Positive Health (Lincolnshire)
(A company limited by guarantee)
Annual Report and Financial Statements
For the Year Ended 31 March 2008
Charity number 1091677
Company number 4176976
Contents
Legal and Administrative Information
Report on the work of Positive Health (Lincolnshire)
Statement of Financial Activities
Balance Sheet
Notes forming part of the financial statements
Positive Health (Lincolnshire)
Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2008
The Trustees present their report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2008
Reference and Administrative Information
Charity Name: Positive Health (Lincolnshire)
Charity Registration number: 1091677
Company registration number: 4176976
Registered Office and operational address: 25 Newland, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN1 1XP.
Trustees:
Mr C F White Chair
Mr M Simpson Vice-Chair
Mr J Winmill Treasurer & Company Secretary
Miss R Taylor
Miss P Davies
Salaried Personnel:
Miss C Wilkinson Manager
Mr S Milner Deputy Manager/Outreach
Mr N Weighill Outreach
Mr C Hall Training/Health Promotion
Miss R Griffith Training/Health Promotion
Mrs G Eveson Training/Education
Mrs L Smith Social Care
Miss L McMaster Social Care
Mr J Pereira Social Care
Miss G Levi Social Care
Mrs L Hauton Volunteer Co-Ordinator
Mrs J Burgwin Office Manager
Auditors
Streets & Co, Tower House, Lucy Tower St, Lincoln.
Bankers
National Westminster Bank, 225 High St, Lincoln.
Structure, Governance & Management.
The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 9 March 2001 and registered as a charity on 14 April 2002. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10. Prior to our incorporation in March 2001 the organisation was known as LAVG (Lincolnshire HIV & AIDS Voluntary Group) The organisation had originally been formed in 1985 and received charitable status in 1995. In 2000 the members agreed to form a company limited by guarantee and requested that we took the opportunity to change the charity name to one, which offered more confidentiality to our clientele and better reflected the work we are involved in. As a result Positive Health was chosen. A student, following a competition at a local school, designed our logo. LAVG was formally dissolved on 1st July 2002 with all assets being transferred to Positive Health (Lincolnshire). In 2000 we purchased our current headquarters, which were completely remodelled and refurbished in 2003 to enable us to better meet the needs of our clientele.
Recruitment and Appointment of the Trustees.
The directors of the company are also charity Trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the company’s Articles are known as ‘Trustees’. Under the requirements of the Memorandum and the Articles of Association the Trustees are elected to serve at the annual general meeting, one third of the Trustees are required to retire each year and submit themselves for re-election if they desire.
Miss P Davies retires by rotation and, being eligible, offers herself for re-election.
Due to the nature of much of the charity’s work, relating to the support of those who are HIV+ or who are at risk of being so the Trustees seek to ensure that their group is diverse and contains Trustees who have a background that reflects both knowledge of and empathy for the aforementioned group.
The Trustees together bring a diverse range of skills and knowledge, and in the event of particular skills being lost due to retirements individuals are approached to offer themselves for election to the Trustees.
Trustee Induction and Training.
Prior to taking up his appointment as Chair, Mr C White attended a detailed training course for Chairpersons provided by the Lincoln Volunteer Bureau. All new Trustees have an induction programme and are invited to spend time in the office to familiarise themselves with the work of al the departments. In addition each Trustee is encouraged to take an interest in one aspect of the work of Positive Health. All new Trustees are briefed on our Memorandum and Articles of Association. They also receive the Charity Commission information on the responsibilities of Trustees
Risk Management
The Trustees have conducted regular reviews of the major risks to which the charity is exposed. A risk register has been established and is up-dated at least annually. Where appropriate, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate these identified risks. Internal control risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with health and safety of staff, volunteers, clients and visitors to both the office premises and when staff and volunteers work away from our office base.
Organisation Structure.
Positive Health has a minimum of three Trustees, there is no maximum number. The Trustees meet bi-monthly and are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity. At present there are five Trustees. The Manager also attends Trustee meetings but has no voting rights. Surgeries are offered after each Trustee Meeting to allow clients of the organisation to have direct access to the Trustees should they desire this. The Trustees do not involve themselves in the day to day running of the organisation, this is delegated to the Manager via the formal scheme of delegation. The Manager is responsible for ensuring that Positive Health delivers the services specified and the key performance indicators are met. The Manager is also responsible for the individual supervision of the staff team to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of their roles and that they are able to access relevant CPD opportunities.
Related Parties.
The work of Positive Health reflects both National and Local strategy in relation to HIV services. Positive Health works alongside Social Services, Lincolnshire GUM and Sexual Health Services, The Police, Schools, Colleges, Housing Associations and local Councils. In addition we belong to a variety of multi-agency groups.
