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Transcript of Sil 2013 14 annual report
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Sheffield Information LinkFinal Annual Report: 2013/14
A celebration of 27 years service (1987 – 2014)
SU
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SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:07 Page 1
“Sadly by the time you read thiswe will be in the process ofclosing our service after 27 years.
So we thought we’d make our finalAnnual Report a celebration of theservice and support we haveprovided to families in and aroundSheffield throughout this time.
Thank you all for your support”
Sharron Baroudi, Chief Executive
Pictured here are some of the staff and volunteers whohave helped make SIL such a success over the years
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:07 Page 2
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Every year since I have been Chair I have talked about thetremendous changes and many challenges that the charityhas faced and overcome. This year is no different and asusual, despite all the odds, staff have continued to deliverservices to the highest quality. I have highlighted a smallselection of SILs many achievements during the year:
• Increasing the take up of brokerage services by the mostdisadvantaged people in Sheffield through dedicated outreach
• Successfully relocating the SIGN service and improving reachthrough targeted outreach to develop a city wide service
• Increasing the take up of free nursery education and workingtax credit
• Recruiting and developing health champions working out inthe community to promote early access to pregnancy andearly years services
• Developing a customer consultation group
• Developing and promoting case studies to evidence theorganisation’s impact to customers and potential funders
• Successfully achieving the Information Standard
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:08 Page 3
• Revamping the website and increasing Facebookand twitter activity
• Streamlining SILs internal fundraising and tenderingprocesses by developing a resource base ofregularly required information to support shortnotice opportunities
All of this makes the fact that we have to end evenmore difficult. The Management Committee held anextraordinary general meeting on 3rd September andat that meeting recommended that SheffieldInformation Link ceased trading on 20 January 2014.This was not a decision that the ManagementCommittee took lightly and if there were a viableoption it would have been seriously considered butagainst a backdrop of continued uncertainty therewas no choice. The majority of our income wasthrough contracts with Sheffield City Council. Theyhave made the decision to take the services in houseand post January there will be no contract. Thiswould mean that we would be trading insolvent if wecontinued after that date and places us in anuntenable position with regard to our duty to our staffin terms of redundancies and pensions. So it is with avery heavy heart that I say this is the final report after27 years of operation.
I have only been part of SIL since 2008 and have hadthe privilege and great pleasure to have been Chairfor most of that time with excellent ManagementCommittee colleagues who like me have fought hardto keep the charity going. Many of you reading thiswill have played your own part in SILs long andillustrious journey and will have your own memories ofthe fantastic achievements over the years.
I would like to thank all the staff for remainingmotivated, committed and focused over these lastfew months. I am sure all of you who know Sharron,Trudie and Charlene will agree with me that they aretrue heroines. Their leadership, perseverance,selflessness and relentless hard work through monthsand years of uncertainty is outstanding and sayseverything about the quality of them as individualsand the quality of the charity.
Take some time to read this final report andbittersweet though it feels rejoice in celebratingthe best charity I have ever known.
Tracy Watterson
Chair, SIL Management Committee
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In October 1987 Britain’s first computerised‘Information and Resource’ project for parents ofthe under-fives was launched in Sheffield.Funded by the Department for Health and SocialServices (DHSS), through a grant to the NationalChildminding Association, the service was basedon similar American Projects that offered parentsand carers general advice about child care.
Sheffield CIS was at the heart of thedevelopment of the nationwide network
of CISs back in 1997/8 when thegreen paper was published.
I remember when I first started inFIS in 1998 SIL was the
blueprint and benchmark for allCISs and SIL has continued
to be highly regarded byFIS Managers”
“
Tony Marshall, Senior Development Officer,North Lincs Family Information Service
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:08 Page 5
When the service was threatened with closureas funding came to an end in 1989, Sheffieldparents and local MP’s banded together tosave the vital service and the rest is history.
The service was rebranded as the Children’sInformation Service in 1991 and funded bySheffield City Council to offer informationrequired by the Children’s Act 1989.
