The Chief Executive of Lincs Inspire Limited, Sue Wells, will present
the following update on the organisation’s activities at a panel of North East
Lincolnshire councillors on Thursday August 1.
LINCS INSPIRE LIMITED PRESENTATION TO TOURISM AND VISITOR ECONOMY
SCRUTINY PANEL NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL
1 INTRODUCTION
Lincs Inspire
Limited is an independent charity, set up to deliver a range of community
services including; sport, leisure and cultural services, principally provided
in and around Lincolnshire. The following report compliments a presentation to
be delivered to the above scrutiny panel, introducing new panel members to the
charity, bringing seasoned panel members up to date on the charity’s
activities, and specifically focusing on those services and activities
delivered across North East Lincolnshire.
2 PURPOSE OF THE CHARITY
Lincs Inspire is committed to helping local
people achieve their aspirations, stay active, stay well and enjoy life to the
full. Our aspirations; Ensuring
everyone can access and enjoy first class community sports, leisure and
cultural facilities and activities
Helping the inactive to become active
Being an employer of choice, recognised for good quality training, development
and employment opportunity Working with partners to maximise resources,
expertise and opportunities, ensuring that together we can make a real
difference
How we measure success; More children and
young people developing and keeping an active habit for life More adults and priority groups achieving
and keeping a positive lifestyle, through both physical and mental well-being
Making wellness work by delivering effective targeted support services
Creating successful careers through opportunities within culture, leisure and
sport Continuously improving quality, accessibility and value for money
We deliver a wide range of services, focusing
on: Sporting and Leisure Services -
including the operation of leisure centres, swimming pools, football
development centre, athletics stadium and an extensive programme of community
based exercise/physical activities.
Cultural
Services – providing experiences and opportunities for participation, including
the area’s largest performing arts venue, borough-wide statutory library
service, public archive facility covering North and North East Lincolnshire,
plus a wide range of cultural and creative community activities aimed at
supporting wellbeing and social interaction.
Our aim is simple, ‘we want to inspire our community to make every day
count and we want to help those who work with us to do the same’.
3 GOVERNANCE
Lincs Inspire
Limited is a registered charity, it is supported through its subsidiary trading
company, Lincs Inspire Venues & Enterprises Limited. Lincs Inspire Limited
operates through a board of trustees, consisting of independent non-paid
members. By virtue of its Articles of
Association (its governing document), all members of the charity are also
trustees and directors. The board of trustees
meet whenever required but no less often that once per quarter to review the
charity’s operational performance and to strategically plan future
developments. In addition sub-committees
are also in place to consider specific areas of the business when required.
Lincs Inspire Venues & Enterprises Limited has its own board of directors,
including representation from the main board of trustees for Lincs Inspire
Limited, and also meets no less often than once per quarter to review the
strategic operation of the company and its ongoing support to the charity. The
charity operates under Charity Commission guidelines and legislative
requirements.
4 PERFORMANCE REVIEW
2018/19 A
presentation to scrutiny panel members aims to highlight performance across
2018/19, demonstrating the diverse range of services, extensive community engagement
and most importantly the impact services are having on health and wellbeing
within our local community. Performance
at a glance: Over 1 million visits to Sports and Leisure Facilities in 2018/19 Over 83,000
Theatre visits in 2018/19 Over 290,000 Library visits in 2018/19 Performance
highlights: Encouraging PE and School Sports Activity - The charity’s Sports
and Wellbeing team continue to work with over 40 schools across North East
Lincolnshire and wider Lincolnshire. This is also supported by the delivery of
over 50 hours per week of teacher Planning, Preparing and Assessing (PPA). Encouraging Young People To Be Safe &
Active - Lincs Inspire delivers an extensive programme of safe cycling skills
‘Bikeability’ and ‘balance-ability’.
These are delivered in partnership with Engie and funded via The
Department of Transport (DofT) or via individual schools budgets. The programme is currently supporting over
1,300 pupils across 29 schools.
Encouraging Active Seniors - Lincs Inspire’s active seniors programme, focuses
on improving the health and wellbeing of over 55 year olds. Delivery includes Tai Chi, New Age Kurling,
Zumba and Bokwa. In addition Walking
Football is delivered at Bradley Football Development Centre and regularly sees
in excess of 145 participants per week. Encouraging Creativity – this
includes a range of arts and crafts activities; ‘Craft and a Cuppa’ is a weekly
programme that is both creative and social, offered across libraries and even
at Bradley Football Development Centre (333 sessions delivered in 18/19).
Performing Arts Encouragement – Lincs Inspire works in partnership with North
Lincolnshire Council to deliver a programme of dance development and local
dance provision, increasing participation and supporting dance as a
career/business. Introducing schools
to live classical material – for many years the service has delivered a
programme of school attended condensed live theatre performances including for
example; Shakespeare, Ballet and Opera, aimed at unlocking interest and
inspiring young people. Engaging the community in live theatre/performance –
commercially driven programming encourages non-theatre goers – Stars of
Strictly (come dancing), Celebrity Chefs, and well known TV performers encourage
attendance and open the door to live theatre experiences.
The company’s website; www.lincsinspire.com
includes an extensive range of customer testimonials, highlighting the impact
the above services and activities are having on everyday life and general
health improvement. Grant Funding Highlights: Lincs Inspire actively seeks
grant funding to support its charitable activities. Funding applications have focused on
encouraging increased participation in physical and creative activities. Funding success includes; Football
Association funding to tackle male obesity, Arts Council England funding to
support live performances in libraries and dance development across northern
Lincolnshire, plus Heritage Lottery funding for local history and archival
projects.
Investment: Lincs Inspire is committed to
ongoing investment, including the replacement of equipment to ensure facilities
remain up to date, value for money and meeting customer expectation. This includes investment in good quality gym
and swim equipment, current library materials and comfortable venues for the
performing arts. In addition investment
in specialist health improvement equipment has been essential to support the
company’s health and wellbeing programmes. Investment in training resources has
also supported efficient operations and the opportunity to grow expertise from
within. This has successfully enabled
the charity to develop its own swim school which operates from three pools, six
days a week, and to Swim England standards.
Over 3,000 children participating, plus Grimsby Leisure Centre is now an
accredited teacher training centre. Lincs Inspire also works with an external
training provider to give staff access to on the job learning, for example NVQ
and ILM courses.
5 PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
2019/20 and
beyond includes a challenging and exciting ‘to do list’ which is fundamentally
based on moving the charity to a stronger financial position with less reliance
on public funding/subsidy. Headline
plans include: Business cases for joint investment (Cleethorpes Leisure
Centre/Grimsby Health and Wellbeing Centre and Grimsby Auditorium) Continued
dialogue with NELC colleagues regarding asset transfer (viability) Ongoing review of service viability/income
streams/pricing to support emerging financial pressures (contract
reductions/national minimum wage increases etc.) Ongoing staff development
and learning/career progression Commercial service developments that increase
local market share and support reinvestment Continue to celebrate customer
success stories and inspire others to have a healthier lifestyle
SUMMARY
The charity continues to work collaboratively with North East Lincolnshire
Council and health service partners to ensure services meet customer needs and
support overall improved health and wellbeing.
The charity is committed to ensuring its customers enjoy the best
possible experience and that services continue to grow and present great value
for money.
