Minutes:
Councillor Calum Watt, Chair of the Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee, opened the meeting with a brief introduction to guest speakers and the topics of discussion which were Suicide Rates within the City of Lincoln and an update on the Cost-of-Living Crisis.
The Committee received a presentation from Rachel Wright, (CEO, Shine Lincolnshire) and Kerry Stocks, (Operations Manager, Shine Lincolnshire). During consideration of the presentation, the following points were noted: -
· Shine Lincolnshire was established in 2011 through funding from the Managed Care Network, Mental Health Promotion Fund via Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT)
· During the years of 2011-2019, Shine’s primary work included mapping, the development of a newsletter, helping individuals to connect with local support and a Peer Link Worker (PLW) pilot scheme in Gainsborough and Louth
· In 2020/21, Shine was given a new role within Lincolnshire’s Mental Health Transformation and worked with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and Lincolnshire’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) (ICB)
· Shine offered independent third sector infrastructure support and was not a direct delivery service
· Shine worked to ensure community support services for individuals with mental health illnesses were available locally and worked collaboratively with partner agencies
· As a support network, Shine ensured information was shared through community mapping and not siloed.
· Shine had a commitment to supporting local voluntary and community organisations grow, develop, and deliver services within their own communities
· The 360° support offered by the charity included:
o Assistance with interpretation of the tender and requirements
o Support with application
o Host employment if required
o Implementation support
o Training and development
· Shine worked with LCC, LPFT and Integrated Care Board (ICB) to support mental health investment programmes through a Grant Administration
· The Community Asset Development (CAD) funding aimed to support people to live independently in their own homes which contributed to improved health
· CAD funding contributed to a total of 79 projects and 7479 beneficiaries
· Suicide Prevention Innovation Funding was secured from NHS England in 2020 and was aimed at males aged 24-59
· Year 1 commenced in April 2021 and supported 14 projects collectively. This benefitted 2319 males across the County
· Year 2 commenced in early 2022 and supported anyone over the age of eighteen. A total of 12 projects supported approximately 1898 individuals across the County
· Year 3 projects were due to commence on 1 March 2023 and would again, work with all adults over the age of 18. In addition, collaboration with Public Health on the development and launch of a suicide prevention campaign across the County
· The Managed Care Network (MCN) was underpinned by the Mental Health Promotion Fund which historically had been provided by LCC and LPFT. The management of the network was awarded to Shine in 2021/22
· The MCN supported 67 projects and 8797 beneficiaries
· In January 2023, Shine announced a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Investment Fund which would be divided between a large Sustainability Fund and a smaller Innovation Fund on a 70/30% basis
· Projects within the Innovation Fund would be for a maximum of 12 months to pilot new and innovative ideas within the community
· The Sustainability Fund offered successful existing projects 3 year agreements and the impact of investment went far beyond beneficiaries.
· Shine was commissioned to lead the procurement exercise and the recommendation report to the Commissioner, following seven local scoring panels, would be written by Rachel Wright, CEO
· Shine was contracted by LPFT to deploy paid Peer Support Workers (PSW), embedded within local place based teams. There were 13 PSW’s currently.
· In May 2022, Shine developed their training offer and included multi-sector managers, employees, volunteers and practitioners
· The ability to recognise the signs and symptoms and response to a mental or physical health need improved the likelihood of providing early intervention.
The Chair thanked guest speakers for their work, informative presentation and welcomed comments and questions from the Committee. As a result of the discussions between Members and speakers, the following points were made: -
Comment: Members recognised the remarkable progress that had been made within two years. The services had been remarkably transformed.
Comment: Councillor Thomas Dyer, wished it recorded that as Conservative Councillor for Lincolnshire County Council, his thanks for the service offer be noted on record.
Question: Were there any examples of what would present as a great bid for investment within the scheme? Could further details on the Long Covid-19 Peer Support Volunteering be provided?
Response: Concentration over the previous two years had been focussed on supporting those who Shine worked with. It was now important to raise Shine’s profile. Shine’s work to date, had supported 180 organisations within the third sector which ranged from smaller organisations and included YMCA, Age UK and The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Every level had accessed funds and therefore projects were broad and included mental health and wellbeing. Funding had been granted for CAB for financial difficulties. In contrast, there were physical support-based activities which included work with Boston, Lincoln and Gainsborough Football Foundations.
