Link4Life Annual Report 2014-15

Annual Report 2014-15 How are we doing?

Performance review

services

activity

create

skills

discover

health

participation

engage

explore

think positive

history

community

exhibitions body

knowledge

family

leisure

entertainment

swimming

exercise

local

new

culture quality health information staff ideas

goals

exercise membership fitness

heritage

art

learn

teamwork

lifestyle

arts

people gym

L I S T O F T RU S T EES

Trustees The board of trustees R Platt (Chair)

S Cooke

Councillor R Paolucci

Councillor W Sheerin

J Partington (Vice-Chair)

S Griffiths

M Mohammed

A Taylor

Councillor N Butterworth

J Heywood

M Sarwar

We would like to place on record our thanks to those trustees that have served and left the board in both 2013/14 & 2014/15: C Street (Chair), K Finnegan (Vice-Chair), Councillor C Biant, K Budd, D Crouch, C Davies, Councillor J Emsley, Councillor M Holly, Councillor A Kelly, J Jackson, G Knox, Councillor T Linden, P Unsworth, S Wazir, C Wood Trading subsidiary directors

K Finnegan A Shah

Executive team

G Bishop, Chief Executive A Forbes, Head of Business Support J Matson, Head of Sport & Leisure D Grice, Head of Culture, Health & Participation

Registered office

Floor 3, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale, OL16 1ZL

Registered office

www.link4life.org culture@link4life.org 01706 926232

C O N T EN T S

Background

1

Chief Executive and Chair of Trustees report

3

People

4

Services

5

Partners

6

Quality

7

At a glance

8

Finance

9

Looking ahead

14

A quick look back: 2013-14

15

BA CKG R O UN D

About us Link4Life is the trading name of the Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust. It is an independent company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It is governed by a board of trustees who act in a voluntary capacity.

The purpose of the Trust is to lead and manage the delivery of high quality, enjoyable, affordable, accessible cultural provision in Rochdale Borough that gives residents and visitors the opportunity to lead the active, creative and healthy lifestyle of their choice.

Link4Life was established on 1 April 2007 to provide cultural and leisure services as commissioned by Rochdale Borough Council under a 15 year Partnership Agreement, with the option to extend. At that time, Council staff previously engaged in delivering sport, leisure and cultural services formally transferred their employment to the Trust.

Services provided cover three main areas:

Business support

Culture, health and participation

Sport and leisure

Our vision: A new corporate strategy was implemented in February 2014, which identified and approved the new vision:

‘Striving to develop COMMUNITIES that are ACTIVE, CREATIVE & HEALTHY’.

This is underpinned by four key areas and statements to support the vision.

1

Our four key areas:

People

Partners

Quality

Services

Supporting people to maximise their own skills and potential

Acting openly and in partnership to achieve shared goals

Having a culture of high quality and performance

Providing high quality and innovative services

A formal ‘trading company’ has also been established that operates as Link4Life Trading - this is responsible for some of the services within the Trust that are not eligible for charitable status.

This is a wholly owned subsidiary of the main company - with one hundred shares - and all of its profit is donated (gift aided) to the charity.

The two companies have their own Memorandum and Articles of Association and there is an intercompany trading agreement between them.

The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees who act in a voluntary capacity. It continues to report regularly to the Council on its progress and achievements and feeds into the local democratic process.

B A C KG RO U N D

What we manage/services we provide We manage facilities across the Borough of Rochdale and offer a wide range of activities and services for our varied customer base.

We feel that we have something affordable and accessible for everyone.

In support of our facility centred work, we have a large number of community outreach programmes delivered by our change to culture, health and participation (CHAP). The CHAP Team work with a variety of local partners and agencies to support and facilitate participation in sports and arts activities, as well as working on some real health issues.