Objectives and Activities
Positive Health’s objects and principal activities relate to the following statement, which is taken from our Memorandum of Articles of Association:
‘The relief of poverty, sickness and social exclusion of persons living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, and related infections, substance misuse and poor sexual health’
In furtherance of our objectives but not otherwise the charity may exercise the following powers:
‘To target the public with information on sexual health, HIV and substance misuse, through relevant campaigns and awareness events, to provide information or support around those issues to people living in Lincolnshire’
and
‘To use appropriate methods to educate and inform the general public and specific target groups on the subjects of HIV/AIDS, HEP B, Sexual Health and the wider actions of Positive Health (Lincolnshire)
The main objectives and activities for the year continued to focus on the support for our clients, and the prevention of further infection via our education/training and outreach work. In addition to the work of our salaried staff the Trustees would also like to acknowledge the work of our volunteers, who give freely of their time and without whom our work would not be as effective as we would wish it to be.
Social Care Report 2007 - 2008
Service Users
|
Year
|
07/08
|
06/07
|
05/06
|
04/05
|
03/04
|
02/03
|
01/02
|
00/01
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total number of Clients
|
215
|
176
|
138
|
117
|
104
|
81
|
72
|
56
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Profile of Clients Infected
|
111
|
103
|
74
|
65
|
55
|
43
|
34
|
28
|
|
Female
|
49
|
44
|
25
|
27
|
21
|
14
|
07
|
04
|
|
Heterosexual Male
|
30
|
30
|
27
|
18
|
14
|
13
|
10
|
08
|
|
Gay Male
|
30
|
27
|
21
|
20
|
20
|
16
|
17
|
16
|
|
Young Person -under 16
|
02
|
02
|
01
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Profile of Clients Affected
|
104
|
73
|
64
|
52
|
49
|
38
|
38
|
28
|
|
Female
|
37
|
30
|
33
|
26
|
25
|
16
|
16
|
13
|
|
Male
|
39
|
29
|
25
|
21
|
16
|
13
|
15
|
13
|
|
Children
|
28
|
14
|
06
|
05
|
08
|
09
|
07
|
02
|
The number of people accessing our service has more than doubled in the past five years. During the last year we supported 215 people, including 104 carers or family members affected by HIV. We closed 7 cases when 6 people moved out of the County and one person died. At the end of the year we were supporting 104 clients living with HIV.
As you can see from the chart above, the majority of the clients living with HIV are male. They represent 60% of all the clients, females represent 44% and we also support two young people under the age of sixteen. Approximately 61% are aged between 30 and 49, with 20% being over 50 years of age, 17% are aged between 18 and 29, and 2% are under 16 years of age.
The service is accessed by a wide range of people with 57% being white British, 30% are black African, 11% are Portuguese and 2% are white Europeans. We offer a county wide service and the client base is widely dispersed, with 41% living within a 10 mile radius of Lincoln, nearly 17% live in the Boston area, 11% are in Spalding, a further 11% are housed within the prisons, 9% are from the Grantham area and the remaining 11% are from other areas of the County.
The profile of our client base has changed considerably over the last few years, approximately 74% are heterosexual, and consequently we are supporting 104 carers or family members affected by HIV.
We received 16 new referrals during the year, mainly from people newly diagnosed with HIV. They often need intensive support to help them come to terms with their diagnosis, as one client said, “ The feeling of death clouded my mind”, unfortunately, HIV prejudice and discrimination remain a reality so the clients and carers are unable to freely discuss their diagnosis with anyone else, therefore, home visits are a particularly important service provision, reducing isolation and enabling people to talk freely about HIV.
Service Provision.
We continue to provide a wide range of support, which are funded by Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and do not include any housing related support.
There has been a marked increase in the number of Benefit Advice sessions. We have assisted with new applications, and successfully supported four clients at Tribunals, thus maintaining our 100% success rate at these hearings. Four clients who had originally been awarded the Disability Living Allowance indefinitely were subject to a review. All four reviews were successful with the client receiving the same or a slightly reduced benefit. If a client’s case is complex or involves benefits outside our area of expertise then we seek the advice of the Disability Advisors, as they are able to calculate entitlement to Income Support, Child Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits.
We provided a lot of Non Housing Financial Advice sessions, assisting people with debt management and budgeting. We also assist with applications to Crusaid or Chris Cinclair for those in desperate financial need. We helped several clients, (without recourse to public funds.) to receive crisis payments from the Chris Cinclair fund to buy food when they were unable to work through ill health.
