Annual Review

	FINE Staff
	Project Manager: Linda Whitfield (to Dec 08) Interim Project Manager: Margaret Wightman (from Dec 08) Research and Information Officer: Diana Wright (to July 08) Research and Information Officer: Emma McLellan (from Aug 08) Training Officer: Jacqui Warrior (to June 08) Training and Support Officer: (Sustainable Funding): Nicole Kirby (from Feb 09) Admin Officer: Tony Youll
	FINE Management
	FINE is managed by Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council (GVOC) and has a Development Group which meets quarterly. Development Group members: David Francis – Community Action Northumberland Carole Howells - Newcastle CVS Gillian McDonough – Sunderland CVS Gev Pringle - GVOC, (Chair) Allyson Stewart - South Tyneside CVS Joanne Laverick – Durham RCC Jan Worters - North Tyneside VODA
	Chair’s Statement
	It is a testament to the quality of FINE’s staff and the service they provide to the region that even during what has proven to be a turbulent year the organisation has continued to develop and provide top quality support to the sector. It was a great loss to the project when Linda Whitfield, the Project Manager left after seven years. Linda helped FINE develop into the multi-faceted service that it is today with an excellent reputation in the North East. I would particularly like to thank Tony Youll, the Administration Officer, whose dedication, expertise and loyalty ensured continuity throughout the period FINE had temporary officers, Emma McLellan, Margaret Wightman and Jacqui Warrior. Again, all three workers showed a real commitment to the project that means we go into the year 2009-2010 in good shape and with some exciting new ideas for the future. Gev Pringle, Chair of FINE Director, GVOC
	Introduction	top ^^
	2008-09 was a year of change and uncertainty for FINE. The scarcity of funding programmes for infrastructure organisations at the beginning of the year led to fears that FINE would have to close. Longstanding staff left, taking years of experience and knowledge with them. The future seemed gloomy. Despite these difficulties FINE maintained and developed services throughout the year Happily, by March 2009, FINE had overcome funding problems and was recruiting permanent staff ready to begin a new chapter in its story, renewed and reinvigorated. Funding In 2008-09 FINE was supported by: Barbour Trust Capacitybuilders The Hadrian Trust The Joicey Trust The National Finance Hub RW Mann Trust The Rothley Trust Sherburn House The Sir James Knott Trust We would like to express a special thank you to our funders, most of whom have supported FINE over many years. The concern shown by them in this difficult year was warmly appreciated. By the end of the year FINE had news that it had been successful in a number of partnership applications to the Big Lottery Fund (BASIS), thereby ensuring its continued survival for the next 3 years.
	Training	top ^^
	In June, the three-year Training Officer post finally came to an end. An evaluation of the impact of this work concluded that the training, aimed at Funding Advisers, was highly valued by participants who appreciated the tailored, high-quality programmes. The training benefited both the professional development of the individual participants as well as the organisations they came from: ‘FINE is consistently informative and, more importantly, relevant, to the role which I carry out. Other trainers tend to offer generic training which is often not relevant.’ The findings of this evaluation were to form the basis of a successful funding bid to Capacitybuilders, giving rise to a new project in FINE - The Funding Advisers Procurement and Commissioning Support Project, commencing in 2009. This provided FINE with the resources to expand information services and re-establish a training programme to encompass non-grant sources of funding such as contracting opportunities. The project kicked off in February with the recruitment of a new Training and Support Worker for Sustainable Funding.
	Information Services	top ^^
	FINE delivers information directly to front line organisations through its website, bulletins, databases and guides - essential resources for many third sector organisations. Our long-established links with many North East funders enable us to provide uniquely tailored and relevant information. Throughout the year, in good times and bad, we continued to research and produce weekly email bulletins and monthly grants bulletin whilst updating our searchable online databases. In January 2009 we published the 10^th Edition of the North East Guide to Grants for Voluntary Organisations, a guide to charitable trusts and one of the most valued and widely used of our information products. Once again we were able to draw on the support of The Northern Rock Foundation to reduce the costs of this publication, making it affordable to even the smallest groups. In total 539 people purchased or subscribed to FINE’s information services in 2008-09.
	Links with Funders / Funding Advisers	top ^^
	FINE facilitated the North East Funders Forum and the Funding Advice Workers Network. We organised a programme of high quality speakers on topical issues and enabled debate and networking. We also provided the opportunity for collaborative work and to influence policy. We continued to act as a conduit for policy makers and funding advisers through our strategic role at (amongst others) the Regional Infrastructure Consortium, The Strategic Third Sector Forum and the North East Trust Secretaries Group. FINE held two conferences this year. In May, in partnership with members of the North East Funders Forum, we planned and organised the Equality and Diversity Conference, attended by 80 delegates and led by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. 94% of delegates found the conference to be good or excellent and learned about national and regional policies in this area. In October we held a micro-conference for funding advisers where 25 delegates learned about the changing face of funding advice across the UK and in the North East. During the year 2008-09 FINE staff dealt with over 300 enquiries around various funding related issues.
	Staffing	top ^^
	This year saw significant staffing changes due in part to the uncertain funding position. The biggest change in many years was faced with the departure of Linda Whitfield after seven years as Project Manager. Linda’s skills as a trainer, the relationships she developed with funders and her understanding of the issues faced by voluntary organisations and their funders, is a great loss to the project. FINE was fortunate to gain the services of Margaret Wightman as caretaker manager for the 6 months interim period until funding was in place to advertise for Linda’s permanent replacement in March.
	Evaluation
	In July, in response to the impending funding crisis faced by FINE, the Regional Infrastructure Consortiurm commissioned an evaluation of FINE’s services with users by Northumbria University Sustainable Cities Research Institute. Regional Funders, Funding Advice Workers and Third Sector Organisations were asked what value they placed on FINE. A full copy of this evaluation is available on request; the results clearly demonstrate the significant role FINE plays in supporting the Third Sector in the North East: 100% of Funding Advisers said FINE services benefited them 97% of respondents said FINE services benefited their organisation 95% thought the information FINE provided was either good or very good 59% felt that FINE had helped lever funding into the region ‘The Information advice and guidance was invaluable to me’ ‘Accurate and up to date funding information enables our organisation to provide good quality support to local groups’ 'We got £20,000 from Lloyds TSB as a direct result of information in the FINE book’ ‘I would say that access to the FINE database has generated at least £25,000 p.a. for at least two organisations I know of’ ‘Up to date information on local trusts (which) has enabled us to make applications which have kept us afloat through a crisis’
	Income and Expenditure	top ^^
	A full financial statement is available on request.

Funding