During 2014-15 Link4Life operated and managed the following facilities and services: • Arts Development • Art Gallery • Arts & Heritage Resource Centre • Bowlee Park Sports Centre • Heywood Civic Centre • Heywood Sports Village • Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre • Kingsway Park Sports Centre & Athletics Arena • Local Studies • Littleborough Sports Centre • Marland Golf Course • Middleton Arena • Culture, Health and Participation Services • Rochdale Leisure Centre • St Mary's Artificial Turf Pitch • Touchstones Rochdale • Visitor Information Services

2

C E O A N D C H AI R OF T RU S T EE S RE P ORT

A new beginning

Gillian Bishop

Chief Executive | Link4Life

Welcome to Link4Life’s Performance Review Annual Report for 2014-15. The report provides an overview of our main areas of activity, highlights and achievements during the year and outlines our plans for the future.

Despite the difficult economic conditions and the reduction in Local Government spending, we have continued to deliver on our vision of ‘Striving to develop communities, that are ACTIVE, CREATIVE and HEALTHY, and focused our attention on the opportunities to counter weight the challenges.

We have redesigned the business into three core areas of Business Support, Sport and Leisure and Culture, Health and Participation, which enables us to focus on our strengths, utilise our professional expertise and maximise future business opportunities.

We are working closely with Rochdale Borough Council and wider key stakeholders to develop a model that will be commercially sustainable in the future, ensuring that the Borough continues to have high quality provision in sport, leisure, health and culture.

We are proud of the success that we have achieved throughout 2014-15, success that has been building every year since our formation in 2007; we now have: • 2.04 million visits per year to our facilities • Services and activities (an increase from 1.06 million visits on inception of the trust in April 2007) • Employ approximately 250 people • Grown the business to have an annual turnover of over £10 million • Undertaken a full decoration of Middleton Arena • A £315,000 refurbishment of the fitness area of Heywood Sports Village • The launch and development of many successful new health initiatives • The continuation and growth of our activ8teme – with over 5500 participants • The achievement of the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme.

This year we have had to work tirelessly to achieve the objective of saving £1million over the next two financial years. To reach this we launched our ‘Improvement and Efficiency Programme’, which is on track to save the efficiencies we need. We recognise that change is often unsettling but throughout the process our staff have responded fantastically with our staff survey showing increases in staff satisfaction.

Our thanks go to our Trustees who continue to provide leadership and support to the Company Management Team and to our staff who have once again excelled in delivering some brilliant results. Our thanks also go to our partners and stakeholders who support all of our work and initiatives and who we work with to achieve shared goals and objectives.

Evaluating our aims As detailed within our ‘About Us’ section at the beginning of this report, the trust has identified four key areas to help us in achieving our mission of ‘Striving to develop communities that are ACTIVE, CREATIVE & HEALTHY’.

Detailed on the remaining pages are examples of how we have achieved some of our goals in the last year.

3

Roger Platt

Chair of Trustees | Link4Life

PEO PL E Arts & Heritage support of ‘Talk English Reading Corner’ project Online bookings increase by 28.5%

55 people engaged on skills development programme 70 primary schools engage in School Swimming Programme

28.5 55 70

270 Junior fitness members

2,000 attendances at 2014 Big Games

Over 3,500 people engaged in activ8te me programme

Over 10,000 attendances within the Link4Life Go4It programmes

10,370 fitness members

14,339 attendances within Community Development Schemes

£114,000 secured from Short Breaks for Disabled Children

Adult and Junior swims increase by 13.5% to 230,417

1.96 million visits to Sport & Leisure (45% increase in 5 years)

Supporting people to maximise their own skills and potential Understanding and meeting local need Increasing participation, learning and employment opportunities Widening access and overcoming barriers Targeting resources to priority areas

270 2,000 3,500

Jack enrolled on the 6 week Energy Club course and following on from this attended the Junior Skills continuation class. Having attended over a number of weeks trying new sports and activities, Jack has built up the confidence to go swimming for the first time. Before attending the Energy Club Jack wouldn’t go in the waters, now he enters the water without any hesitation and is now thinking of enrolling on swimming lessons.

10,000 10,370 14,339 114,000 230,417 1,960,000

Mary | parent of Jack.

“I really enjoy the activ8teme classes. Although I’m already a Link4Life member, the classes are local from my house. They’re delivered in a friendly atmosphere. The Yoga class in particular is a small group which enables the instructor to go around the group and help everybody individually.”