The clients need support in adherence to their treatment and we assist them to monitor their medication and accompany them on medical appointments. We also provide them and/or their carers/sexual partners with comprehensive information regarding the transmission of HIV.
We facilitated an evening support group each month at our premises in Lincoln. We also arranged support groups in rural areas, and facilitate clients meeting another client for mutual support. It is important for people who are newly diagnosed to meet another person who is ‘living’ with HIV and for those on medication to be able to talk about the side effects with someone going through the same thing.
We provided sessions offering information and advice to enable client’s independence. We encourage and support people into employment or Higher Education. We work with employers to prevent discrimination. A manager of a statutory organisation asked one client if they were HIV positive. The client approached us and we contacted the manager, who said they were entitled to confront the client, as HIV was a public health risk. The manager later apologised for their error but refused HIV awareness training for their staff.
Providing social care support to people living with HIV is a specialist service and quite unique in the field. The workers support all ages from children to older people, they need to learn about different cultures to support the varying nationalities. They deal with secondary conditions like mental health and they deal with a vast range of issues. As you can see from the relatively low number of clients referred to other agencies, the main difference to other services is that in the majority of cases our clients will not access support from other agencies, as they do not want to disclose their status. The stigma associated with HIV isolates the clients and is a continual challenge for the workers.
Another challenge for the workers was trying to maintain the level of service provision as the numbers of clients continue to increase each year, also, one worker had to go on sick leave in November prior to having a hip replacement operation in December, returning to work in March on restricted duties. In addition a new worker started in November and the first couple of months are spent meeting clients with another worker, which again reduced the number of visits made to clients at home.
One of our aims for last year was to consult with service users. So when we were approached by a group of experienced business managers studying for post graduate Masters in Business Administration with Lincoln University, we asked them to undertake a survey as their project. The results of the survey will form the basis of our next business plan and the Trustees are meeting in May to devise an action plan from the consultation report, and aim to discuss the plan with service users in the summer.
The survey found:
• 94% gave a positive rating to Emergency Crisis Support.
• 89% gave a positive rating to Information Received.
• 69% of respondents thought the service has stagnated or worsened.
• 67% of respondents who have been using the service for 5 years or more expressed a requirement for extra services.
• 45% of clients who have been using the service for less than 5 years expressed a requirement for extra services.
• Extra services include, carers support, buddy systems, social events.
• 90% of respondents reported that the social care workers are helpful, friendly, polite and respectful.
• There are concerns amongst respondents about the number of staff available to support the service.
The questionnaire allowed space for free comments and in general the comments were positive “I am grateful for all the help I have received. If it wasn’t for your help I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now. Many thanks.” “Knowing that if or when I need help it will be there”. And the not so positive, ”PH needs to fall in line with other charities that focus on positive steps to assist sufferers.” “It has come to a time when no-one calls and that makes a big difference.”
The report did not contain any major surprises for us, as we are aware that supporting an increasing number of clients without additional resources, will inevitable result in a reduced service for each client, however, the survey does evidence the need for increasing capacity or a radical change in the support we offer and we are very grateful to the 5 - Star Consultancy Group for undertaking this project for us. A final comment from a client “Just having you guys there, knowing you are non - judgemental and supportive means everything”
Partnership Organisations.
We continue to build strong working relationships with staff at the GUM Clinics, Sexual Health Service, Social Services Occupational Therapists, Sevacare, Addaction, Mckinnels, Langleys, Diversity Officers, ICAS, Disability Advisors, and the Disability Discrimination Council. We also have a contract with C.A.L.L. for an interpreter to assist us with the Portuguese clients.
HIV Awareness Training
We provided 6 sessions of HIV/AIDS awareness training to staff employed in Adult services. The sessions are full day training courses, covering how HIV affects people physically and emotionally, routes of transmission, testing, stigma, prejudice and discrimination. Without exception, the courses are extremely well evaluated and candidates generally find the day both informative and enjoyable.
The Future.
Our aims for the next year will be to address the issues raised in the survey and to work with our clients and their families to identify funding streams for increasing capacity and service development. We will use the survey as a benchmark to assess future satisfaction levels, and we will be submitting proposals for funding for projects that tackle HIV stigma and discrimination.
Lincolnshire County Council have extended our contract for a further year and we are in discussion about whether a Service Level Agreement or Grant would be the most appropriate source of funding in the future.
Supporting People Report 2007 - 2008
We provided dedicated housing related support to 36 people living with HIV. The majority 63% are aged between 30 and 50, 23% are over 50 years of age, and 14% are in the 18 - 29 age range. We supported 21 male and 15 females, the majority 56% are White British, 25% are Portuguese, 14% are Black African, and 5% are Eastern European.
