watt – Director of Finance
Registered office and operational address:
11/19 Temple Street
Keighley
West Yorkshire
BD21 2AD
Bankers:
Lloyds Bank Ltd.
Leeds, LS1 1SB
Unity Trust Bank
Nine Brindleyplace
4 Oozels Square
Birmingham, B1 2HB
Charity number – 1173006
Company number – 3430925
Auditors:
BHP LLP
2 Rutland Park
Sheffield, S10 2PD
Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows: Senior Leadership Team:
Anthony Ball
Peter Bower (resigned 03/12/2020)
Pam Essler
Enid Feather (resigned 12/03/2021)
Quentin Marris
Paul Gledhill (appointed 20/08/2020)
Sara Lewis (appointed 20/08/2020)
Emma Wells (appointed 20/08/2020)
Contents
CEO Introduction
Chair Introduction
Core Purpose
Our Values
Headline Achievements
Our Services
Our Outcomes & Impact
Emma’s Story
Partners & Supporters
Finances
Plans for the Future
CEO Introduction
Vicki Beere, CEO Project 6
What an extraordinary year and what a remarkable role Project 6 played in supporting our communities throughout it. We are now over 500 days into the pandemic and the impact on us will be felt for a decade or more.
Our first 100 days were spent moving at incredible pace to deliver most of our interventions online, getting equipment and technology out to staff and the people who use our services and learning how to exist in this new, scary and often isolated world. Simultaneously we worked out how to keep some of our face-to-face services going safely. Working initially with no guidance and no PPE; then reviewing the huge rafts of guidance sometimes daily and sometimes weekly to ensure we remained safe. All whilst constantly checking what our communities needed and seconding staff to work with other organisations who needed the resource such as externally the Salvation Army and internally our Pathways crisis service.
Our internal focus became monitoring and managing staff wellbeing. We developed all kinds of ways of connecting over this time from book clubs, to creative writing lessons, desert island discs, yoga and woodland WhatsApp walks. Staff were supported to access psychological first aid courses and we held regular wellbeing check-ins across the organisation, even producing a book! Slowly we started to look up and out; needing to continue to manage a slow opening back up, balancing the needs of the people who use our services with ever changing guidance and several more local and national lockdowns.
In the midst of this we also;
– Merged with our friends Doncaster Alcohol Services and started to build networks and
partnerships in Doncaster.
– Developed new partnerships — especially around our MAST Team in Keighley and Bradford, with colleagues in Sheffield via the VCSE COVID Hub and, later in the year, with the Modality Partnership delivering much needed and valuable vaccine support in our Keighley Community.
– Generated a significant amount of COVID income which allowed us to fill much needed gaps in services during the first wave, develop our Training services and create a springboard for new essential services such as Doncaster Pathways. p Reviewed our values and strategic objectives to make them fit for a post-COVID world through working with the people who use our services, our staff and our Board.
– Revamped our entire training offer, refocusing on becoming a genuinely trauma informed organisation and doing the work that comes with it.
– Worked on our response to equality, diversity and inclusion, which included recruiting and supporting a new and far more diverse board, setting targets for monitoring our EDI data internally and externally plus embarking on various learning opportunities as individuals and teams.
Operationally we were incredible. I am extraordinarily proud of everyone @Project 6, our staff, volunteers and the people who come and are brave enough to walk through our doors for some support. We lost some really great people this year, not to COVID, but as Michael Marmot would say deaths of despair; overdoses, pneumonia from long term drug use and far too many suicides. Every one avoidable and a tragedy. We supported 8,233 people this year. At one point we were running 40 online groups a week, plus delivering 6 services face to face. We launched new projects, developed existing ones, sadly closed some down, built incredible spaces, made new partnerships, engaged in away days and supported each other all the way. An amazing organisation. Thank you all who supported us.
Chair Introduction
Quentin Marris, Chair of the Board of Trustees
In my introduction to the 2020 Impact Report, I wrote: ‘We knew by the end of the period that the next 12 months would be like no other. The advent of COVID-19 was going to fundamentally change the ways in which we work. Worsening health and social pressures would raise levels of need; more care would be provided digitally; more work would be done outside the workplace; public sector funding would be stretched even more thinly’.