There are now 206 FISs across the UK all basedon the original model developed 27 years ago.
The service rebranded as the FamiliesInformation Service in 2007 and wasacknowledged as the central informationresource for parents, supporting the localauthority in delivering the Information Duty(Duty 12 of the Childcare Act 2006).
Since that October day in 1987 SIL hassurvived many funding cuts and threats toits existence whilst maintaining andimproving the service for Sheffield Families.Sadly this will all come to an end next year.
On Friday 17th January 2014 Sheffield’sFamily Information Service will close its doorsfor the final time having supported more thana quarter of a million families over a twentyseven year period.
For so many many years Sheffieldhas been seen as a great FIS and I’vereally valued being able to workalongside you. Without Sheffield FIS itcould be argued the rest of the worldof FIS wouldn’t be here. On behalf of allthe families you have helped over theyears I want to say thank you.
The difference you havemade to thousands offamilies is immenseNiall McVicar, FIS Manager, York FIS”
“
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In 2001 the governmentidentified the need for
employers to support theiremployees work life balance and adopt familyfriendly policies. SIL were successful in a bidfor Objective 1 funding through the EuropeanSocial Fund and a project called ChildrenMean Business was born.
The project offered Sheffield Employers 35 hourssupport to develop its policies and implement thenew initiative. The project offered employers anumber of options to support its working parentsresulting in increased satisfaction amongst theworkforce and a reduction in absence.
When the project came to an end in 2003another successful bid to Objective 1 resulted inthe service being renamed and rebranded asCreating More Balance South Yorkshire and SILbecame the lead body of the projects expanded
reach over the whole of South Yorkshire workingin partnership with Doncaster, Barnsley andRotherham local authorities.
The service developed a two pronged approachto work life balance through targeted work withboth employers and employees. Thedevelopment of a Maternity Pack assistedemployers insupporting itsemployeesthroughpregnancy andreturn to work.
Work lifebalance is nowintegrated intothe coreof employerslegal responsibilities with initiatives suchas paternity leave, Kit days and flexible working.6
Margaret Goodlad leads
the CMB Campaign
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:08 Page 7
In 2001 SIL agreed to deliver Sheffield CityCouncils Workforce Recruitment andDevelopment Project. This project was topromote training and careers in childcare.The work continued until the funding came toan end in 2010 after successfully supportingthe increase of qualified childcare workersfor Sheffield settings.
The project included:
• Work with colleges, universities and local trainingproviders
• Promoting and advertising job vacancies
• Attendance at school careers events
• Presentations to jobcentre plus
• Organisation of a national conference promotingmen into childcare
• Organisation of a regional conference promotingpeople with disabilities working in childcare
• Information, advice and assistance topotential childcare workers
• Referrals to training providers
• Jobs and skills matching for local settings
• Development of a Recruitment pack
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SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:08 Page 8
In 2002 negotiations with Health, SocialServices and Education led to agreement toset up a new information service for disabledchildren and their families.
SIGN (Sheffield Information Giving Network fordisabled children and young people and theirfamilies) opened at Ryegate Children’s Centre onthe 7th January 2002 and has been supportingparents, carers and professionals ever since).
When the service was threatened with closure in2011 parents and professionals were quick tocome to the defence of this vital organisation.
In 2012 the service was moved from its base atRyegate to Sheffield Information Links city centrepremises and citywide delivery began in earnestwith the start of SIGNs outreach programme.
Sue James, our Disability Advice and EngagementWorker, took the service out into the localcommunity to give families an opportunity toaccess information on their doorstep face to face.
Sue went along to 20 Autism workshops whereshe was able to help families whose child hadbeen recently diagnosed with Autism. She alsoattended parents evenings at local specialschools and, more recently, Parents as Carerscoffee mornings. During 2012/13 Sue met with473 parents and carers at outreach sessions andwas able to talk to them about the support thatSIGN can offer.