During the year we added 10 new clients for housing related support and had to close 20 cases as they had been receiving support for the maximum period, several of those clients would have benefited from further support beyond the two year cut off point. At the end of the year we were providing dedicated housing related support to 16 people living with HIV.
We provide a wide range of support across the county. 48% of the clients live within a 10-mile radius of Lincoln, 14% live in the Boston area, 17% are in the Grantham area, 9% are around Spalding and 12% are located in Gainsborough, Louth, Skegness and Sleaford.
We assisted 4 clients to secure appropriate Local Authority properties, moving 2 clients into ground floor flats from a second storey council property and a private rented flat. We assisted a client who lived with their mother in a one-bedroom private rented flat to a two-bedded council property. We helped a client with complex medical needs and poor mobility move from a caravan into a warden-controlled bungalow.
We help clients with all aspects of establishing their new homes, applying for grants or housing benefit, shopping for furnishings, getting connected to utility suppliers, and how to use appliances. We also help them to get to know the area and encourage independence through employment, further education or social activities. One client who became a Union Representative at work is now studying English so they can extend their skills into Interpreting; another client has started volunteering for local organisations and has commenced a counselling course. One client has gained the confidence to re-establish a social life and is travelling abroad to meet friends.
A recent independent survey of clients gave a 90% satisfaction rating to advice and support around housing issues. One client commented “ I was referred to PH and since this they have sorted out benefits, had adaptations to my home through Occupational Health and now I have a new mobility car”
We provide a maximum of 37.5 hours per week, which we prioritise to the clients need. A support plan is negotiated with each client with agreed outcomes. Some clients fail to engage with the delivery of the support plan and the outcomes are not achievable, however the majority of clients actively engage and the service has made a huge difference to their lives increasing their skills and confidence in the long - term management of their home.
We are very pleased to report that our contract with supporting people has been extended to March 2010.
Sexual Health Service Annual Report 2007 - 2008
(North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus)
Sexual Health Service to Men who have sex with men.
Public Sex Environments (PSE sites)
We provide an Outreach service offering sexual health information, advice and resources to men who have sex with men. The service is commissioned for 12 hours per week, and covers 8 sites in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.
The workers made 167 visits to sites in the last year. All were routine visits and the workers concentrated their time on four of the busier sites.
PSE Site Users.
At the time of their visits the workers recorded 873 men present on the sites. They identified 18% (158) as men known to use other sites in the area. The workers made contact with nearly 44% (381) of the total site users. Approximately 49% were over 50 years of age, 40% (152) were in the 35 - 49 age range, 11% (41) were aged between 18 and 35 and one man was under 18 years of age.
The workers identified 50% (191) of the contacts as married men and 10.5% (40) as men not residents of the area. The majority of site users (375) were men actively seeking sex with other men, and two men were on the site seeking a relationship. The workers have also spoken to several heterosexuals on sites who are seeking other couples to participate in ‘dogging’.
It is interesting to note the high number of married men on the sites in comparison to the Lincs. PCT area (36.5%). The workers attribute this to there being only one gay friendly venue in the area and site users say that same sex relationships are not really accepted in the area.
The workers are building good relationships with many of the regular site users. They are now less suspicious of the workers and are more open in discussing their sexual health. The men really appreciate the opportunity to talk to the workers, as they are often the only people they can discuss their situation with.
PSE Site Services.
The workers offer a wide range of support and sexual health information. They discuss local sexual health risks, as some site users are not aware that the incidence of HIV or syphilis is increasing. They will also discuss any press articles or Reports, like the press release in March from the Health Protection Agency, HIV epidemic among gay men. The HPA recommend that gay men should test annually for HIV, and report “Gay men continue to be the group most at risk of acquiring HIV within the UK. We need to reinforce the safe sex message for gay men that the best way to protect yourself from contracting HIV is practising safer sex by using a condom with all new and casual partners”.
The workers discuss personal safety on PSE sites and on occasions have advised site users to behave with discretion. They also distributed 1016 packs of condoms at the sites. The packs contain 2 condoms, lube and instructions. The packs are printed with sexual health messages and the workers advise on condom use, promote sexual health check ups and the importance of Hepatitis B vaccinations. Several site users say they do have regular check ups but attend the GUM clinic in Hull, as they do not want to be recognised attending the clinic in Grimsby
In addition to providing sexual health information and resources the workers offer equally important emotional support to the men. One married man discussed his guilt about his wife, he said he loves her but ‘needs’ gay sex. Another married man needed to talk about being in an;’ emotional triangle’ with a married man. Several gay site users have discussed their experiences of homophobic abuse and their negative experience of the police.