I think I can safely say that 2021 was indeed the ‘extraordinary year’ that Vicki writes about in her introduction to this year’s report. COVID-19 had a huge impact on everything. Levels of need increased and some of our services helped far more people than we ever envisaged. The organisation made significant moves towards delivering interventions remotely. Staff adapted to working for long periods from home. Thankfully there was short term funding available to bridge some of the gaps.
At a difficult time for everyone, the organisation and its staff stepped up to the mark. Services continued to be delivered. Face-to-face work for the most vulnerable was maintained. Contract targets were met and exceeded. New ways of working emerged. Fresh partnerships were forged. Additional funding was obtained. The Project 6 ship stayed upright and on course.
None of the above would have been possible without the commitment and dedication of staff and volunteers at the coal face. Neither would we have steered a path through the pandemic without the leadership and adaptability of our senior management team. As always, a special mention goes to Vicki, our admirable Chief Executive, who calmly and capably managed the organisation through demanding times.
As a Board we are committed to planned growth of the organisation in Yorkshire, whether that be in our current localities or into neighbouring areas. This year we welcomed Doncaster Alcohol Service into Project 6. The merger means that we now work across three localities, which brings both opportunity and challenge.
It is a constant battle to access new sources of funding and replace others as they come to an end. The income generation arm of the organisation continues to flourish and we are very hopeful of fresh opportunities in mainstream drug and alcohol services in the near future. Despite the uncertainties of the funding environment, Project 6 remains financially sound. We have sufficient reserves both to insulate us against temporary setbacks and to use in developing the organisation to remain fit for purpose in an ever-changing world.
The Board itself underwent significant changes this year. Two long-standing members left and my thanks go to Peter and Enid for their years of support for the organisation. We took on a new member, Sara, from the DAS Board. We mounted a targeted recruitment campaign to attract new members to diversify the Board and were very pleased to welcome Jane, Joanne, Jae and Julie.
Although the enlarged Board has never met in person, only over Zoom, we have managed to gel together and to operate effectively. With the help of David Harries, an organisational consultant, we have led a refresh of Project 6’s values, reviewed our governance systems and developed our medium-term strategic objectives. The Board is well placed to oversee the strategic direction of the organisation.
On behalf of the Board, I commend this Impact Report, which shows how much great work was done by so many. I also offer thanks to all those individuals and organisations that have supported Project 6 in different ways, whether that be financially, practically or with their goodwill.
We know about long COVID as a physical condition but we are also aware that the psychological and social ramifications will come to the fore and be long lasting. Project 6 has a big part to play in providing responses in the communities we serve. I look forward with confidence and with hope too.
Core Purpose
We work with people with drug and alcohol problems and complex needs. These issues don’t just impact on the individual, they also affect families and communities.
Our Core purpose therefore is:
To provide opportunities and choices for individuals, families and communities to create meaningful and sustainable change in their wellbeing.
To achieve this we deliver services in 4 key areas:
– Alcohol and Complex Needs Services
– Family Support Services including Children and Young People
– Recovery Support
– Training Services
Our Values
Our values are integral to how we do business and underpin every piece of work we undertake. This year as part of a process of setting new strategic objectives for the organisation, we reviewed our values to make them more concrete and accessible.
People matter
– We instil hope
– We create safe caring spaces where people can flourish
– We trust each other
– We welcome difference and treat people equally, honestly and fairly
– We recognise and stand up for people’s rights
Everyone can change
– We help people to bring about positive change in their lives
– We don’t give up when things are difficult
– We help people to help themselves
We care about doing things well
– We say what we mean and we listen to what people tell us
– If we say we are going to do something we do it
– We are always working to do things better
Headline Achievements 2021
Despite the huge challenges presented by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, we continued to support people both face to face and digitally and to develop new services.
Headlines include:
– 7,821 (95%) individuals demonstrated positive changes in one of more of our
core outcome areas.
– 8,233 individuals received services, 176% above our contracted target of 4680.
– Following lockdown in March 2020, we moved rapidly to providing online and telephone appointments and group support during lockdown, providing training for staff and volunteers on using Zoom and online safety.
– We dealt with large increases in referrals to both our crisis and alcohol services.
– We joined local partnership initiatives to set up and manage food distribution pathways.
– We brought in additional funds to provide extra resilience sessions for young people and digital equipment and mobile data to ensure adults service users were able to access our digital offer.
– We created a COVID-safe outdoor space for people with highly complex needs who use our Third Place Service.