Martina Laird (Comfort Jones) of
Casualty fame officially opens the
SIGN service in 2002
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During 2012/13 SIGN delivered 8 professionalawareness sessions to 62 people who work withdisabled children. These were useful for peopleto learn more about the SIGN service andprovided an opportunity for networking andsharing information. Alongside the professionalawareness sessions SIGN met with 583professional through outreach events.Since April 2013 the SIGN team have dealt withalmost 2000 enquiries from families who have adisabled child or a child with additional needs orthe professionals who support them. On averageSIGN takes 110 enquiries each month.
Our plans until January 2014 include more visits toparents in community venues. The calendar on theSIGN website, www.signdisability.org.uk, hasdetails of all of our upcoming outreach sessionsalong with other disability related events in the city.
Parents, carers and professionals can stillcontact our helpline for information:0114 266 9476 Monday – Friday 10.00am –3.00pm or by email [email protected] SIGN website will also be regularly updatedwith the latest news and developments.
My 14 yr old daughter with epilepsy,ASD & LD has had a few quiet & happy
years but will be leaving school in the nexttwo years. We used SIGN at the beginning
of her difficulties & will be using it againsoon to access clubs & support for
teenagers/ young people. Mainstream infoservices don't understand the needs of
kids with SENs.
The service is extremely important assource of up to date information of
services and support within the city forchildren with disabilities. Care for children
with disabilities extends beyond the purelymedical. With the psychosocial support
provided by services such as SIGN familiescan gain a greater quality of life and
without such services they can experiencegreat distress, isolation and difficulty.”Dr P Hall, Clinical Psychologist
“
“
9Local parent ”
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When the government highlighted theneed for up to date accessible onlineinformation resources for parentsSheffield Information Link conductedresearch and consultancy with parents,carers and professionals to identify theironline information needs.
When it became a requirement under theChildren’s Plan to have an online servicedirectory in all local authority areas, SILsuccessfully negotiated the contract for thedevelopment of the Sheffield InformationDirectory for Children, Young People andFamilies. Partnership work with keystakeholders and consultation with endusers was a key element in thedevelopment of the service directory.
c
ask Sid
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 11
Just one year after receiving the funding,the directory, called ask Sid was launchedand since then, underpinned by theexcellent work of the data team it hasaveraged Over 200,000 visits per year.
The website has been actively promoted bySIL staff visiting school assemblies. Thesevisits became lovingly known as the ‘tour desid,’ and resulted in an increase in uptakeof children’s activities across the board.
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Waterthorpe school children meet
“ask Sid” on Tour (10 Jan 2012)
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 12
12October 2012: Staff and Volunteers Celebrate
25 years of service to Sheffield Families
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 13
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1987 1991 1994 1999 2002 200
Launch of Sheffield Under Fives
Information Service
SIGN, a specialistinformation servicefor families ofdisabled children,opens at RyegateChildren’s Centre
By 2005 the servicewas handling 17,000enquiries per year
New premises on Leopold Street were
opened by Education and Employment
Secretary David Blunkett MP
MEADOWHALLOPENS
SUPERTRAMSTARTS RUNNING
IN SHEFFIELD
THE“HOLE IN THE ROAD”
CLOSES
The Full Montyis released and
becomesa block-buster
PARKHILLCLOSES
REFURBIS
SIL runs a highly succommunity-based infresulting in a new ou
The service is renamedChildren’s InformationService and is expandedto cover children aged0-10 years
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 14
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006 2007 2008 2011 2012 2014
Launch of ask Sid, an onlinedirectory of children’sservices for Sheffield
Funding cuts and changes to localstrategy see some services transferto other providers. SIL Solutionslaunched to share best practice inHR, IT and information management.