Venues
The workers distributed a further 480 packs of condoms to the only gay friendly venue in the area, and is open for three evenings each week. Sexual health information leaflets are available at the venue and we produce sexual health flyers, which are inserted into copies of the gay press.
Partner Organisations.
The workers are establishing strong links with the local police and council workers. They regularly attend the Sexual Health Implementation Group meetings and the Divisional Independent Advisory Group hosted by the police. They attended the first meeting of the North East Lincs. LGBT Forum, which was hosted by Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education. The multi agency Forum aims to increase the visibility and voice of LGBT people in the locality. The Forum is applying for funds to set up a Drop - In Centre for LGBT people.
The Future.
We are pleased to report that North East Lincs. CTP have secured funding to continue the Outreach Service at 12 hours per week. The workers can continue to build on their relationship with site users to reinforce the safe sex message, especially in view of the HPA reporting that the figures show that over the past 12 months there has been no evidence of a fall in the current high rate of HIV transmission among gay men in the UK, although these figures are not reflected in Lincolnshire, so perhaps the workers are getting the message across.
Sexual Health Service Annual Report 2007 - 2008
(Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust)
Sexual Health Service to Men who have sex with men.
Public Sex Environments (PSE sites)
The Outreach Workers completed 308 sessions at sites during the past year. The majority (283) were routine visits to the busier sites. A further 23 visits were made at the request of the police because, once again, although they have not received any formal complaints they are responding to local residents perception of the activity on the site. There have also been several incidents of homophobic behaviour at two busy sites. One of the workers witnessed an incident and reported it to the police, however, the police response was disappointing as they ‘firmly’ targeted lone male drivers at the sites and despite several reports have not to our knowledge tackled the homophobic abusers. On another site the police were seen to be taking registration numbers, but stopped doing so after discussion with the workers. The workers have had several meetings with the police in different areas of the county and are committed to working together to resolve the issues.
Most people find the location of PSE sites through local networks or via the Internet, and many travel to sites. During the year, the workers have spoken to men who have travelled from Peterborough, Suffolk, Yorkshire, Worksop, Nottingham, and many also report being sexually active when travelling abroad.
PSE Site Users.
At the time of their visits the workers recorded 3326 men present on the sites. They identified 25.5% (848) as men known to use other sites in the County. The workers made contact with 37% (1231) of the total site users, compared to 35% in the previous year. Approximately 18% (223) were in the 18 - 35 age range, 47.25% (580) were aged between 36 and 50, and 34.75% (428) were over 50 years of age.
The workers identified 36.5% (448) as married men, compared to 33.5% in the previous year, and 58.5% (721) as gay men. They identified 34% (419) as men who are not residents of Lincolnshire, compared with 27% in the previous year. The majority of site users (1225) were men actively seeking sex with other men, one man was using the site for social reasons and five men preferred to watch rather than engage in sexual activity.
The workers report an increasing number of heterosexual couples on the sites. They are usually seeking other couples to participate in ‘dogging’, but one regular site user told a worker that he had engaged sexually with a heterosexual couple on the site.
The workers attended the national CHAPS (Community HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy) conference in March. The main thread running through all the presentations and workshops was that gay men continue to be the group at greatest risk of contracting HIV and all other sexually transmitted infections. It is interesting that in Lincolnshire, Heterosexuals are the main group receiving support for HIV from our organisation. It may be that MWHSWM go outside the County for treatment or it could be a direct result of the workers interventions. One site user who took condoms from a worker approached him the following week to say, “Thanks for providing the condoms because I later found out that the man I had sex with is HIV positive and if you hadn’t been there I would have had unprotected sex”, however, other site users report having unprotected anal intercourse with multiple partners both in the UK and abroad.
A recent press release from the Health Protection Agency, HIV epidemic among gay men also addresses the issue. The HPA reports over a third of new diagnoses in 2007 were gay men. This is the third successive year that new diagnoses among gay men have risen above 2600 - the highest levels since records began. The report also recommends that gay men should test annually for HIV. Dr Valerie Delpech, Head of HIV surveillance at the Health Protection Agency, said: “Gay men continue to be the group most at risk of acquiring HIV within the UK. We need to reinforce the safe sex message for gay men that the best way to protect yourself from contracting HIV is practising safer sex by using a condom with all new and casual partners”.