– We supported staff to cope through a range of wellbeing initiatives.
– We completed a successful merger with Doncaster Alcohol Services, expanding our reach in South Yorkshire and setting up a new Pathways Crisis Service in Doncaster primary care.
– We started to deliver our ESF funded Shine employment project for disadvantaged families in central Keighley.
Our Services
We work with individuals and families to achieve meaningful and sustainable impact and improve life chances.
The communities we work in have suffered disproportionately as a result of the virus and this year has been all about delivery under pressure in a rapidly changing landscape. We’re very proud that we’ve managed to meet the needs of our local communities by increasing capacity where the need was greatest, finding resources for practical needs such as food, shelter, digital inclusion and continuing to expand our offer with new services. By rapidly moving around 90% of our delivery to digital and telephone support and increasing capacity at the front end we were able to provide easy access through a wide front door, continue to provide digital 1:1 and group work interventions, and face-to-face services where people were most vulnerable.
Alcohol and Complex Needs Services
Our Alcohol and Complex Needs Services work within primary and secondary care services and provide open door access across the whole community. They offer crisis interventions, structured alcohol treatment, health and wellness interventions and information and awareness.
Our Keighley Pathways Service is a partnership project offering open access specialist support to all the Keighley community at a time of crisis. Working with local partners we offer support with domestic abuse, welfare advice, food poverty, health and wellbeing, mental health and substance misuse issues. The service played a major part in enabling us to provide an accessible and rapid response to crisis when the lockdown started. By redeploying staff to respond to immediate need we were able to provide interventions to 2,110 people — a massive 264% above target. By offering the right support at the right time, we deflected people from the local health and social care services at a time when those services were under extreme pressure. 99% of people asked reported an improvement in health and wellbeing as the result of the intervention.
ASIST (Alcohol Specialist Interventions and Support Team) works in partnership with Airedale General Hospital. We worked with 88 people admitted to hospital due to alcohol related issues, supporting them from the ward back into their homes and in the community. The pandemic and restrictions meant that we were slightly below our target this year but of those people we did see, 81% engaged in the service and went on to a positive discharge.
MAST (Multi-Agency Support Team)
MAST was a new initiative piloted on winter pressures money to support the pressure points in the health systems, helping to reduce frequent attendance and admissions at the Emergency Department in AGH and BRI.
Project 6 coordinates VCS partners to provide specialist alcohol liaison, mental health peer support, and older peoples support based in the Emergency Departments of Airedale General Hospital, Bradford Royal Infirmary and also out in the community, specifically targeting frequent attenders. They were able to maintain their presence in the hospitals during the pandemic and saw 1,912 people. They also provided intensive case support to 555 of the 865 people referred to them (360% above target).
The Third Place Project
In August 2019 we moved into new premises in Keighley, enabling us to develop our Third Place project, working with street drinkers and some of the most vulnerable and excluded people in Keighley. Throughout the lockdown periods we continued to provide food and harm reduction services in a safe way outdoors, providing gazebo’s as shelter against the weather and fundraising to build an outdoor sheltered space and classroom. Over the year we worked with 125 individuals providing a range of harm reduction interventions, food and pathways into treatment. 80% of participants showed improvements in mental and physical health through contact with the project.
Families, Children and Young People’s Services
Our Families Services work with some of the most vulnerable families in Keighley and Sheffield. The interventions provide direct benefit to families, concerned other and grandparents/kin carers. By working with parents, children and other concerned family members we achieve sustainable positive outcomes for the whole family. Our Fresh Start Service (Sheffield) supports women who have had ne or more children removed, to take time out from parenting, deal with loss and learn new skills for the future. This year the service worked with 24 mothers who have had children removed providing over 2593 hours of contact, a 32% increase on the previous year due to the increased needs of the women using the service during the pandemic.
In Keighley, our Family Support Service worked with 101 children of substance misusing parents and 134 Concerned Others, to build skills in understanding and managing feelings, increase resilience and reduce risk. 84% of the children and young people we worked with reported improvements in mental and physical health and wellbeing on the Outcomes Recovery Star. Our Maternity and Alcohol Service worked with 21 pregnant women to reduce the impact of drugs and alcohol on the unborn child.
