Celia Tennant thanks intandem charities and volunteers.
Inspiring Scotland recently commissioned Blake Stevenson to carry out an Independent Evaluation of our intandem programme. Established to support children and young people who are looked after at home, intandem provides them with a mentor they meet once a week, with whom they can have a positive and trusting relationship free from some of the pressures that life has thrown at them.
I am pleased to say that the report is overwhelmingly positive. It is clear that intandem is making a real difference to children and young people who are looked after at home by boosting their confidence, self-esteem, helping to re-engage them with education and getting them out and about in the community.
The feedback from children and young people, their families, and our volunteer mentors is excellent and demonstrates how important it is for all young people to have a strong and positive adult relationship.
53% of young people (mentees) said that their confidence had increased, 62% said that their self-esteem had improved, and 64% said that they had made more friends thanks to mentoring. J, one of the children who has had an intandem mentor since October 2017 said: “Instead of having something heavy on ma shoulders, ah can talk to someone about it”.
And the programme is proving beneficial for volunteers, too. 61% said mentoring gave them a sense of achievement, and 71% say they’ve learned new skills – skills that will prove invaluable for their career development. One mentor said: “mentoring has been amazing and helped me get the job I am in now”.
The evaluation also highlights the benefits for charities of our portfolio approach. The charities we support in intandem have been able to learn from our team and one another and have invested their learning to improve and increase the capacity of the services they offer to children, young people and families.
Looking forward, we’re keen to see intandem evolve and develop, thereby improving the lives of even more children looked after at home. Blake Stevenson has provided valuable feedback, and part of that feedback includes recommendations for how to improve the service in future, such as expanding the programme to children and young people in kinship care and extending intandem into new geographical areas. These are things for us to keep in mind, and I hope that soon we will be able to deliver on those recommendations.
For now, we are delighted to have proof of the difference intandem is making to the lives of children and young people looked after at home. The hard work and dedication of our partner charities, and especially the volunteer mentors who give up their time to support a young person, is really changing lives for the better. For all your unwavering commitment, I extend my appreciation and gratitude.
Celia.
Financial pro bono support: three case studies.
Case study one – Financial process review.
A fraudulent email was sent to a staff member at a charity that claimed to come from the chief executive, asking for a transfer of £28,000 to be made with immediate effect. As the staff member was new, alarm bells were not triggered until after the transfer had been made.
The pro bono request was for a review of the charity’s financial processes and policies. This came from the charity’s board of trustees. The pro bono supporter initially directed the charity to the Bank of Scotland website which posts regular updates on the latest fraudulent activity and hosts regular webinars. The pro bono supporter then carried out a risk review, which involved visiting the charity and talking to key staff members to establish what the existing processes were. The pro bono supporter collated this information into a short report detailing both the existing procedures and suggested areas where controls could be tightened. This covered donations, cash and cheque handling, bank account reconciliation with SAGE, expenses, and payroll. This report was then presented to the chief executive of the charity and the board.
As a result, this report is now part of the charity’s staff induction process and it has informed areas of the charity’s risk report which is reviewed regularly by the board. An invaluable pro bono contribution to this charity that clearly strengthened its governance, prosperity and sustainability.
The charity recovered £20,000 of the £28,000 they lost, but this was due to actions from their bank and not those of the pro bono supporter.
Case study two – Completion of annual reports and accounts for a small charity.
A newly registered charity panicked when asked to submit their first set of accounts to OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator. The pro bono request was to produce these accounts for them. As the charity was small and the operations very straight forward this was a relatively easy pro bono request.
The pro bono supporter looked at the OSCR website for available templates and sample reports and then visited the charity. The charity provided the pro bono supporter with the relevant financial information – primarily their bank transactions – and they completed the accounts. The accounts were returned to the charity with a template for the annual report and were signed off by the charity’s Senior Management Team before being sent to OSCR.
The charity originally thought they could go through this process themselves as it is relatively simple, but they lacked the confidence to do it. The pro bono supporter reassured them, got their accounts submitted, and gave them the necessary tools to enable them to post their own accounts in future.
Case study three – VAT Capital Goods Scheme.
More specialised VAT advice was requested from a charity embarking on an extension to their existing building. The request was for guidance around the rules on the Capital Goods Scheme and the specific record-keeping required.
The pro bono supporter advised the charity via a detailed email and a conference call; the email gave precise guidance on what was required and committed to follow up on any additional requirements under the new “Making Tax Digital” rules.
The pro bono support offered to the charity was invaluable, not only in terms of length of time spent by the pro bono supporters but by the simplification of complex issues for them.