Ann | Link4Life fitness member

4

S E R VI C E S Providing high quality and innovative services Sustaining and enhancing public assets over the long term Investing in improvement Meeting social, business and environmental objectives that deliver value for money Developing the overall leisure and cultural offer

£200,000

100

visits to the Santa’s Grotto at Touchstones Rochdale

Invest to save initiative launched with

Our first Customer Service Week held with a focus on how we do and staff training

Launch of Your Link4Life Customer Card to all users of Link4Life facilities

65%

of fitness classes booked online (117,717 bookings)

£47,920 secured for More than Dance project

Over

budget

3,500

people engaged in activ8teme and use of community space and venues

11,224

pupils use Arts & Heritage services at school

9,454

£315,000

pupils visit Touchstones Rochdale from local schools

spent on Heywood Sports

37p

Village fitness refurbishment and the introduction of Link4Life first

energy cost per visit

designated Functional Training Zone

Scott | Parent

5

193,000

Over

“I took my son to Touchstones to take part in the Pirate activities. We both loved it, he’s only 3 but sat still captivated by the actors…during the interval we had a quick visit upstairs to the pirate activities which we’re also excellent”

children’s swimming lesson attendances

PA RT N ERS

Acting openly and in partnership to achieve shared goals Leading and advising on leisure and cultural provision Representation on strategic bodies including

Consulting on priorities Working with strategic partners to help them achieve their aims

Transformational Leaders Group Safeguarding Board

Identifying and supporting development and growth

Community Safety Partnership Health & Wellbeing Working Groups AGMA Schools Head Network SPORTA

AGMA Administration of Strategic Arts Funding

Reviews with Rochdale Borough Council Hollingworth Lake provision

Achievement of industry accreditations

SpringďŹ eld Park Open Space Strategies

VAQAS Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme Touchstones Rochdale LOTC Learning Outside the Classroom Touchstones Rochdale RYA Royal Yachting Association Training Centre Registration Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre AALA Adventure Activities Licensing Authority licence Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre

6

Q UA L I T Y Having a culture of high quality and performance Demonstrating responsible and effective governance and management Valuing diversity and inspiring excellence Providing outstanding service to customers Being an employer that supports and develops its trustees and staff Key Stage 2 Schools Swimming attainment Learning Outside the Classroom (LOTC) Touchstones Rochdale

Full Governance Review completed and action plan developed

50%

Sell out performances at Heywood Civic Centre of:

Review held on Performance Management Framework Annual staff satisfaction survey

80%

• New Year’s Party Membership attrition rate of

3.68%

Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service accreditation from Visit England maintained

(0.49% improvement on target)

• Roy Chubby Brown Royal Yachting Association • Showwaddywaddy (RYA) Training Centre Christmas Party Visitor Registration Attraction Hollingworth Quality Lake Water Assurance Activity Service Centre accreditation from Visit England maintained

“My son, aged 5, and I decided to drive from Bury to Heywood to try your swimming pool for the first time. I am very happy that we did. We found the staff to be very polite, and the sport centre to be very clean with world class facilities. Everything from the family changing rooms to the showers were a vast improvement to any leisure centre we have previously been to. The pool was nice and warm and ideal for my son who is learning to swim.

I just wanted to say thank you to all staff. We are very lucky to have such a complex in the locality.”

M Golzada | Casual User

7

Employee Personal Development Review launched

Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) licence Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre

Link4Life Training Academy evolves to include external training opportunities to create a workforce of the Net Promoter Score future

28%

Trustee Development Programme introduced

“Just a word of appreciation about the excellent condition of the golf course this year and the continuing improvements being made. It is a credit to the ground staff and Link4Life.”