Long Covid-19 support was funded through Lincolnshire’s award of the money raised by Captain Tom Moore. The NHS felt Long Covid-19 was a significant issue, in particular those who suffered with chronic fatigue. Support included work with Active Lincolnshire to highlight physical activity and Peer Support work.
Note: Kate Bell, Climate Change Manage, joined proceedings at this stage.
Question: How had the training gone so far and what did Shine’s competitors look like within Lincoln?
Response: LIVE was the biggest competitor for Shine. A great deal has been achieved over the previous two years however the future focus was a training offer. Future aspirations included adult education offerings.
Question: Had Shine considered a project bid for funding under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF)?
Response: Shine had not submitted a project bid under the UKSPF award for Lincoln.
Comment: Members agreed that it would be beneficial for Shine to be made known to Kate Ellis, Major Development Director, and Francesca Bell, Assistant Director of Growth and Development.
Question: Did Shine work with organisations that specialised in gambling? Could examples be provided for organisations within Lincoln that Shine had helped?
Response: There were projects that gave recognition to the issue of gambling. All staff at Shine had gambling training via GamCare to support relevant organisations. Consideration was given to suicide clusters and projects would be identified for areas of key issue. Shine had helped a number of organisations within Lincoln and included Active Arena, YMCA, Go Grow and Voluntary Centre Services (VCS).
Question: Were there results from work with Business students at the University of Lincoln?
Response: There had been engagement with both the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University to consider encouragement of work placements and business models. Engagement work included Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET) and Age UK.
Question: How was Shine funded? Had Shine considered a bid for UK Shared Prosperity Funding?
Response: Shine received funding from LCC for Grants Administration work. Shine were contracted by LPFT for the Peer Support Work. Revenue was also raised from training sales as well as business donations. During the first six months of Shine, there were two members of staff. The organisation had increased this figure to thirty members of staff and increased in size by 50% during the last twelve months. The key issue experienced had been rapid increase in capacity. The next twelve months would be crucial for consideration of sustainability. There had been donations from large businesses within the City which had supported Shine’s expansion into a training offering.
Question: How was the Grant Administration Funding (GAF) decided?
Response: There was a contract between LCC and Shine for the Grant Administration. Whilst Shine was a registered Charity with a Board of Trustees, there was also a Project Board of which Shine were answerable to. This included LPFT, LCC and Public Health. Local funding panels with a broad membership were put in place to ensure correct oversight, joint consideration, and a partnership approach. Once a recommendation paper had been created, based on the findings of the Panel, it would be submitted to the project board & LCC for final sign off.
Comment: CAB had seen a reduction in funding over previous years. There appeared to be a world of third sector funding that wasn’t known.
Comment: The transformation that Shine had undergone had been phenomenal. It was fair to conclude that Shine offered support the ‘supporter’.
Response: It was important for Shine to remain neutral and unbiased within the sector. Shine did not offer face to face community work and therefore were able to manage funding in a clear and transparent way. There was a review process for new funds and memberships for seven panels created to include LPFT, District Council representative, Active Lincolnshire, LCC, Shine CEO and Community Connectors and Neighbourhood Lead. In addition, two individuals with lived experience to offer co production.
Comment: The Committee had welcomed LocalMotion in September 2022. The model within LocalMotion was made up from 50% Councillors and 50% of individuals with real lived experiences.
Question: Peer support workers came from individuals with lived experience. It was important for co-production to not become a tokenistic gesture. There had been engagement with long standing Shine volunteers. How were individuals chosen for seat on the panel?
Response: Volunteers could be requested. In addition, individuals could be sought through mailing lists and social meetings.
Question: How did partnerships start and how did that look for the future?
Response: The future looked bright, and everyone was treated as equals. The partnership with LPFT originated further to the consideration of what peer support would look like. Collective and collaborative work was at the centre of everything Shine did.
Members expressed their gratitude to guest speakers for the information provided within discussions and for their work for suicide prevention.
The Chair echoed comments from members and thanked both guest speakers for their attendance and contributions to discussions.