SIL celebrates twentyfive years of informingand empoweringfamilies
HILL FLATSOSES FORRBISHMENT
The Crucible Theatreundergoes a majorrefurbishment
DEMOLITIONOF TINSLEYCOOLINGTOWERS
THE OLYMPICFLAME COMESTO SHEFFIELD
hly successful pilot ofased information services,new outreach programme
The service is renamed Sheffield
Information Link and now supports
children and young people aged 0-19+
FLOODS CAUSE CHAOSTHROUGHOUT THE
REGION
Sadly, due to significantbudget cuts, thedecision is taken toclose the organisationafter 27 years of serviceto families in andaround Sheffield
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 15
Opening of the SIL shop
in 2007
Joe Scarborough approves
the ask Sid Taxi design
David Blunkett celebrates10 years of the SIGN service
Andrew Sangar celebrates
success of ask Sid
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SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 16
When the Childcare Act 2006 identified theneed for information services to go out intothe community to reach disadvantaged andhard to reach families, SIL worked withOpportunity Links on a national pilot to testmethods of delivery of CIS informationthrough Children’s Centres.
The pilot tested the best method of engagingwith parents and resulted in SIL winning acontract to deliver outreach through BurngreaveChildren’s Centre. It proved an excellentopportunity to make a real difference in acommunity with a high BME population, that hadnot traditionally accessed services.
SIL had developed a community language linefor non English speaking parents in 2000 andthose same information workers were deployedinto the community to reach people in theirneighbourhoods. Supporting Urdu, Punjabi,Somali and Arabic speaking families.
SIL developed its own hand held outreach kiosksfor its outreach workers to facilitate easy accessto information out in the community.
The project was hugely successful and outreachis still delivered through children’s centres andother settings where parents meet today.Supporting families to access childcare andchildren’s services when children’s centres closedown has become of vitalimportance in ensuringcontinuity of care for manySheffield parents.
The service thatSheffield Information Linkoffers is invaluable toparents. We have hadexcellent feedback fromthe parents who use thechildren’s centre on theprompt and efficientservice SIL offers.
“
”Tinsley Children’s Centre
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SIL was the very first Family InformationService to be opened in the UK and set thepace for others to follow. 27 years later thesuccess of the Sheffield ‘pilot’ has resulted in aFamily Information Service in every major citysupporting families with information, adviceand assistance.
Since its launch in 1987 Sheffield Information Linkhas supported 219,000 Sheffield families many ofwhom are the grand-children of parents using theservice for the first time in 1987.
More recently the need for brokerage (specialistadvice) has increased as a result of nursery andchildren’s centre closures. SIL staff use theirknowledge and expertise to handle on averageone of these per week, many of which requireadditional research, hand holding and negotiationbetween families and providers.
I was getting really worried, I knewnothing about claiming maintenance, taxcredits, council tax or anything else butthe most important thing was findingsomeone to look after my kids while Iwent to work. I really knew nothing at alland would have been in a right mess ifsomeone had not given me the number toSheffield Information Link. I rang them toexplain my situation and the person onthe other end of the line calmly talked methrough everything; without their help Ihave no idea what I would have done.”
“
Sharon Townsendand family
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 18
Single father referred onto us by Gingerbreadworking nightshift in hotel, needing overnightcare (11pm –7am) for his 17 month old child upto 5 days per week. Up until recently his parenthad been providing the childcare but they areboth now suffering from cancer and werestruggling to provide the level of care theirgrandchild required.
We contacted Rotherham FIS for a list of potentialcarers as the parent lives in Rotherham but worksin Sheffield. We contacted childminders thatstated they offer overnight care we found 3possible options. We provided the parent with thisinformation as well as info on CSA and a TaxCredit (approx.) calculation for lone parents.
The result was the parent found appropriatechildcare from the list we provided which has nowenabled him to continue to work. The parent toldus “It has made a big difference to my life, aweight as been lifted from my shoulders and ahuge pressure being lifted from my parents too”.
My estranged wife is now seeking custodyof our son. Having the appropriate childcarenow in place will mean I stand a much better
chance of keeping my son – building astronger case when fighting for custody”
“
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Finding accurate information can be aminefield for parents especially when facedwith millions of results from one searchengine alone.