We work with vulnerable young people to increase resilience and reduce risk, using evidence based approaches which inspire the individuals to take more responsibility for themselves and their own actions. In Keighley, our Young Persons Resilience Service – RISE worked with 89 young people providing weekly 1:1 interventions to young people experiencing mental health issues who are below the threshold for CAMHS. 94% showed an improvement in resilience.
Our Trusted Relationships Service (Keighley)works in partnership with Barnardo’s, J.A.M.E.S. and YMCA to provide 1:1 work with young people at risk of exploitation who are referred through the Bradford C.S.E. Hub. We worked intensively with 19 young people 90% of whom showed an improvement on the Young Persons Outcomes Star.
Our SPOT Service (Sheffield) delivered support for 48 looked after children and care leavers, using online approaches to group sessions and moving back to face to face delivery in line with the Local Authority. 88% showed improvement on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing framework monitoring tool to build confidence, esteem, resilience and life-skills. Our Specialist Mentoring Service worked with 70 young people via 5512 hours of volunteer support.
Both these services have now ended. The SPOT was decommissioned by Sheffield City Council during the summer and the mentoring service was retendered and ZEST, a Sheffield VCS provider, now deliver this service.
Recovery Services
Our vibrant Recovery Services in both Sheffield and Keighley exist as a result of the on-going support of the Big Lottery Community Fund and aim to provide long term and sustainable recovery from drug and alcohol problems. Following our merger with Doncaster Alcohol Services during this period we are pleased to be able to add Sober Social to our portfolio of recovery services. We achieve impressive results through a range of therapeutic groups, health and wellness activities, Active Citizens programmes, peer support, training and volunteering opportunities.
COVID had a big impact on our recovery services during this period with a large increase in demand for our Sheffield service and a reported deterioration in mental and physical health, reflecting the impact of the pandemic, lockdown and social isolation.
Social isolation is one of the most challenging things for someone in recovery and we worked very hard to overcome this and ensure people had access to peers and support throughout the restrictions. Despite the challenges of delivering services, we were able to continue to offer peer support and SMART groups online via Zoom. We extended this to therapeutic groups and positive social activities. At one point during this period we were delivering 40 groups a week over Zoom.
Over the year a total of 1147 people were supported by our recovery services with 954 being new to services. Sheffield ARC experienced a large increase in referrals as the pandemic caused increased drinking for people. They saw a massive 554 new people during the year. In Keighley the number of new people entering the service dropped 145, due to the impact of the pandemic on local people and the pathways into the service, as well as concentration on crisis services, however we continued to support more people than ever (329).
Recovery Services provide a pathway from the drug and alcohol treatment systems into sustainable recovery. We started a new employment project, SHINE to provide support for people in recovery who are furthest from the labour market, experience significant barriers to employment, and have difficulty breaking this cycle. Although due to lockdown and business closures our pathways through the project and out into ETE (Education, Training and Employment) and sustained recovery slowed to a halt at points, by maintaining support via telephone and online therapeutic groups, we were able to help people maintain their recovery and prevent relapse.
Despite the challenges of virtual services and lockdowns we still managed to support 18 people into employment and an additional 88 into volunteering, education and training.
Waypoint Training Services
Waypoint is our social enterprise training and consultancy service. We have a proven track record of delivering high-quality, vocational training that promotes excellence in working with people experiencing multiple disadvantages, troubling behaviour and emotional distress. Keeping up to date with the latest evidence-based approaches for working with people, we devise innovative, interactive training courses.
Waypoint During the Pandemic
The impact of coronavirus and lockdown on our customers has been varied. Many are frontline services and their priority has not been training. Added to this is a diminished workforce due to illness and having to find cover. Nevertheless, some training needs have emerged with varying degrees of urgency, as detailed below.
Since March 2020, Waypoint has shifted delivery to online via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, initially helping customers adjust to the new circumstances including wellbeing training/psycho-educational events, coming to grips with Zoom technicalities and connecting online to promote staff/volunteer wellbeing.
We have continued with a compassionate wellbeing focus and supported Project 6 activities in this. ‘Caremongering’ emerged in the week following lockdown as an antidote to the fears and anxiety at the time, as the organisation responded to the circumstances we were living and working in. There was a need to create, host and facilitate safe spaces for people to explore their experiences, to learn about the impacts of coronavirus on themselves and the people they support as well as connect with our peers on a non-work focussed basis.
