Lench's Trust - Impact Report 2020

To ou r NHS

ll to a and orkers w Key

Thank You!

IMPACT REPORT 2020

“Lench’s Trust - a charity helping older people in need to live meaningful lives in vibrant, caring and safe communities.”

STATISTICS

3

12

183

5

43

25

schemes

Complaints received during the year and satisfactorily resolved.

MEALS FROM CATERING SERVICES

RAISED BY RESIDENTS FOR CHARITY

Apartments

Trustees

Members of staff

19

Fall of residents during 2020 investigated by staff.

Per day

Per month

570

6,840

£

£

£

630

197.90

1176

William Lench Court

Lench’s Close

Per year

Tanner’s Close

Mixed

STAFF ETHNIC DIVERSITY

Black or Black British

9% 15%

61% White

15% Asian or Asian British

Impact report 2020

Lench’s Trust Chairman’s Report

It has been a privilege to continue to serve Lench’s Trust as your Chairman for my second year in the role. I am most grateful to Sarah Davis and Leke Sholuade who undertook the role of Deputy Chair at different times during the year and to all trustees for their support.

Leke will become the new Chair at the Annual General Meeting. He and I are delighted that Rachel Chiu who joined the board in May 2020 will become his deputy. During the year we were also pleased to be able to welcome Tani Dulay as a new trustee. I hope that Leke and Rachel enjoy leading the Board of Trustees as much as I have done.

Whilst writing about trustees it is appropriate to thank Tony Guest for all the years of service that he has given as Chair of the finance committee. I am sure his successor, Abdul Malik, will continue to appreciate his historic knowledge and current insight.

The year must have been one of the oddest on record, sadly, for all the wrong reasons. The trustees have held virtual meetings using the internet rather than holding them at the different schemes we own and manage. The 11th March Founder’s Day event was the last communal gathering before we all went into lockdown.

During 2020, we said goodbye to Julie McGurk, Operations Manager and Georgia Preston our Care & Wellbeing Manager. Mark James stepped up into the role of Care & Wellbeing Manager from his former Team Leader role, during a very hectic and trying time. Once we were released from lockdowns, we welcomed Tina Spencer as Care Team leader, to work alongside Mark.

The main thrust of any comments relating to the staff of Lench’s must be to thank them for the way in which they have risen to the challenge posed by the pandemic. Jean-Luc has guided residents through the ever-changing rules surrounding Covid in his “Weekly Update”.

There must be few people who have not been personally affected by the pandemic and we have been saddened by the fact that residents have not been able to meet properly to say farewell to those who have died. Although it is probably impossible to have meaningful figures regarding the incidence and severity of the pandemic in the type of facilities that the Trust provides, the number of cases amongst staff and residents has been relatively small; a tribute to the sustained vigilance of staff and the cooperation of all.

Hopefully, now that the vaccine rollout has gone so well, we will soon be meeting again as I think we would all wish. The trustees have particularly missed the opportunities of chatting informally with residents following board meetings held at the different schemes.

Finance Report 2020

The operational surplus from lettings increased to £629,004 from £415,909. Due to the effect of Covid-19 we had higher voids than normal and increased costs in the year but the previous year was impacted by a large exceptional cost at William Lench Court.

Again, due to the pandemic, losses on care services increased as the number of care packages fell. The restaurant at William Lench Court was closed for a substantial part of the year resulting in increased losses. None of the staff were furloughed.

Net rental income from investment properties fell to £52,143 from £192,271 in 2019. Again, due to the pandemic the income from the car parks and the public house were negligible. The prior year also included a one-off premium received on the variation of the lease of Lancaster Gate.

The net effect of this was total operating surplus of £72,099 down from £108,742 last year. In the light of the difficult year we faced the trustees are satisfied with this performance.

Finance income, interest and financing costs and the surplus on the disposal of fixed assets were broadly similar to the prior year.

Total reserves increased marginally from £27.36m to £27.46m.

Impact report 2020

Investment Properties

During 2020, and despite the pandemic, work continued on the first phase of the Lancaster Gate property and as a result we should start to see the resumption of the ground rents which will arise. There have been delays in the progress of the sale of phase two but this is still expected to move forward over the coming months.

