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The Community Foundation for Planetary Healing(CFPH) is an extraordinary organisation. We are privileged to have somany dedicated volunteers who remain committed sharing the enthusiasm and vision of delivering high quality holistic serviceto our community. In 2007/8 the Foundation was supported by 12 regular volunteers, in 2008/2009 this increased to 20.That is no small achievement. Our volunteers truly are the key to our success.

Another year has passed in which significant developments have allowed us to grow from strength to strength. Due to thegrowth and success of the Community Holistic Health Project, we have upgraded our fire alarm system and created anadditional therapy room, which will undoubtedly be of substantial benefit to our community. These improvements deliver abuilding that is fit for purpose and meets the needs of our community.

As we offer support to so they in turn reciprocate that support as evidenced by the three main financially successful andemotionally uplifting fundraising events which took place in 2009 in support of the Foundation.

Another great achievement this year was receiving the Investing in Volunteers Awards. We are now able to support ourvolunteers better with new procedures in place, formal inductions, training, support and supervision.

I wish to thank Jed Pemberton for his outstanding contribution as our Trustee and treasurer. Due to his too manycommitments, he is stepping down from the board. He will be remembered for his meticulous and steadfast work. Jed wasin the Board for over 3 years and his contribution was invaluable. His input has laid down a strong legacy for our future.

Finally I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all volunteers. Their professionalism, inexhaustible dedication and love,makes the Foundation a deeply rewarding and inspiring charity to be part of.

2. Letter from Claudia Goncalves (co-founder/manager volunteer)

The CFPH is committed to providing the highest quality holistic therapies, yoga, relaxation, and personal development programmes while also delivering qualifying trainings and Native American teachings that emphasise the importance of our connection and respect for the Earth and all living beings through the Shamanic Centre.

Since 2003 when we first opened, we have been supporting people with holistic practices, ways of seeing and treating the person as a whole: mind, body and spirit.

Today we continue in our genuine concern for the health and well-being of our community and we stand behind our commitment of creating inclusion for all. With that in mind, while carrying the name planetary healing, seen by some as too ambitious, we have attempted to create an all-inclusive Centre that touches on the most important factor for balance between humankind and planet:”people”. If people are happy, balanced, healthier and stronger within themselves, their relationship and connection with our living planet and all beings that duels in it is also one that it happy, balanced and healthier bringing about a richer and more loving experience of life.

We believe that “the holistic way” should be available for everyone, independent of financial circumstances. That is why, even though we had no grants during this year, we were extremely innovative, pulled together our resources and expertise and continued to deliver therapies through the Holistic Health Project resulting in tangible benefits to disadvantaged members of our community. As Jude Warner’s says: “It is the love and integrity which fuels the running and the work at the Centre” and it is indeed a great honour to contribute to it.

Everyone at the Foundation shares a holistic vision and therefore strives to offer the highest quality of service to our community, offering a safe place for help, support and love, given when it is needed. None of our activities would have been possible without the commitment of all our volunteers, working together promoting holistic health and well being. I would like to thank everyone for their commitment, passion for the work and energy.

3. Who have made the Foundation possible from Oct 08 to Oct 09

Co-Founders: Claudia Goncalves and Mark Halliday
Honorary Trustee: Alma Shearer
Trustees: Mark Halliday, Jed Pemberton, Emily Boyd, Stewart Keith and Sue Tait
Volunteer Manager and Project Coordinator: Claudia Goncalves
Volunteer Therapists: Linda Hummel, Ann Fowler, Sheila McGovern, Denise Jones, Claudia Goncalves, Daila Consolaro, Jen Gould and Marta Zacharczuk
Volunteers Coordinator: Inez Patino
Library Coordinator: Jude Warner
Funding Coordinator: Denise Jones
Receptionists: Ewa Golebikowska, Brenda Buchan (up to June 09), Alma Shearer, Marjory Edmonson, Rosemary Nakawuka, Jude Warner
Transcriber and occasional receptionist: Elizabeth Mueller

4. Funding and planning

2008/2009 was a year where we had to face a number of financial challenges with the recession, we have received no outside funding for our Holistic Health Project and we have felt the impact of this. Nevertheless, despite the fact that there were no grants, the CFPH, supported by donations, our charitable activities and most importantly by our volunteers, has successfully delivered its services.

We began by looking at planning, making things happen in order to pull through the recession, continue delivering and improving the quality of our services. Trustee Sue Tait, highly experienced in planning and community involvement has helped the Foundation immensely in that respect. Investing in Volunteers programme, re-developing our websites to promote better our trainings and involving more our volunteers in all aspects of the organisation was part of that planning.