We have facilitated a Pilot Project for the local HPA offering spot testing for HIV on the sites. We have assisted with 9 sessions at 4 different sites and the response has been quite encouraging. Some men agreed to have the test, saying that they would not have dared to have the test in a clinic setting; others commented that they would have the test because the results were instant. A married man was very anxious prior to the test and so relieved with a negative result that he swore he would change his lifestyle and stop cruising. The workers advertised the sessions at other PSE sites and 4 users travelled to the testing location. The project is ongoing and the HPA will produce a report of their findings.
PSE Site Services
The workers offer a wide range of sexual health support and information; they also accompanied men to GUM clinics, and provided ongoing emotional support to 13 men, including one man who suffers with Mental Health problems. There are many lonely or vulnerable men on the sites; some are desperately seeking relationships but continually make bad judgements, some gay men are particularly isolated because they have not felt able to discuss their sexuality with family or friends, equally, some of the married men feel very guilty about using the site. It is very important for the psychological well being of site users to be able to talk freely to the workers. When they realise that the workers are not judging them, they are more relaxed and receptive to advice and information. It can however take several months or years before some users will talk to the workers.
There have been several site users who report witnessing very risky sexual behaviour among gay men both in the UK and abroad. Men also travel to commercial sex venues
(CSV) in some of the larger UK cities. The workers ensured that they included a flyer in the gay press, which raised awareness of the sexual health risks when going on holiday or using CSV’s.
The workers distributed 3346 condoms packs at PSE sites. The packaging is printed with hard-hitting sexual health messages and the packs contain two condoms, lube and instructions on how to use them properly.
Support Groups/Gay Venues
The workers distributed a further 3120 packs of condoms to six gay friendly venues in the county, 3 in Lincoln and one in Boston, Grantham and Skegness. The venues also distribute sexual health information and the gay press. Three of the venues have now closed or stopped holding gay friendly events.
A worker regularly attends the South Lincs. Gay Men Talking Group, which now meets monthly. An average of 10 members attend and the worker is often able to initiate a group discussion raising awareness of different sexual health issues.
Partner Organisations/Groups
We have good working relationships with Lincolnshire Police, the GUM clinics, SLGMT in Grantham, Peterborough HIV Support Service, the North Notts. Outreach Team, and the gay friendly venues. The Library service continues to distribute HIV magazines and the gay press to the 47 libraries in the county. We work closely with Kaleidoscope and the organisers of Lincoln Gay Pride. We have built strong links with the City and County Councils Diversity Officers and with the University.
Sexual Health Support & Information Service.
Drop - In.
A Drop - In service is held at our premises on Newland every Thursday. The service is open to the general public and offers sexual health information, advice and resources. We sign post people to the GUM for a check up if they have had a risky sexual encounter. We also sign post people for emergency contraception and HIV tests. The majority of people call in for condoms, and we gave out 575 packs to the 51 people (32m, 19f) who came to the Thursday drop in. A further 89 people (73m, 16f) called in on other days of the week. Nearly all were in the 18 to 35-age range.
The Health Protection Agency has also held four busy HIV spot testing sessions.
Telephone Help line (Manned 24hrs)
We received 83 help line calls last year, 63 during office hours and 20 on the out of office hours phone. The majority of calls are from people wanting advice because of a sexual health risk or wanting the contact details of a local GUM clinic. We received a call from someone wanting information on HIV because a friend had recently been diagnosed. The help line also offers a 24-hour emergency contact for social care clients, who have used the service at weekends or during the evenings.
Health Promotion.
Events.
We attended the Fresher Fayre at Bishop Grosseteste College and Lincoln University. We distributed 500 condom packs, provided information on sexual health services and produced credit card size leaflets about different sexually transmitted infections. The informative leaflets are humorously designed to appeal to young people. The student unions also provide our leaflets to their members.
We assisted the Teenage Pregnancy Initiative with their Safe Zone Campaign in the summer. We worked with the DAAT and Youth Service on Friday and Saturday nights in Louth, and the East Coast resorts, talking to young people about the risks of Alcohol, Sex and Drugs, and signposting them to services.
On the 1st December each year (World AIDS DAY) we hold promotional events to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. Last year we had another very successful day. Staff from the Health Protection helped with the street collection and the stall at ASDA, They also helped to sell raffle tickets and our own staff and volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the day. Following the service at the Cathedral, we went to Edward King House for refreshments, and to draw the raffle. We raised money for the Chris Cinclair Fund, gave out condoms, and raised awareness of the incidence of HIV in Lincolnshire. We were really grateful for all the help we received. So thank you to everyone who contributed to making the day so successful
We had a stand at the Lincolnshire Gay Pride event, which was really well attended. We gave out 120 packs of condoms, and lots of sexual health information to a wide range of people. The event provides a good opportunity for networking and we made several new contacts. Once again we offer our gratitude to the volunteers and HPA colleagues for their help.