We have continued our partnership with the St Basil’s charity and a new lease has been formalised with them for the next three years of our Almshouses at Conybere Gardens; this will assist them in continuing to provide facilities for young homeless people in the city.

Unfortunately, due to the circumstances in the last year, arrangements for reduced rent have had to be made with the Bull Pub and also the car parking facilities in the centre of the city.

Despite the pandemic, the car park at Lench’s Close was completed. It was unfortunate that, for reasons we all understand, the project took far longer than was anticipated and we are grateful to the residents for showing patience.

Wellbeing of residents

Many of the activities enjoyed by residents at each of the sites had to be suspended, but all the staff have worked hard to ensure, as far as possible, the wellbeing of those who call one of Lench’s schemes home. These have included the usual services of the Care team but have been augmented by staff doing shopping, bringing meals to people in their apartments and even taking the occasional walk with a pet dog.

After considerable thought we have now installed accessible defibrillators in each scheme and the appropriate training has been given to staff so that they are well aware of how and by whom these should be used.

Although our existing residents may not have seen much development in the facilities in 2020, other than the car parking mentioned above, the management, together with professional advisers and trustees, continue to look for a suitable site to extend the work of the Trust.

Several locations have been investigated but, so far, no purchase has been completed and the search will continue.

Our Heritage

The project involving recording biographical sketches and photographic images of residents across the three schemes as part of our 500th anniversary (in 2025) was completed. This book, as well as providing interesting reading now, will form a valuable resource for future generations looking at the social history of Birmingham.

We are continuing to ensure that buildings owned by the Trust giving details of its history by displaying plaques wherever possible. The plaques on the Ladywood Almshouses were restored during early 2020.

We are hoping that our annual Founder’s Day Tea Party (11th March, when William Lench signed his deed of trust) sadly having had to be cancelled for 2021 can be re-started in 2022.

Impact report 2020

Thank you

Finally, a very big “thank you” to all at Lench’s Trust; your support and energies keep the Trust responding to the needs of many over-55s in Birmingham. This has been particularly evident in this most difficult of years. Without your efforts, many more people would continue to experience hardship and isolation. Together, we can and will continue to make a massive difference.

Richard Sarjeant

Chairman

“Founder’s Day 2020, our last event before lockdown”

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

5

Impact report 2020

William Lench Court

2020 was a year that started with such promise with the residents of William Lench Court once again celebrating Burns Night, Valentine’s Day and Founders Day with everyone busily planning for the year ahead.

It was a year that quickly became a very different one to what we were used to. Plans to celebrate future events were put on hold with social distancing and facemasks quickly becoming the norm. 2020 saw challenges for both residents and staff alike in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone living and working at William Lench Court. Though a tough decision, it was vital that we placed restrictions on WLC to ensure everyone’s protection, this meant services and activities that are usually running had to be postponed as well essentials delivered to the residents’ homes by members of staff.

Whilst learning to adapt to this new and different way of life – it is a testament to the residents and staff that we still managed to raise an astonishing amount of money for MacMillan.

Without our usual coffee morning and cake sale we still managed to hold a grand raffle and a resident was kind enough to “brave the shave” in a Covid secure way. This saw the grand total of £1176.00 raised for this very worthy charity.

Jayne McGettrick Scheme Manager

Tanner’s Close

Instead of our usual Christmas party, we held a prize draw that saw every resident receive a gift to mark the festive seasons. Our catering team also ensured that every resident who wanted a Christmas Dinner on that special day had one.

In 2020, we started out strong at Tanner’s Close with our regular coffee mornings and our fortnightly exercises from AVFC and there were even plans to start up the choir again. In February, we had Nicola and Stephen in from the GRAIN Photography Hub with their lovely prints & photos with plenty to talk about over a nice cuppa. In the early months of 2020 FoodCycle come in to sell quality food from M&S as well as residents donating some food all to help cook free meals to those in need, with any extras being donated to a local foodbank.