The achievement shown with the Investing in Volunteers awarded to the Foundation in October 2009, the commitment of the volunteer therapists, most of them in their second year volunteering in the project and now the fact that since beginning of October, Denise Jones, a highly experienced fundraiser is supporting the Foundation, makes 2010 a very promising year in deed.

5. Volunteers Training and Development

The CFPH is committed to providing a high standard of service to its service users. To enable this, we strive to ensure that our volunteers are motivated and included in decisions we make by participating and contributing at our Board meeting.

Two example of volunteers who have experienced the value of volunteer development are Inez Patino and Jude Warner. They have both started as receptionist years ago. Jude has since then taken the role as library coordinator and Inez the role as volunteers coordinator. They both report that this has helped them to feel more confident and even more passionate about their volunteering at the Foundation. Inez has delivered 18 induction trainings in 2009 to volunteers who were there already supporting the Foundation and new volunteers who joined recently. Our volunteers also joined in on Education and training programmes on mental health facilitated by the Mental Health & Wellbeing Team, NHS Lothian. As 47% of the users of our Holistic Health Project are affected by mental health, these education training has been of great help for awareness and also how to help those affected.

“I’ve got a lot from volunteering at the Foundation and it’s been over 3 years that I am there. It has given me opportunities to use some of my existing skills and also helped build up my confidence at a pace that feels right for me. I really enjoy doing something I believe in. There is a lot of warmth and kindness in our community and I also get to work with so many inspiring and caring people” (Inez Patino – volunteer’s coordinator)

“Volunteering at the Centre has been nothing short of a life-changing experience for me. Through the instant and continued support, acceptance and non - judgementalism, I have come to know myself in a more true and deep way. The Centre inspires soul-awakening! Mostly, I am grateful for the unconditional love and integrity at the heart of the Centre, which fuels its running and the work there. Mark and Claudia, all the therapists and volunteers are providing a much needed service for those in need of support, learning , remembering, growing and uniting. It is truly humbling and awesome to be able to help support such essential work. It is an honour and a privilege. More power to it and long may it continues!” (Jude Warner – receptionist and library coordinator for over 4 years)

“I have been working as a volunteer Homeopath at Foundation for two years now. We all share a common goal and that is to provide help and support to our community coming from a compassionate place in our hearts. In the time that I have worked there, I have not met one person, who would not stop what they are doing to help a person that needed their help. That is what I feel privileged to be a part of.” Sheila McGovern

6. What services we provide

HOLISTIC HEALTH PROJECT. The CFPH brought together a team of 8 professionals who as well as being highly experienced and successful as private therapists, volunteer once a week in the Holistic Health Project. The project was set up following a successful pilot to enable economically disadvantaged and vulnerable people to access complementary therapies. The project offers therapeutic one to one support service and yoga classes, helping participants improve their health and wellbeing, find the best way of coping and encourages them to take an active part in their journey towards living a full and hopeful life. The project is currently funded by donations received from its beneficiaries and other members of the community, assistance from other activities run by the Foundation and volunteers’ time. The objectives:

Remove people from their cycle of disadvantage and ill health and move them towards good health, emotional well-being together with positive social interaction
Increase people’s control of their own health by giving them choices and letting them choose what they need
Achieve the effective participation in our services of people from black and minority ethnic communities, single parent families, homeless people, or those who may become homeless as a result of domestic abuse , substance misuse, etc.
Have effective referral arrangements in place for ensuring linkage into full range of relevant services
Adjust and improve the delivery of our services whenever necessary and appropriate.

Testimonials:

'At a time in my life when my doctor decided to wean me off psychiatric medication, I had to confront the demons of childhood trauma - Planetary Healing has provided me with exceptional support, kindness and guidance. The integrity, commitment and knowledge and experience of the therapists is inspiring ' (M. H. From Edinburgh)

"I had no idea how important the Community Health Project is until myself and my daughter needed additional health support during a very traumatic time in our lives. We became homeless during 2009 and my daughter suffered from severe eczema which also required hospital treatment, whilst I struggled to cope both physically and emotionally. The Homeopathic and counselling care we received through the Holistic Project helped us when we most needed it, and supported us in ways that just weren't available through our doctor. It facilitated the healing of our trauma and also the physical recovery of my daughter's condition. There would have been no way for us to afford this invaluable service had the Project not existed. I strongly believe that without it, it would have taken far longer to re-establish our lives with a stable and healthy home” (A.L. from Edinburgh)