We continue to host the multi agency health promotion group, which meets every six weeks at our premises. The group share resources and jointly plan events around World Aids Day, Sexual Health Week and Condom Week.
Resources.
In total we distributed 16,548 condoms throughout the year, we ensure that people know how to use them properly and enclose instructions to reinforce the information. The condom packs are printed with sexual health messages to raise awareness of HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections and risky behaviour.
We produce flyers with pertinent sexual health messages for inclusion in the Gay Press distributed through the Library service.
We produced the credit card size information leaflets for students and young people to raise awareness of sexually transmitted infections, and our newsletter is widely distributed throughout the county.
Training/Schools Education
During the past year, .the Trainers delivered 320 sessions to 9,120 young people at 59 venues across the county, including secondary schools, primary schools, youth groups, two special schools, supported housing projects for young people, and alternative curriculum groups.
The sessions include Sexually Transmitted Infections as a workshop or as a Power Point, Risky Behaviour, Sex & Relationships, HIV Awareness, Alcohol Awareness, Self Examination, Puberty, Drugs, and Contraception. The most requested session is Risky Behaviour and the majority of workshops are delivered to year 10 pupils. The Trainers will adapt workshops to suit the target audience. They devised new workshops for young people with Learning Disabilities at two special schools. The sessions included Appropriate Touching and Behaviour, Personal Hygiene and Relationships. The Trainers found these sessions quite challenging, especially at one school where the young people had severe learning and physical disabilities. The Teacher was very happy with the workshop content and recommended that the Trainers use the schools computer programme for future sessions. The Teachers evaluation at the other school was excellent and they are planning to book further sessions.
The Trainers have also devised and marketed new workshops for Primary Schools, including Positive Relationships, Introduction to Puberty, Drugs Awareness, and Introduction to Sex. They delivered 4 sessions to 110 pupils at 4 schools. Several Primary schools have booked sessions to be delivered in the next few months.
The workshop and training course content is reinforced with information handouts, either about the specific subject or sign posting to sexual health or young persons services in the locality. The sessions are also evaluated and feedback is received from young people and Teachers. Some of the comments received from Teachers include:
“Pupils benefit from having an outside speaker as it is someone new and there is less embarrassment”
“All relevant information as provided. Super delivery - appealed to the students”.
“ Provided lots of information, students were engaged throughout”
“Real life stories make the pupils think even more about the information”
The young people said:
“I liked being able to talk without being embarrassed”
“I liked the friendly approach”
“It was presented in an easily understandable fashion and was interesting. It was light -hearted”
“The presentation was good and made the topic easier to understand”
The Trainers delivered 9 training courses to 186 adults at Social Services, Lincolnshire Police, Leonard Cheshire Home, and Macmillan Community Nurses. The majority of the sessions were HIV Awareness and Policing LGBT Communities The feedback from the sessions rated the training as excellent, comments below:
“Made a very difficult subject fun and easy to understand”
“Really good refresher - made you think!”
“ In practice, I will use it daily with young people when discussing sexual health issues.”
“A key learning point is not to discriminate”.
“Gave me more insight into what the virus is about”
One of the Trainers attended a training course at the Sheffield Centre for HIV and Sexual Health, on Homophobic Bullying. They have now devised a Training Day to be marketed in the next few months. Lincolnshire Police has already booked the Training to be delivered to Police Community Support Officers in May.
One of the Trainers completed the Train the Trainers course at the Sheffield Centre. They devised a Training Course for Parents to talk about Puberty with their children as one of their course assignments, which will be marketed later in the year.
During the past year we secured funding to provide specific workshops, which we were able to offer free of charge to schools. 33 schools took advantage of the workshops. However 17 of those schools would like to book further sessions, but they cannot afford to pay £40 per workshop. (The fee is subsidised by the Charity, as full cost recovery of workshops is £80). We are therefore concerned that the service we provide to schools is not equitable and we are committed to finding the means to redress the situation. There are over 1,000 young people living with HIV in the UK, and recent polls show that 1 in 4 young people are not aware of the routes of transmission.
Our priority for the next year is to investigate funding opportunities and to review the marketing strategy for the department. We aim to raise the funds necessary to ensure the long-term future of this service, which is so important in raising awareness to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. We need to challenge HIV discrimination and stigma. One young person living with HIV said, ”Unfortunately at this time, we still cannot speak publicly, show our faces or use our real names when discussing our HIV. Sadly, HIV prejudice and discrimination remain a reality.
Staff Development.