Moving onto March we once again had a Big Brummie Bake Sale along with a raffle to raise money for the John Taylor Hospice and we raised £107.90 for the great cause. Following that, due to the pandemic, plans for any events were drastically changed in accordance to the government guidelines. We managed to have a socially distanced coffee morning at our doorsteps in July complete with strawberries & cream; this was a great way to keep morale high! During September we had a MacMillan coffee morning, making sure to follow the guidelines, and we raised £90.00 from a small raffle and selling cakes from door-to-door.

Marion O’Mara Scheme Manager

6

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

Even though the usual Christmas Party had been cancelled, we still wanted to make the most of the festive season through lockdown. With the help of our fantastic volunteers, Vivian and Rita, we provided the residents with a Christmas dinner, sherry trifle and a gift straight to their doorsteps. The pandemic has been tough for all and I would like to say a special thanks to Vivian, Rita and the rest of the staff for working so hard through a difficult 2020.

Impact report 2020

Lench’s Close

January 2020 started very optimistically at Lench’s Close - as work commenced on the site’s proposed face-lift, from re-tarmacking the driveway, footpaths being widened and re-laid, installation of security post lighting and the descaling of the drain network.

In addition to this, residents invested some of their funds by purchasing some small trees, which have been planted in the spinney to act as a screen for the car park.

Work was moving along smoothly, but when the pandemic hit we switched priorities – putting everything on hold in order to introduce restrictions to protect us all. The new restrictions affected operations across all sites greatly and we had to ensure we strictly followed government guidelines to keep both residents and staff safe.

Maria Bell Scheme Manager

We did however get to celebrate Founder’s Day on March 11th at William Lench Court – little knowing that this would be our last social gathering for 2020. April 2020 saw further site restrictions implemented and common areas closed for the use by residents. Staff have remained on site daily throughout these challenging times supporting residents by assisting with laundry and shopping tasks, but more importantly being there offering mental and emotional support.

Without doubt it has been an extremely tough time for all, but our community has pulled together. We have kept residents informed and updated with the latest Covid information and Government directives with a weekly newsletter from Head office and monthly editions of the Lench’s Close newsletter. This has allowed us to keep our residents in touch with what was happening on their site.

Works did continue on site in the form of essential/emergency work. We managed to install a new dryer and washer in the laundry but of course, as restrictions increased and we moved into a national lockdown, this meant health and safety considerations had to be given to any works needed as well as the safety of our contractors and maintenance teams. While this of course is frustrating at times as it felt to some residents that nothing was being done, safety is of paramount importance.

Activities are a great part of site social life and of course these were affected as we all have to adhere to Covid restrictions; we did manage to celebrate V.E. Day on doorsteps – decorating the whole site with bunting and staff handed out goody bags. We squeezed in some fundraising with doorstep raffles raising £30 for Lennox children’s cancer charity, £255 for Macmillan Coffee morning and £45 for the Poppy Appeal. Moreover, let’s not forget the fantastic sum of £300 raised for Acorns Children’s hospice with our Christmas tree light switch on.

Christmas was a very different occasion this year, but we still had our annual Christmas tree light switch on decorating the site with extra lights and made up some buffet party plates to residents’ front doors. This has been a difficult year for residents and staff alike who have worked together tremendously to keep all safe and well at Lench’s Close.

Catering Team

The restaurant started 2020 strong, with our meals continuously becoming more and more popular with residents, staff and visitors alike. To capitalise on this opportunity we created a new menu to start the year off, bringing new recipes and deals to the table to successfully bring more people in.

In addition to our regular meals, we had the pleasure to cater for a selection of events such a Burns Night with haggis; a romantic Valentine’s Day lamb dinner and of course a Founder’s Day buffet! After the successful start to the year, we expected the coming months to be just as great. However when lockdown hit we had to close the restaurant and switch focus to providing meals directly to the residents that needed them. This decision was important to keep the residents safe whilst allowing hearty meals to be continuously provided to them.

One event we especially look forward to each year is the Christmas party. Even though the usual event was cancelled, we still provided Christmas Dinners to residents’ doors and it was worth it to see the smiles on their faces.

Rajdeep Tiwana Catering Manager www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

7

Impact report 2020

Mark Boden

2020 has been an interesting year for the Maintenance team at Lench’s Trust, unexpected even, due to the pandemic.