Alan | Springfield Golf Club member

AT A GLANCE

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

1,110,846

952,526

1,245,011

1,352,052

1,605,606

1,828,000

1,978,304

1,956,000

78,511

84,406

90,923

82,031

56,960

63,157

61,770

64,367

Sport & leisure

£1.70

£1.63

Civic venues

£2.09

£2.08

Sport, leisure and civic venues - combined measure from 2009-10

£1.18

£1.04

£0.56

£0.56

£0.56

£0.38

Sport, leisure and civic venues - per 1,000 population

£7,140

£6,798

£4,352

£4,800

£4,800

£3,517

Total number of visits Sport, leisure and civic venues Arts & heritage*

Net cost per visit

Income: resources from charitable activities Rochdale Borough Council Annual Contract Fee

58.3%

57.4%

54.9%

49.2%

37.3%

39.7%

36.7%

38.5%

Fees and charges and other income

41.8%

42.6%

45.1%

50.8%

62.7%

60.3%

63.3%

61.5%

£837,501

£1,075,760

£987,342

£928,499

£860,450

£628,808

£761,236

£726,244

£7,885,483

£8,642,543

£9,046,459

£9,760,607

£9,612,634

£9,978,043

£9,875,078

£10,016,836

169

169

197

188

189

190

222

206

Income from grants

Total group income all sources

Number of employees full time equivalents

* Touchstones Rochdale closed two days a week from 2011 resulting in a fall in total number of visits.

8

FINANCES

Finances The charitable group’s retained income funds fall into the following categories:

Restricted funds £528,731 as at 31 March 2015 and £570,628 at 31 March 2014 Represent various grant income receipts earmarked for specific projects.

Unrestricted funds £4,628,193 in deficit as at 31 March 2015 and £1,806,107 in deficit as at 31 March 2014 Represent funds held for the day-to–day running of the charitable group.

The unrestricted fund includes the pension deficit of £5,361,000 (2014: £2,222,000).

The Council has agreed to meet the liability to the Greater Manchester Pension Scheme in the unlikely event that the company could not meet this cost.

Incoming resources In the consolidated statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 March 2015, the total incoming resources were £10,743,080.

This is made up as follows:

Description

2014-15 (£)

2013-14 (£)

Incoming resources from charitable activities - general income into the trust from various sources. This includes the annual contract fee from Rochdale Borough Council, income from fees and charges, facility rental charges and voluntary income.

9,635,113

9,443,766

7,726

6,442

Activities for generating funds - turnover of trading subsidiary company

373,997

424,870

Restricted funds - income into the trust from grant funding for specific project work. This includes grants from Rochdale Borough Council, Sport England, NHS Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale, National Governing Bodies and Rochdale Borough Council voluntary sector grant.

726,244

761,236

10,743,080

10,636,314

Investment Income - bank interest received

TOTAL GROUP INCOME

9

F I N A N C ES

Total incoming resources (%) 2014-15

Incoming resources from charitable activities (%) 2014-15

89.7%

Incoming resource from charitable activates

49.7%

Rochdale BC Annual contract fee

6.8%

Restricted funds

32.3%

Fees and charges

3.5%

Activities for generating funds

4.6%

Facility rental charges

0.1%

Investment income

1.3%

Other income

10

FINANCES

Consolidated balance sheet Fixed assets

2015 (£)

2014 (£)

The charitable group retained income funds fall into the following categories:

Tangible fixed assets

150,443

198,151

•

Restricted funds (£528,731 as at 31 March 2015) represent various grant income receipts earmarked for specific projects.

Stocks

29,567

27,042

•

Debtors

271,667

262,020

Unrestricted funds (£4,099,462 in deficit as of 31 March 2015) represent funds held for day-to-day running of the charitable group.

Cash at bank and in hand

2,336,967

1,780,846

Subtotal current assets

2,638,201

2,069,908

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

(1,527,106)

(1,281,538)

Net current assets

1,111,095

788,370

Total assets less current liabilities

1,261,538

986,521

Defined benefit pension scheme liability

(5,361,000)

(2,222,000)

Net liabilities

(4,099,462)

(1,235,479)

528,731

570,628

728,815

414,898

3,992

995

Pension reserve funds

(5,361,000)

(2,222,000)

TOTAL FUNDS

(4,099,462)

(1,235,479)

Current assets

Income funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Other charitable funds Non charitable trading funds

11

The unrestricted fund includes the pension deficit of £5,361,000. The Council has agreed to meet the liability to the Greater Manchester Pension Scheme in the unlikely event that the company could not meet this cost.