Up-to-date, relevant and timely information isvital in supporting a family’s information needsand whilst it’s always done in the background,without it none of the other services that SILprovides would be so successful.
Last year our data team handled a phenomenal8329 updates to ensure that the information weheld and disseminated met the NAFIS FamiliesFirst Award Standard, was bang up to date andrelevant for Sheffield Families. That doesn’tinclude updating factsheets when legislationchanges are made.
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:09 Page 20
Ofsted information
Ofsted data is checked and updated daily andthis year the data team have handled 2089updates including:
• 56 new childminder and home childcarerregistrations
• 15 new groupcare registrations
• 78 childminder and home childcarerderegistrations
• 11 groupcare deregistrations
• 77 proposed childminder or home childcarers
• 17 proposed groupcare
Leisure/Family support information
Annually 2347 organisations and services wereupdated. Timely and accurate information tosupport parents during the school holidays isvital and whilst we were no longer able toproduce our popular what’s on guide due todecreases in funding we continued to research,update and promote school holiday informationthrough our ask Sid website.
Group Care
Over the year 1637 crèches, day nurseries,holiday playcare, nursery classes, out of schoolclubs, playgroups and toddler groups have beenupdated termly.
Childminders
357 childminders were updated quarterly on arolling programme of activecommunication.This is not assimple as a singlephone call andcan often result inthree attemptsfollowed up by anemail or a letter.
To ensure accuracyof information, oncea year a full updateof childminderinformation is donevia a questionnaire.
357 childminders
updated last year alone!
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21SIL achieves the Two Ticks
Award for disability friendliness
Since the outset Sheffield Information Linkhas been at the forefront of setting standardsand accreditation for the services delivered toparents through all FIS and has constantlysought to improve its standards of servicedelivery for Sheffield Families through trainingand quality awards.
1999
CIS is first service in the country to achieve theNational Quality Award developed by Choices inChildcare (the national network of CIS).
2000
In 2000 the huge growth of the number of CISs,brought about by the Governments NationalChildcare Strategy, led to a heavy demand for atraining course for new information workers.
Sheffield developed the Open College NetworkCourse in Childcare Information. The model wasadopted by the National Association of Children’sInformation Services. The two day course wasmandatory for new staff for many years.
2008
All Information staff trained to level 3 NVQ inInformation Advice and Guidance.
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2009
When the NAFIS Families First Award wasdeveloped, Sheffield played a key role insupporting its development and was the firstindependent Family Information Service toachieve the standard in 2009.
In the same year SIL also achieved Prince 2Accreditation.
2010
Achieved the Disablity Friendly Award.
National Training Awards finalist in the ‘Now isthe Time Category’
2011
Investors in People Gold Champion
Investors in People Health and Wellbeing Award
2012
Achieved Information Standard
Local information services are a criticalsource of support for families. Easily
accessible sources of information andadvice can help families access services
and make informed choices
Sheffield Information Link is a shining
light for all family information services
“”Dawn Primarola
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SIL has always sought
the most effective ways
to communicate with
Sheffield families and
quickly adapted to the
rise of websites and
social media.
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The SIL website has seen many changes andupgrades over the years to ensure it remainsstate of the art.
More recently the development of Facebook andTwitter feeds have resulted in an increase ingeneral awareness of the service and proved avaluable means of reaching families with up todate useful information. On average the Facebookpage has a 28 day viral reach of nearly 10,000.
2012 saw the development of the dedicatedSIGN website which gave service users easieraccess to disability information online. The userfriendly website is updated on a regular basis sothat families have information at their fingertips.
Enews activity has increased over the last fewyears with regular mailouts from both SIL andSIGN to families, childcare providers andprofessionals.
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Over the years SIL has organised and attendedmany events in the community includingregulars such as the Burngreave Mela,Sharrow Festival, Tinsley Festival and more...