Through 2020, there has been lots of work to make sure Tanner’s Close, Lench’s Close, William Lench Court and Head Office Covid safe – preventing the risk of an outbreak. To start. our team cordoned off the communal areas of all the schemes, moving furniture around and implemented hand sanitiser stations around all of the premises. It was our priority to limit congregations and keep our residents safe.

At our schemes to ensure the safety of our residents through the lockdown we delivered their groceries, post, disposed of their bins and collected their old laundry; all in hopes to keep the residents well protected. In addition to this, staff were trained to use electrostatic sprayers to efficiently clean all sides of any given surface.

Mark Boden Maintenance Manager

Any additional maintenance work within the residents’ properties were attended to if the job was urgent. This was to keep the maintenance team safe, preventing unnecessary interactions, ultimately limiting any potential risks. As we went through the year the UK was slipping in and out of lockdown, but we held tight to make sure all of our residents were 100% risk free – a necessary decision.

We look forward to 2021 and its return back to normality.

Annemarie Walker

Where to start with 2020? Here is a brief outline of what I can remember from a year that I am happy to forget…

One of the (few) silver linings with the pandemic has been for nature to thrive due to the lack of human footfall. This became very evident down in Head Office when a pair of foxes made their home under our building, and shortly thereafter there were 3 little fox cubs running around! It has been a joy to watch them all basking in the sunshine and the cubs playing.

Laura and myself took on very different roles from our housing and finance duties and spent the first few months of the pandemic helping out in William Lench Court; being shopkeepers, going shopping and then delivering shopping to residents, even walking residents’ dog. We were very pleased in August 2020 to welcome Aaron Mason (formerly part of the Catering team) to Head Office as an administration assistant, and in just a few months his technical knowledge and assistance is already proving invaluable.

Annemarie Walker Housing Adviser

Staff throughout all three schemes received tokens of appreciation from the Trustees for the hard work and dedication in keeping all of the Trust’s residents as safe as possible, which was a lovely surprise. During Christmas all staff at our Schemes received a wonderful Christmas hamper, full of all sorts of treats and goodies, to say thank you and make up for parties missed through lockdown.

Furthermore, Dawn and Aaron decided to spread some Christmas cheer throughout William Lench Court by creating some fun activities through December. You had everything from find the elves to staff voting for each other to win prizes.

Speaking of surprises, perhaps the most shocking event during Head Office in lockdown was Jean-Luc making cups of tea for members of staff… thank goodness somebody had the foresight to take a picture of a never to be seen again event!

We would like to say a huge thank you to all staff over the three schemes during lockdown, who worked tirelessly to ensure the welfare of our residents and also in looking out for each other’s wellbeing. Here’s hoping for a better 2021 and Lench’s Trust returning to full force.

6 10

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

Impact report 2020

Mark James

2020 …. A year that we would all like to forget.

If there was ever a word to sum up the care service for 2020 it would Resilience This year has shown what a fantastic, hardworking and outright fantastic care team we have at William Lench Court.

It has been challenging for all aspects of the service and everyone involved from lockdowns and restrictions to personal challenges we have all faced with the pandemic, but I could not be prouder to be part of that journey and what we have achieved looking back.

The year has not been all woes as we have introduced our new e-Mar system (electronic medication administration record) which has increased our standard of audits and made the process of medication administration more robust by reducing human error which was always possible when dealing with any paper based administration.

Mark James Care & Wellbeing Manager

“We fall, we break, we fail but then we rise, we heal and we overcome”

“The most shocking event during Head Office in lockdown”

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

11

Impact report 2020

Financial Summary

6 12

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

Impact report 2020

Financial Analysis Per Scheme

www.lenchs-trust.co.uk

13

Lench’s Trust Head Office William Lench Court | 80 Ridgacre Road | Quinton | Birmingham | B32 2AQ Tel: 0121 426 0455 | Fax: 0121 426 3481 | info@lenchs-trust.co.uk | www.lenchs-trust.co.uk Lench’s Trust is an almshouse charity providing care with housing for older people in Birmingham Registered Charity Reference Number: 1145847 Company Number: 07860164