Our emerging understanding of the impacts and responses to the pandemic has been useful both in this context and in designing and delivering training. Consistent with the last couple of years’ development of a trauma informed paradigm threaded through all our training, our delivery during lockdown has been explicitly trauma-sensitive, transparently accommodating the diverse experiences of learners (and the people they support).
This deliberate and transparent creating of a safe space, normalising of distress and responses to it has opened a door to the emergence, during training itself, of non- and anti-stigmatising practices. Our marketing, particularly on social media, has adapted to reflect this and explicit reference to this approach adds marketable value to the portfolio.
Online and Blended Learning
The year began with us all in lockdown. Waypoint was prepared, we had been considering online learning for most of the previous year and had developed a pilot online Motivational Interviewing Course. We had already commissioned a new website with an up to the minute learning site which launched in July 2020. During lockdown we honed our online delivery. We now offer all our courses online. We also offer one bite-sized free taster course and are developing more.
Workforce Development Programmes
We continued delivering a number of programmes for Social Prescribers in the Midlands and training to mental health and drug worker staff in the Prison estate, including a follow-on coaching element.
In October we gained Centre Approval and became one of only two (at the time – now three at the time of writing) organisations approved to deliver the only accredited training for Social Prescribers. Delivery began on the 8-month course in Q1 of 2021-22. This is a potentially huge market as there are significant policy drivers to implement social prescribing across the country (for example, every GP surgery should have a social prescriber in post by 2024). Find out more at:
www.waypoint-training.org.uk
www.facebook.com/WaypointTraining
www.twitter.com/WaypointTrain
Our Outcomes & Impact
‘I didn’t think coming to Project 6 would work for me. I can now see how helpful it is to talk and not feel judged. People have hope for you and it’s nice to be told you’re doing good.’ – quote from someone using Project 6’s services
Helping people to help themselves’ is one of our core values — when individuals and families start to make positive changes the whole community benefits’
Our core purpose is to provide opportunities and choices for individuals, families and communities to create meaningful and sustainable change in their wellbeing.
Individuals: In our annual Satisfaction Survey – 85% of individuals reported improvements in mental health and wellbeing and 78% reported improved physical health.
Families: Drug and alcohol misuse and complex needs don’t only affect the individual user, the harm can extend to the whole family. By adopting a family focussed approach across our services we believe we achieve a greater impact – 73% of our service users in our annual Satisfaction Survey reported improved relationships with families and friends.
Communities: The impact of drug and alcohol misuse and complex needs on the local community can be high in terms of the cost to local services and social cohesion. We believe that by being a visible and active presence in the local community we can reduce stigma and show the positive side of recovery. 76% of our service users in our annual Satisfaction Survey felt accepted as part of the community and able to give back to their community and 84% felt optimistic about their ability to have a positive future.
We build on the assets in our recovery communities and engage with the local community in working together to improve things for everyone.
Core Outcomes
Our services, activities and interventions are designed to facilitate positive change which lead to meaningful and sustained impact through our core outcomes.
Improved mental health and wellbeing
– 85% of individuals reported improvements in mental health and wellbeing in our annual satisfaction survey
– 88% of young people using our SPOT youth service showed improvement on the 5 WWB framework
– 82% of people using our ARC (Alcohol Recovery Community) project reported improvements in their mental health and wellbeing.