The events proved very successful in engagingchildren, young people and parents alikeand were used for everything from promotingcareers in childcare to raising awareness ofcampaigns such as safeguarding, children’srights and anti-bullying.
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The aim of the Pregnancy and EarlyYears Health Champions was tohelp promote the health andwellbeing of families duringpregnancy and the first 2 years ofinfancy. All the Pregnancy and EarlyYears Health Champions completecompulsory training in areas likebreastfeeding, attachment andhealth & wellbeing.
They help parents in a variety of waysfrom supporting them to develop theirparenting skills to promoting healthierlifestyles through smoke-free homepledges to signposting parents touseful services. The HealthChampions are able to supportparents on a one to one basis, helpingthose parents who may be struggling
to achieve confidence andindependence after giving birth.They can also attend toddlergroups, health visitor session andmany of the Health Champions havecreated new groups in seriouslydeprived areas to support familiesin need.
We recruited two healthchampions in January 2013and a further 6 in August2013 after we received amassive 19 shows ofinterests for the role due toour updated recruitmentcampaign, which sawover 50 shows of interestfor our 5 different volunteerroles in one month.
Pregnancy and Early YearsHealth Champions
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The objective of the scheme is to share personalpositive experiences around childcare and earlylearning activities, encouraging the take-up amongother parents and families, particularly in communitieswhere the use of childcare is not widespread. One ofour main aims is to pass information on and to engagewith people within communities.
Our parent champion Susan Smith attended a massive36 outreach sessions between Sept 12th and April 13thwhere she engaged and provided information to approx.221 parent/ carers. Susan is a much valued member ofour Service delivery team.
I have been volunteering as a Parent Champion at SIL for over a yearnow and it has been an enormously positive experience for mepersonally and I hope for the families in my community who havebenefitted by being informed about the information and services tochildren and families that still do exist. I have linked with local HealthVisitors and Learning Mentors as well as directly meeting parents atbaby groups and toddler groups and other events in my community.Susan Smith
SIL Parent Champion ”
“SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:10 Page 28
Towards the end of 2012 we received £5,624from the Santander Foundation to deliver thisproject to young mums and expectant mumsacross the city.
We started with a pilot in Darnall supported bythe Darnall Family Development Project where wesupported young mums to understand whybudgeting and saving is important, whatinfluenced their spending and what changes theycould make to improve their current and futurefinancial positions.
The project has been a great success with mumsstarting savings plans, cutting down onunnecessary expenditure and making informedchoices when shopping.
The curriculum for the course was developedthrough UKYouth.
Due to the decision to close the charity in 2013the Santander Foundation agreed to allow us to
use the remaining balance of funds to supportother charitable activities for families.
So, thanks to them, we have also been able tooffer:
• 35 parents/carers free Makaton Training
• A Paediatric First Aidcourse via the PLA
• A Play to Learn Coursevia the PLA
• Sheffield’s Pregnancyand Early YearsChampions (viaSheffield Cubed) aresource fund of£740
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In March 2013 we were successful in a funding bid to deliveremployability skills to parents and carers in Sheffieldreceiving £9,986 from Awards for All.
The project was aimed at assisting people in some of Sheffield’smost deprived areas that have been busy bringing up a family but
had started to think about starting or restarting a career.
The endgame was not about putting people into work.Things may have changed considerably since some ofthe people we targeted last worked. We believed theywould have skills gained from bringing up a family andrunning a home that could be applied in other places;we aimed to show them they could do other things.That might be work, volunteering with a communitygroup or academic study, whatever wasappropriate to help them develop their lives.
Due to the decision to close the charity in 2013we were unable to deliver the whole project butwe made a big difference to 9 individuals andtheir families.
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Sheffield Information Link’sTrading Arm
Throughout its long life, our charity hasbeen recognised for its innovation andexcellence in information development anddelivery, as well as behind the scenes inour back-office services.