“Both my children and I have been accessing the Holistic Health Project and been treated with homoeopathy. I cannot begin to describe what a difference it has made to our lives. My son who is 13 was suffering from insomnia for quite a while, my daughter who is only 10 was on the verge of mental health and I was affected by extreme stress. The project has changed our lives for the better just like that! I am so grateful to the therapists. My family and I feel balanced and strong again. The project has helped us to have control of our health, feel better, feel supported and have hope for the future” (C. G. From South Edinburgh)

Our charitable purpose that received the greatest proportion of the services donated by members of our community was the advancement of health through the Holistic Health Project.

YOUTH VISION PROJECT. Two years ago the Foundation, together with visionary Sara Beauregard, set up Youth Vision, an early intervention project for young people aged 14 to 18 yrs old. Youth Vision provides support and learning to develop the inner awareness and self-esteem necessary for adolescents to make a healthy transition from childhood to adulthood. The project was such as success that in July 2009 it gained its own charitable status. This shows our success and the possibilities for Youth Vision now are infinite. The Foundation continues to support Youth Vision with Co-founder, Claudia Goncalves now sitting on the Board as a Trustee.

SHAMANIC CENTRE. CFPH training programmes on Native American ways through the Shamanic Centre supports the self development of individuals and provide high quality training opportunities. People from all walks of life are drawn to the Shamanic trainings and courses. Their participation and contributions have helped fund the beginning of Youth Vision and the Holistic Health Project.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN AFFECTED OR INFECTED BY HIV/AIDS. During the year of 2008/2009 we did 3 holistic fairs to support our adopted project in one of the most deprived areas in the Northeast of Brazil, Paraiba. From our visit to the project end of 2008 a DVD was produced showing the children, the facilitators and the progress they have achieved in supporting the children.

7. Who is our client group

We have 600 registered service users, 260 library members and over 80 project beneficiaries.
The client group using the Project free or by donation, is largely drawn from those on low incomes, state benefits, suffering or recovering from mental health issues including stress, depression and addiction problems, illnesses such a cancer, arthritis and general ill health. A number of the project users are elderly and from minority ethnic groups. Within the past 2 years over 80 people have benefited from the Holistic Health Project and this year alone 123 therapies were delivered from April to October 2009.
We believe that everyone who wishes should have access to complementary therapies regardless of income, ethnicity or gender orientation. We have a policy of access to all and with specific reference to those disadvantaged by low income, homelessness, displacement, ethnicity or gender.

In addition, opportunities are offered to all service users to become volunteers and take a full role in shaping our organisation, its activities and services.

8. Our achievements in 2008/2009

Worked towards and achieved the Investing in volunteers Awards
Delivered 106 one to one private sessions
Delivered 123 sessions by donation on the Holistic Health Project - Apr to Oct 09 with a short break during summer
9 people have joined in our yoga classes, introduced in the project in June 2009, benefiting from physical activity
Held two open days, one in April and one in September which were attended by over 100 people
Delivered 12 regular different classes and groups during the year
Delivered 6 workshops on self-development
Delivered qualified trainings to 11 people on the year 1 Foundation training in Shamanism
Started another 12 people on the new year 1 Foundation training in Shamanism
Started 6 people on year 2 Practitioner training in Shamanism
Successfully trained 8 people on Level 1 - Energy work – the power of Unconditional love
Worked towards and supported Youth Vision to achieve Charitable status
Organised 2 successful community fundraising events raising £1,005 for the Foundation
Upgraded our Fire alarm system, installed 2 fire doors and emergency lightings
Created an additional therapy room for the Holistic Health Project
Raised a total of £475 pounds for children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS in Brazil
Delivered Induction trainings to 18 of our volunteers
Implemented a programme of self-assessment, performance and review for all our volunteers

9. How we contribute towards the Scottish Government’s National Outcomes

Our services contribute to the Scottish Government National Outcomes by delivering services that enhance lives, by improving health and wellbeing, offering choices and opportunities to contribute to decision making and the wellbeing of the community. The following outcomes are directly and indirectly enhanced by The Foundation and in particular, The Holistic Community Health Project:

We live longer healthier lives - holistic and complementary therapies, yoga and relaxation
We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society - by reducing health inequalities and making sure our services are available to all
We have strong, resilient, and supportive communities where people take responsibility for their own actions and how they affect others - 20 people volunteer at the Foundation delivering high quality services for our community.

