CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S 2019 UPDATE ON PERFORMANCE OF LINCS INSPIRE

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.