– 92% of young people using our Family Support Service reported increases in confidence and self-esteem
Improved physical health and wellbeing
– 78% of individuals reported improvements in physical health and wellbeing in our annual Satisfaction Survey
– 92% of young people in our Family Support Service reported improved physical health and wellbeing
– 88% of people using the ARC report decreased drinking on Audit to below 8
– 90% of people using the ARC report improved physical health and wellbeing
Improved relationships with family and friends
– 97% of people using our Recovery Services report increased recovery and social capital
– 94% of young people using our Keighley Family Support Service reported improvements in relationships on the outcome rating scale
– 90% of young people in our Trusted Relationships service showed an improvement on the Family Outcome Star
Greater Community Connectedness
– 76% of people in our annual Satisfaction Survey feel more accepted as part of their community and able to give something back
– 84% of people attending the ARC report an increase in recovery capital
– 87% of people using our Progress Recovery Services reported feeling more connected to their communities
Improved Life Chances
– 84% of people responding to our annual Satisfaction Survey felt more optimistic about their ability to have a positive future
– 101 people using the ARC took part in volunteering, education and training including 42 accessing external opportunities and 18 moving into employment
– 84% of the children and young people we worked with reported improvements in both mental and physical health and wellbeing
Delivering on our Values
This year we asked people who used our services how they feel about us:
– 87% feel respected and not judged
– 92% feel treated as an equal
– 98% feel that the service really believes in their ability to make changes
– 90% feel the service goes the extra mile when needed
– 85% feel that they’re learning how to help themselves
“It helps to be able to talk through all aspects of my life, not just the drug use. The Pregnancy Smoking Cessation team only speak to me about my smoking and don’t take the time to support me with other aspects of my life. The Project 6 support is really in-depth and valuable” – From Satisfaction Survey 2021
“The level of contact and personal effort on behalf of the Project 6 team is to be highly commended especially in these difficult times of social distancing. Thank you.” – From Satisfaction Survey 2021
“Absolutely essential to have this service! It has helped me kick the drink and educated me about myself and the way I deal with others and view the world around me” – From Satisfaction Survey 2021
Emma’s Story
Emma had been using cocaine for many years in a regular binge pattern. She had been accessing Narcotics Anonymous (NA) & Cocaine Anonymous (CA) regularly for 18 months but continued to have regular lapses. Emma has said she fell pregnant because she was under the influence of substances at the time, and though it was consensual she wouldn’t otherwise have planned the pregnancy, so it was quite a shock to her.
Following disclosure at her maternity booking appointment, Emma was referred to Project 6’s Multi-agency Antenatal Service (MAS) in November 2020 at 12 weeks pregnancy, when information was provided to her around the risks to the unborn child of continued use.
As it was difficult for Emma to travel to Keighley to attend the MAS clinic, she was supported by fortnightly telephone support, and joint face-to-face appointments with the MAS worker and her midwife, at her GP practice. Though she was delighted at becoming pregnant, Emma found her change in circumstances difficult to adjust to and she began to lose motivation to address her substance use during her first trimester. She dropped out of her NA and CA groups and the fortnightly urine drug screens conducted by her midwife found her testing positive for cocaine 3 times in the first 4 months of pregnancy. The MAS worker consulted with the MAS manager and the midwife, who consulted with their Safeguarding Officer, and it was deemed that there were enough protective factors in place that Emma did not require referral to social services at that stage but that this continued to be monitored.
The multi-agency nature of the intervention ensured that risk was well managed. Into her second trimester, Emma was able to engage well in reflective discussion around her lapses, and the MAS worker carried out Relapse Prevention work, using solution-focussed and strengths-based approaches, and through collaborative SMART-goal setting. As Emma progressed through her pregnancy, she became keen to achieve and maintain abstinence. Emma developed a good rapport with the MAS worker and maintained good engagement with the support. For the final 5 months of her pregnancy, Emma did not use cocaine at all and all her urine drug screens were returned negative. Her son was born in May 2021, full term at 39 weeks, at a very healthy weight, and mother and baby were well enough to return straight home, requiring no time on the Special Care Baby Unit.
Since giving birth Emma has continued to remain abstinent, and has returned to her CA support, attending a weekly group and is continuing with fortnightly telephone support from the MAS worker. Emma has described the support she received from the MAS service: “It’s really helped having someone to talk to about it [my substance use] where I can be completely honest and have no shame about it. You [the MAS worker] never judge me and you’ve kept on with me even when I was relapsing. It’s been brilliant to know that you [the MAS worker] and [my midwife] are both there working away together to help me cause its meant that [my son] has arrived safely, and he’s the love of my life”.
Partners & Supporters
Acknowledgements
Ethical collaboration and partnership working is central to our approach to ensuring the best outcomes for the people who use our services. This year partnerships have been more important than ever, as organisations came together to provide a rapid response to the needs of their local communities.
Supporters
We’d like to say a big thank you to our partners and stakeholders who have supported us in numerous ways. A special thanks to all our volunteers, to FareShare, Kid Acne, Glenn Hustler, Oscar Humphries, and Keighley Rotary Club for their continuing support. We were able to counteract the worst effects of the pandemic through the funders who quickly galvanised COVIDcentred funding, including Martin Lewis and Police and Crime Commissioners.
Outside of the pandemic, thank you to our grant funders who continue to believe in what we’re doing. Through this we achieved our ambition of creating a wet garden and classroom at our Keighley Devonshire Street premises. Our gratitude to Keighley Town Council and the Kirkby Foundation for their generous support for this initiative.
