End of year Statistical Report 2016/17
Once again, it has been an outstanding year for Volunteer Action. The service has seen an increase in demand in both the Community Transport and the Befriending service. In addition, a new Referral service has been established and between July and March supported just under 100 individuals living in the local area.
Community Car Service
The Community Car service has seen an additional 11441 miles driven this year and an extra 678 trips to hospitals, day care, shopping etc. We continue to work hard to recruit more drivers to ensure we can meet the growing demands from passengers and replace those drivers who have decided to retire. We have estimated that Volunteer drivers have donated over 22882 hours to the service, based on an average of 2 hours per trip – some trips are much shorter but others last the whole day!
Befriending Service
The Befriending service supports an average of 30 individuals, offering a minimum of 2 visits per month (unless the individual requests less or is poorly etc.). We estimate that befrienders donate about 1000 hours of their time each year. This service is unsupported by grants so is funded by donations and annual fundraising. A number of new agencies who operate in the area have made referrals to this service; these include First for Wellbeing and the Willowbrook Health centre, this is because of the promotion of our services at local meetings with other professionals. We have begun to focus on the recruitment of male befrienders to support a growing number of men who wish to use the service.
Referral Service
The referral service is a new service but has been very successful. Costed at £4k per annum, it is funded from general donations and grants. Since July, there have been 84 referrals to other agencies. The referrals have been to a variety of service providers, from those agencies who specialise in Benefits, to Housing and Aids and Adaptations. The service has also generated a small amount of income in the form of donations from the individuals who have directly benefited.
Service Value
The estimated total number of volunteer hours donated in 2016/17 was 25,326. If these hours were funded at the minimum wage level for 2016/17 (which was £7.20
per hour), the monetary value of the hours would have been £182,347.00. The value of our service to our customers is much greater.
Supporting individuals to live in their own home also results in significant savings for Social Care and Health, approximately £1.90 for every £1 spent on support, according to research reported by Capgemini Consulting.