10. Plans for the future

Revise our currently monitoring and evaluation processes to include ongoing feedback mechanisms for groups to enable us to better measure the impact or our services.
Create a personal development plan for our project users, engage in exit interviews and possibly focus groups.
Install energy efficient heating system
Build 6 months reserve
Pay a Project Coordinator to maintain numbers and ensure efficient running of the Holistic Project
Develop a funding strategy to guarantee the Holistic Heath Project is always available for those most in need.
Increase the number of referrals and develop partnerships with various agencies.
Organise various community events to raise awareness about our community woodland in Balerno.
Have family days and workshops in the woodland to encourage interest in the natural and therapeutic value of the woodland, its habitats and what nature can share with us as a teacher.
Organise more fundraising activities to raise funds for the Foundation.
For many of our service users, the journey towards health and well-being continues moving on from one to one therapy sessions into group work, therefore, we plan to develop the yoga classes further, introduce meditation/relaxation and art therapy groups for users of our Project.
Continue building on our good name, working with authenticity and integrity.

11. Finances

The following chart shows the distribution of self generated income by our types of activities

In order for the Foundation to pull through such a difficult year for everyone with the recession and with no grants received in 2009, we had to be very creative to generate funds to cover our costs. We had 3 big fundraising events and offered more events by donations in order to bring in more participants to our services.
The Foundation also started a Fundraising appeal to raise money for a central heating system. Together with the initial appeal, an event in July and one in August, we raised a total of £1,005 towards our £4,500.00 target. We start the next financial year with another big event in the pipeline for end of October 2009.

12. Accounts

To be added (been prepared by accountant just now)

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ANNUAL REPORT 06.Oct.2007 to 05.Oct.2008

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CONTENTS:

01. Letter from the Chair

02. Board of Trustees

03. What we do

04. Users of our services

05. How we make a difference

06. Finances

07. Policies and Procedures

08. Volunteers

09. Neighbourhood Partnership

10. Developments for the year ahead

11. Other News

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01. LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

I am very proud of the inspiring work undertaken by our volunteers. Here is another successful year on which our good reputation is raised for delivering our high quality services with a steadfast professionalism. The commitment to high community involvement and participation is at the heart of our work.

Over the years we have also built a reputation for being accessible and supportive. A reputation built upon our hard work, integrity of facilitators, therapists and the ever-growing friendships rooted in the community.

One of the perennial strengths is that we have the confidence and trust of the community. This is shown through the fact that the majority of the people who come to use our services have heard by word-of-mouth that our services are good and that it can assist them.

Our biggest strength is the people from the community who volunteer with us and the amount of work and commitment they are prepared to give on a voluntary capacity to others.

Big thank you to all Youth Vision supporters and to all therapists who, for a whole year, volunteered for our Holistic Community Health Project with tremendous dedication and professionalism.

Huge thanks to Claudia for her dedication, impeccability and tireless effort, holding it all together, and also to my fellow trustees, whose experience and wisdom guide us along the path.

Well done everyone, well done Community Foundation for Planetary Healing!

Mark Halliday
Co-founder and Chair

REPORT 5th OCTOBER 2007 TO 6th OCTOBER 2008

OUR VISION: Well-being of people and planet

OUR AIM: Provide access to a holistic approach to health, well-being and support planetary healing within communities

HOW DO WE DO THAT: Bringing balance and well-being into one's life naturally brings balance and well-being to one's relationship with our living Planet.

The Community Foundation for Planetary Healing is a charity and company limited by guarantee registered since 2003. We do not do Alternative therapies, we do Complementary Therapies, and as the name speaks for itself, our holistic approach to health and well-being complements the orthodox medicine.
The objects of the Foundation are the promotion, study and practice of the art of holistic therapy for public benefit and in particular to foster the psychological, emotional and physical welfare of the community.

2. BOARD OF TRUSTESS

Alma Shearer: Nominated Board Member in Feb 2005, Alma has volunteered with the Foundation working directly and supporting users of our services since 2004. Blind since the age of 6, Alma is a great inspiration and supporter of the Foundation. Alma holds an honorary position in the Board.

Mark Halliday: Co-founder & Chair, Mark is also a major donor for the Foundation.

Jed Pemberton: Director of the Light Root Trust, Jed has a great interest and experience on indigenous traditions and holistic living. Jed is our Treasurer.

Emily Boyd: Emily is a retired Health Consultant with background experience of working with communities in Developing Countries. Emily is our vice-chair person.