The unrestricted fund, excluding the pension deficit, is in surplus by £732,807.

F I N A N C ES

Resources expended In the consolidation statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 March 2015, the total resources expended was £10,430,004.

Description Cost of generating funds - staff costs and allowances, transport expenses, supplier, services and other expenses.

2014-15 (£)

2013-14 (£)

223,943

192,384

Direct charitable expenditure

8,876,900

Operating costs of trading subsidiary company

370,204

391,533

Pension scheme related - balance of pension scheme operating charge less other pension finance (FRS 17)

(38,000)

223,000

Restricted funds

768,141

618,492

Governance costs - auditors fees (internal and external)

25,510

29,850

797

-

Taxation - tax on trading activities of the trading company TOTAL GROUP RESOURCES EXPENDED

10,430,064

10,332,158

12

A Q U I C K L O O K BACK

Key achievements 2012-13 Sport and leisure 127,587 2,809

Public swimming lesson attendances (children) showed an increase against the previous year’s achievement rising from 105,483 to 127,587 The armed forces scheme has seen 2,809 individual visits

60%

60% of all class bookings online.

18%

Total Junior gym usage exceeded the annual target by 6,505 (18%) and is up by 5,682 on 2012-13’s performance

17.09%

The number of children’s swimming lessons delivered increased to 214,405 in 2013-14; an increase of 17.09%

12.6%

12.6% improvement in the usage at Marland Golf Course

5.18%

Online bookings grew by 5.18%

4.83%

1,978,304 visits were made to Sport and Leisure sites during 2013/14, an over achievement of 4.83%

Culture, health and participation £204,681 27,000 £13,480

The number of attendances on outreach schemes increased from 20,611 in 2012-13 to 27,000 in 2013-14 Phase 4 of the Skills4Sport and Leisure programme has been delivered with funding of £13,480 from Hopwood Hall College. The programme recruited 34 people of which 27 individuals completed the programme in full

1,198

1,198 adults took part in new activity sessions during 2012-13 against an annual target of 625.

35.14% were over 50 years of age, reflecting the re-focusing of work this year into older adults

1,000

37 new volunteers were engaged during the year who collectively achieved over 1,000 hours of volunteering

24% 5.5% VAQAS

13

A grant of £204,681 was secured from Sport England Community Sport Activation Fund to run a new adult programme entitled ‘activ8teme’ which develops 8 sports at 8 Link4Life venues and 8 reasons to participate

The total number of pupils visiting museums/galleries were up against target by 24% (8,666 v 7,000) The outturn for 2013-14 in terms of total visits to the Arts and Heritage services exceeded the target by 2,771 (5.5%) Maintained VAQAS accreditation from Visit England

L O O KI N G A H EA D

Corporate Plan 2016-19 Link4Life’s corporate plan will build upon the success achieved since our inception in 2007.

Key deliverables for 2016-19

Link4Life set out to achieve the key objectives of: •

Develop new and improved facilities in the Borough

•

Create new and innovative cultural activities

•

Provide quality services that show continuous improvement

Our vision

Financial viability Improve value for money, financial sustainability, and engaging with Rochdale Borough Council on financial challenge

Health & wellbeing Develop and deliver targeted health interventions to meet the challenges and opportunities of the Borough’s population

Striving to develop COMMUNITIES that are ACTIVE, CREATIVE & HEALTHY

Our four key aims are: Children & young people

People

Partners

Supporting people to maximise their own skills and potential

Acting openly and in partnership to achieve shared goals

Lead the Borough and champion the delivery of children’s sporting and cultural activity

Technology & innovation Invest in technology and innovation to ensure Link4Life is at the forefront of leisure and cultural development enabling an exceptional customer journey

Open spaces Culture & heritage

Quality

Services

Having a culture of high quality and performance

Providing high quality and innovative services

Develop an innovative and accessible Arts and Heritage offer

Improve the utilisation of empty space and outdoor opportunities in parks and the local countryside to put Rochdale Borough ‘on the map’

14

A Q U I C K L O O K BACK

Finances The charitable group’s retained income funds fall into the following categories:

Restricted funds £528,731 as at 31 March 2015 and £570,628 at 31 March 2014 Represent various grant income receipts earmarked for specific projects.