One member of staff left the organisation during the year. We have not experienced any difficulty in recruiting or retaining staff.
The staff attended external training courses on the changes to the Disability Living Allowance, Mental Health/Housing Awareness, Embracing Diversity, Substance Use and pregnancy, Understanding Substance Misuse, Heroin, and Crack Cocaine. They attended Train the Trainers, Homophobic Bullying and HIV Stigma at the Centre for Sexual Health in Sheffield, and internal courses on Fire Safety Training, Support Plans, and Client needs Assessment.
Complaints.
We received one complaint during the year from a client regarding the conduct of a worker. The complaint was fully investigated and the complainant was satisfied with the outcome.
Financial Review
Against a continuing backdrop of uncertain funding in the specific area of HIV prevention and care and concerns over the-over expenditure in the National Health Service as a whole, much time has been spent during the year securing existing funding and seeking new funds to both support existing services and expand services where needed, particularly in client care. Despite the current climate of cutbacks and reduced services, the charity has maintained its contracts with Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and Lincolnshire County Council Social Services and Supporting People. This has enabled the charity to meet its existing contractual obligations whilst providing additional services to HIV Positive people across the county. In addition, further contracts with North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust have been obtained to commission outreach work in the Grimsby and Cleethorpes area.
Principle Funding Sources
The principle funding sources for the charity continue to be in the way of contract income from Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust, Lincolnshire County Council and Supporting People. Due to the ongoing stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, alternative funding sources, which meet the objectives of the charity, can often be difficult to identify. The management are, however, in constant scrutiny of the service provision in meeting both the clients’ needs whilst keeping the charity financially sustainable in a rapidly changing climate of funding. The charity continues to have a three-year service-level agreement with Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and a two-year agreement with Lincolnshire County Council. Supporting People is a contract, which has been renewed after two years for which the charity has invested much time and effort in meeting the standards for accreditation and achieving a level C in all areas of service provision. This year we successfully obtained a one-off grant of £3,000, from CfBT to provide workshops in schools in Lincolnshire, £3167 from Urban Challenge to purchase office equipment, £1000 from Urban Challenge to assist with a survey with the LGBT community and £499 from the Teenage Pregnancy initiative for training resources.
Volunteers have continued to raise funds and awareness of the charity, all funds and donations raised by volunteers go directly to client care and are held in a separate account (Chris Cinclair Benevolent Fund) from the daily running of the charity. Charitable donations have continued, particularly around World AIDS Day, which hopefully implies that the public are themselves becoming more aware of the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. We successfully held a ball with the GUM clinic to raise funds for the Schools Education Project and will be repeating this successful venture in 2008.
Investment Policy
Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the
Charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are few funds for long term investment. Having considered the options available the Trustees have decided to invest the small amount that it has available in a Standard Life Direct Access Business Account to maximise interest but allow 10 days access. This amount (£28,646) currently forms part of the reserves, to be used to allow the organisation to continue operating should the charity become financially insecure.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees have examined the charity’s requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation. A policy has been established whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets held by the charity should be between one and two months operational costs at the start of the financial year to allow adequate cash flow. A contingency fund to continue service provision in the event of non-renewed service level agreements has been agreed at between one month plus 5% of operating costs, to be raised to a maximum of three months operating costs, one month’s operating costs is currently in the working sum of £22,000. In order to ensure continuation of the Chris Cinclair benevolent fund for clients, the Trustees will designate funds with the aim of achieving a minimum reserves balance equal to the maximum grant/loan of £400 per client receiving social care support. The total of investments and cash in hand at the bank totals £87,806,of which the Trustees have designated £28,500 for the Schools’ Education Programme, leaving a remainder of £59,306 to meet the requirements of the reserves policy. As the number of clients receiving support increases, so too does the amount needed to meet operating costs and satisfy the requirements of the reserves policy. Once again 2007/8 has seen an increase in the number of people the charity is being accessed by and the Trustees are aware that as yet we are approximately £54,394 short of the reserves policy, there being £14,906 non-designated funds currently available. Obviously the more clients that access the service, the greater the divide and the greater the need to ensure that reserves are reviewed.
Plans for Future Periods
The charity has engaged with an outside consultancy agency, which has undertaken a client survey on the services and needs of the clients of Positive Health Lincolnshire. The findings of the survey will form the basis of the development work to be undertaken in the following year (2008/09). Ongoing analysis and consultation with service users is currently being undertaken and the information will be collated into a formal business plan in the coming months. The charity is investigating opportunities through training to reduce stigma in a number of services, schools and workplaces, this is an exciting venture that is forging new creative working partnerships.