SIL Solutions specialised in business-to-business support and problem-solving,including HR, IT, training and consultancyservices. 100% of its profits were gifted toSheffield Information Link, supporting our workwith Sheffield’s families.
Our top products were:
ChildcarePayment Solutions
This was a schemewhich helpedemployers savemoney for theirbusiness and theiremployees bypaying for childcarecosts before taxdeductions. It wascheaper than
childcare vouchers, because we supportedemployers to manage the scheme themselves.We were the official provider of ChamberChildcare to Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber ofCommerce members and had just been approvedto deliver the CPS to Sheffield ChamberMembers. Unfortunately due to our pendingclosure we could not accept this contract.
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Makaton Training – we have supported manyindividuals, parents, carers and professionals togain this communication skill. Used as acommunication tool for both children and youngadults our tutor, Linda Wright, has motivated andenthused hundreds of people over the last coupleof years with her great delivery and fun sessions.Our training was accredited by the MakatonCharity where Linda is a registered tutor.
Electronic Information Pads – were developedto enable children and families access toinformation at their fingertips. We worked withPortercroft School to develop a terminal whereparents could access school information such aspolicies and weekly menus. Our SIL and SIGN EIP’senabled staff to access information about childcareand children’s services out in the community.
FIS Dynamics – We worked in partnership withlocal IT company Arkom to develop a new andinnovative database for FIS’s nationally. The newdatabase built on a Microsoft Dynamics platformprovides a more flexible approach to data storageand underpins a user friendly online servicedirectory. FIS Dynamics was well received at theNAFIS Conference.
We employed 3 people to start up the businesswith support from John Pepin, a consultant andentrepreneur from London. John kept us all onour toes, questioning and researching andworking out where our markets were. We aregrateful for his support and insight.
We merged the business back into the charity in2013 when we had agreement that all the tradingwe were doing was covered by our charitableaims and objectives. We have continueddelivering our services with the support of LucyWilks the charity’s Business and Admin Assistantand our Deputy Chief Executive.
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Staff
Sharron Baroudi
Anna Berridge
Paula Bird
Anna Brown
Jacqui Dace (until June 2013)
Seirian Davies (until June 2013)
Charlene Fernandes
Emma Green (until June 2013)
Mandy Hetherington
Jill Hughes
Melanie Hunt (until February 2013)
Sue James
Ruth Moore
Andrea Naylor
Richard Pashley (until April 2013)
Rachel Plummer (until June 2013)
Bet Rudge (from October 2012
until August 2013)
Casey Smallwood
Trudie Smallwood
Alison Smith
Naomi Swain (until May 2012)
Rosie Taylor (until Dec 2012)
Roldan Tagaro (until March 2013)
Lucy Wilks (from April 2012)
Volunteers
Alison Adler (Until July 2013)
Mark Mercado (from October 2012)
Susan Smith (from May 2012)
Maisoon Juhani
(from January 2013)
Management Committee
Chair: Tracy Watterson
Treasurer: Ged Warren
Rachel Bovill
Kay Rollings
Roldan Tagaro
This Annual Review has been
produced to provide an account of
SIL’s progress this year and
celebrate what will be 27 years of
supporting Sheffield Families when
it closes in January 2013.
Registered Office:Sheffield Information Link
9 Leopold Street
Sheffield
S1 2GY
Bankers:HSBC
2 Fargate
Sheffield
S1 2JS
Charities Aid Foundation
25 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
Kent
ME19 4TA
Auditors:UHY Wingfield Slater
6 Broadfield Court
Broadfield Way
Sheffield
S8 0XF
Registered Charity No: 1065185
Company No: 3426470
Company Secretary:
Sharron Baroudi
www.sheffinfolink.org.uk
www.asksid.net
www.signdisability.org.uk
Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank our funders
without whom much of our work
would not be possible.
© Sheffield Information Link 2013
Sheffield Information Link Team
SIL 2013-14 Annual Report:SIL 2012 Annual Report 04/10/2013 10:10 Page 33