Annual Review 2011-12.pdf - Community Council of Devon

Annual Review for the year ending
31 March 2012
This review includes the external and internal aims of the Community Council of Devon as set out in our Business Strategy 2010 - 2015
and summarises achievements against those aims. It also includes summarised accounts reported on by our independent auditors.
Our full report including financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2012 is available from Community Council of Devon, First
Floor, 3&4 Cranmere Court, Lustleigh Close, Matford Business Park, Exeter EX2 8PW or via our website:
www.devonrcc.org.uk. It includes comprehensive details of objectives and activities, including progress against targets set in our
Business Strategy and complete lists of grants and loans made by the Community Council, brief reports from bodies associated with the
Community Council together with governance and management information required by the Charity Commission and Companies House.
It includes the full audited accounts together with the financial reports of our trustees and independent auditors.
Chairman’s Review
2011/12 has seen dramatic
changes at the Community
Council with the
retirement of Jay Talbot,
our CEO, in June. We
are indebted to him for
providing the organisation
with stability and purpose.
Elaine Cook was appointed
with a brief to build on
Jay’s legacy whilst moving
the organisation to a
more pro-active state,
especially in light of the
changing world around us.
The end of 2011 saw the office move from County Hall
after 50 years. This was a major undertaking by the staff
and has seen us move to Cranmere Court. The office
environment is a complete contrast to the School Huts at
County Hall and I am extremely grateful to the staff for
embracing the new move in such a positive manner.
Our ‘Home Grown: Community Owned’ programme
continues to prove popular with local groups and is
well received at all levels. The Board was pleased to
financially support the launch of Devon’s Community of
the Year competition. We are indebted to South West
Water and the NHS for their support. This competition
provided an opportunity to showcase the very best of
Devon’s community activities and spirit.
The 2011 Conference was a joint event with Devon
Association of Local Councils and showcased the work
undertaken by both organisations and celebrated 50
years of the Community Council of Devon. Devon County
Council announced at the Conference a birthday present
of £400,000 to support capital expenditure on community
buildings. Following our move to Cranmere Court three
new initiatives have been set up; first class room hire
and meeting room facilities, Catalyst, the in-house
consultancy service and the Devon Oil Collective, a
community-based county-wide oil buying scheme to help
reduce the cost of heating oil.
2011/12 has already seen a major change for the
Community Council of Devon and the next two or three
years may well see many more changes as we position
ourselves to be the community voice of Devon. The
future is very challenging but my fellow Trustees and I
have every confidence that the organisation and staff
can rise to the challenge and that we will be a stronger
and more effective organisation to meet the needs of the
communities that we support.
David Baker, Chairman
Encouraging enterprise
and innovation
Aim: To enable communities to develop innovative and enterprising
approaches which solve rural problems, provide local services, and
improve the quality of community life.
Achievements highlighted
Our Social Enterprise Service supported over 40 community enterprises
and voluntary & community sector organisations with one-to-one bespoke
social enterprise advice from pre-start to transition and growth stages
of their development. We have also been able to provide on-going
business mentoring and advice to privately owned village shops and post
offices due to the launch of the regional programme Store is the Core in
September 2011.
The first phase of our Women Do Business programme completed in
August 2011 having established 14 Women’s Business Networks, set up
three dedicated Women’s Business Centres, worked with 537 women, and
delivered over 950 days of training. The programme of business-related
training offered to groups included social media training, marketing, and
how to speak clearly and confidently in business situations.
The Connecting Devon and Somerset rural broadband initiative was
successful in securing over £30 million in central Government funding.
We have supported this initiative by promoting a Demand Registration
campaign through our networks across rural Devon, engaging in the
Demand Stimulation procurement process and undertaking a mapping
exercise of Primary Connection Points (PCP) across Devon.
Case Study Ilsington Community Shop
The Community Council of Devon has been providing advice and
support to the community of Ilsington to help them set up and run
their own community shop. After many months of support, the shop
will be due to open in July 2012. Rob Parkinson, Chair of the Village
Hall Management Committee, praised the support of Community
Council of Devon Social Enterprise Service as “a very valuable source
of information, enthusiasm and encouragement.”
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Community Council of Devon - Annual Review 2011 – 2012