Unrestricted funds £4,628,193 in deficit as at 31 March 2015 and £1,806,107 in deficit as at 31 March 2014 Represent funds held for the day-to–day running of the charitable group.

The unrestricted fund includes the pension deficit of £5,361,000 (2014: £2,222,000).

The Council has agreed to meet the liability to the Greater Manchester Pension Scheme in the unlikely event that the company could not meet this cost.

Incoming resources In the consolidated statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 March 2014, the total incoming resources were £10,636.14.

This is made up as follows:

Description

2013-14 (£)

2012-13 (£)

Incoming resources from charitable activities - general income into the trust from various sources. This includes the annual contract fee from Rochdale Borough Council, income from fees and charges, facility rental charges and voluntary income.

9,443,766

8,967,563

6,442

22,085

Activities for generating funds - turnover of trading subsidiary company

424,870

359,587

Restricted funds - income into the trust from grant funding for specific project work. This includes grants from Rochdale Borough Council, Sport England, NHS Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale, National Governing Bodies and Rochdale Borough Council voluntary sector grant.

761,236

628,808

10,636,314

9,978,043

Investment income - bank interest received

TOTAL GROUP INCOME

15

2013-14

Total incoming resources (%) 2013-14

Incoming resources from charitable activities (%) 2013-14

88.8%

Incoming resource from charitable activates

32.6%

Rochdale BC Annual contract fee

7.2%

Restricted funds

50.2%

Fees and charges

Activities for generating funds

4.6%

Facility rental charges

Investment income

1.3%

Other income

4% 0.1%

16

A Q U I C K L O O K BACK

Consolidated balance sheet Fixed assets

2014 (£)

2013 (£)

The charitable’s group retained income funds fall into the following categories:

Tangible fixed assets

198,151

116,921

•

Restricted funds (£570,628 as at 31 March 2014) represent various grant income receipts earmarked for specific projects.

Stocks

27,042

31,656

•

Debtors

262,020

198,334

Unrestricted funds (£1,235,479 in deficit as of 31 March 2014) represent funds held for day-to-day running of the charitable group.

Cash at bank and in hand

1,780,846

1,724,154

Subtotal current assets

2,069,908

1,954,144

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

(1,281,538)

(1,611,700)

Net current assets

788,370

342,444

Total assets less current liabilities

986,521

459,365

Defined benefit pension scheme liability

(2,222,000)

(3,731,000)

Net Liabilities

(1,235,479)

(3,271,635)

570,628

427,884

414,898

29,746

995

2,005

Pension reserve funds

(2,222,000)

(3,731,000)

TOTAL FUNDS

(1,235,479)

(3,271,635)

Current assets

Income funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Other charitable funds Non charitable trading funds

17

The unrestricted fund includes the pension deficit of £2,222,000.

The Council has agreed to meet the liability to the Greater Manchester Pension Scheme in the unlikely event that the company could not meet this cost.

The unrestricted fund, excluding the pension deficit, is in surplus by £415,893.

2013-14

Resources expended In the consolidation statement of financial activities for the period ended 31 March 2014, the total resources expended was £10,332,158.

Description

2013-14 (£)

2012-13 (£)

192,384

196,761

8,876,900

9,000,388

Operating costs of trading subsidiary company

391,533

327,188

Pension scheme related - balance of pension scheme operating charge less other pension finance (FRS 17)

223,000

111,000

Restricted funds

618,492

692,710

Governance costs - auditors fees (internal and external)

29,850

21,450

-

-

10,332,158

10,348,497

Cost of generating funds - staff costs and allowances, transport expenses, supplier, services and other expenses.

Direct charitable expenditure

Taxation - tax on trading activities of the trading company TOTAL GROUP RESOURCES EXPENDED

18

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