Thanks everyone who fundraised and donated to our work. Everything we receive is used to enhance the delivery of front-line services.
Partnerships
Project 6 is embedded in many local multi-agency delivery and strategic partnerships.
West Yorkshire:
– Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
– Bradford and Craven CCG
– The Cellar Trust
– Keighley Healthy Living
– Carers Resource
– BMDC C.S.E. Hub
– Change Grow Live
– Barnardo’s
– J.A.M.E.S.
– Citizens Advice
– Bangladeshi Community Association
– Modality
– Wharfedale, Airedale & Craven Alliance (WACA)
– FareShare
South Yorkshire
– Sheffield Health and Social Care
– Sheffield City Council
– Sheffield Primary Care Network
– Sheffield Hallam University
– Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
– Voluntary Action Sheffield
– Aspire Doncaster
– Voluntary Action Doncaster
– Endeavour
COVID Related Partnerships
The onset of the pandemic and lockdown led to the rapid developments of both strategic and operational partnerships.
Local Area Response and VCS Leadership teams were set up in Keighley and Sheffield and attended by our CEO and Operations Director.
We began working with new partners including the Salvation Army, Mosques in Keighley and the Army. We made new links in Sheffield supporting organisations like Manor & Castle and Zest. Operationally staff were redeployed to multi-agency emergency food and crisis pathways. New partnerships also included our MAST Team; the Sheffield VCSE COVID Hub and Modality delivering much needed vaccine support in Keighley.
Finances
Our results for the year show that our income has remained stable despite a challenging external environment for the sector, and the impact on core funding of the loss of two services at the end of 2020.
The merger with Doncaster Alcohol Services provided us with further opportunities to build on the delivery strengths and expertise across the new area, while continuing to ensure the cost effectiveness of our core team. Our geographical reach across West and South Yorkshire provides us with further diversification of funding and new partnerships and opportunities strategically and operationally. Our excellent outcomes, outlined in this report, remain exceptional value for money.
Our principal funding sources were as follows:
– Partnerships including the delivery of the New Directions Substance Misuse contract and the Trusted Relationships in Keighley
– Sheffield City Council
– Airedale and Wharfedale Clinical Commissioning group
– National Lottery Community Fund
– ESF
– Grants and trust funds such as: Children in Need, Garfield Weston, the Kirkby Foundation, South
Yorkshire Community Fund, West Yorkshire PCC
Particular mention should be made of the range of short-term funds which were made available to provide a rapid response to community needs during the pandemic.
In addition to these we are committed to the generation of earned income through the sale of specialist training through our social enterprise Waypoint. During this year we have continued our aim to grow a sustainable and flexible funding structure through the diversification of income streams.
More information is available in our Income Generation Plan and Waypoint Training Enterprise Business Plan.
A full version of the accounts can be viewed at: project6.org.uk/annual-reports
Plans for the Future
It’s probably never been as uncertain, and while it’s our long-term goal to work ourselves out of business, it feels as through that is further away than ever. COVID has shone a great light on health inequalities, but our systems seem to be suffering from total inertia in taking any action. We are still operating under a historic legal framework of the Misuse of Drugs Act which was 50 years old this year and causes more problems than it solves.
We know that the need for our services will only increase over the next few years and that the impact of the pandemic will probably still be being felt in 5–10 years. What’s less sure is what the external environment will look like. We are in the middle of a huge system change in health, local authorities are feeling the economic squeeze and the world feels more volatile than at any other point in my career in this sector.
However, there are some glimmers of hope. There are small amounts of short-term money coming into the sector — which may indicate a seed change, and health and care systems are looking to the VCSE to support them and make the left shift into investing in prevention and resourcing community organisations. The Black report has shone a light on the impact of 10 years of austerity on our sector, which has shown a sector damaged more than any other by austerity. It’s important that we don’t just use any extra funding to shore our broken system up – we must build back better, invest in the right things which include decent harm reduction services, proper psychosocial interventions and recovery services. We can’t prescribe ourselves out of substance use, trauma and those experiencing multiple disadvantages. We have to start designing and delivering services with people with all levels of lived experience at the centre of them. Anything else is merely rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. That is not what Project 6 intends to do! We intend to challenge this and shout as loud as we can for the people who use and need our services and their voice to be heard.
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