Stuart Keith: Stuart has a lengthy working/social involvement with youngsters and adults with learning disabilities. He is also involved in community and social inclusion concerns. Stuart is our Fire and Safety Maintenance person.

3. WHAT WE DO

WITH OUR WORK WE:

Help people regain control of their lives when they find themselves going through challenging times. With our holistic approach, we complement the support orthodox medicine is already giving them. We do that through our HOLISTIC HEALTH PROJECT.

Work preventing people from developing future mental health issues related to lack of support, lack of belonging and lack of expression. We do that through our COMMUNITY INITIATIVE classes, groups and workshops with focus on well-being.

Support young people age 14 to 18 yrs old to have a healthy and happy transition into adulthood. We do that through our YOUTH VISION PROJECT.

Bring communities together, strengthening our local community’s network capacity with actions to make our world a better world. We do that through our CHARITABLE HEALING FAIRS: supporting children affected/infected by HIV/AIDS in Brazil. Community supporting Community: increasing social well-being.

4. USERS OF OUR SERVICES

We have an open door policy, people can “drop in” at the Centre any time and we also have a policy of never turning anyone away and will go the extra mile to ensure a positive outcome.

We currently have 700 members who receive our newsletter and programme information. 290 are regular users of our library services, 65 are users of our Holistic Community Health Project. Overall there has been an increase in the number of users, particularly since we started the Holistic Health Project in Jan 2008.

An average 200 people a month access our services at the Foundation. These are users accessing classes, groups, workshops, trainings, have one to one complementary therapies with the Integrated Therapists, groups accessing our Holistic Health project and also our volunteers.

5. HOW OUR WORK MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Improving health and well being of individuals

Our provision of educational classes such as holistic massage, meditation, relaxation and yoga are designed to help empower people, helping them to de-stress, sleep better, think more clearer, improve muscle tone, posture, balance, co-ordination and circulation and have more control of their health. Feed-back from participants indicates that our services have a positive impact on their mental and general health, promoting feelings of well-being. Our classes are designed by members of the local community themselves. Basically they put themselves forward to share their knowledge and skills with other members of the community.
Our services bring people from all backgrounds together. One very important factor for people going through challenging times or struggling financially is that quite often they don't have the opportunity to mix with others. Feed-back from people who use our services shows that the way how we deliver our services as “open to all” enhances their lives and alleviate those feelings by enabling them to join in classes and activities to meet and mix with others that they otherwise wouldn't be able to do so. Our policies and code of conduct make sure vulnerable people using our services are always protected.

Increasing involvement

Our classes are on a sliding scale according to financial means and by donations. This gives a wider number of people the opportunity to access our services. More people are able to engage and get involved more in the community through volunteering for the project. As well as the 8 therapists we have 4 volunteers (one a day) doing reception work.

Opportunities: Employment and further education

Volunteers involved in supporting the delivery of our services gain skills, confidence and experience, which also gives them encouragement to consider employment.
During 07/08 we gave 6 written references on job applications for our volunteers. 4 of them were successful on their applications. (2 references for therapeutic massage at the airport, 1 reference for book keeping at Melting Pot, 1 reference for Capability Scotland, 2 references for jobs as carers)
Two of our volunteers have engaged in further education (nursing and teaching).
We have 21 self-employed therapists registered in our list of Integrated therapists and people contact them to book private sessions.
We also deliver accredited complementary therapies training courses, giving people opportunities to gain skills, confidence, qualifications and employment.

Holistic Community Health Pilot Project – Health and Well-being

Our registration form have asked those that have used the project over the past year, what impact our project have in their lives. Overall the feedback was very positive with respondents saying that they felt much better and their health and well-being have improved after using the services. Some of the more specific comments were:

“ I use Reiki to help me to be on a peaceful level and help me with any pain or symptoms that I have. Massage helps to keep me balanced and just feels great.” (User with arthritis and crohns disease)

“The project is very worthwhile one and helps people to access treatments that maybe they could not normally afford. I feel a new person”.
(Pensioner going through bereavement)

“ The therapies help me to get in touch with myself. It gives me strength, hope and confidence. (User suffering from depression)

“I am working with bi-polar, the complementary therapies I have received through the project have a big impact in my life” (user with bi-polar)

The Holistic Community Health Project was supported mainly by the 8 professional therapists who volunteered their services for free. A small contribution was given by the users of the project, which supported some of the core costs of the project. A total of £1,165.00 was generated by their contributions. The project was also supported by co-founder Claudia Goncalves who volunteered her services as project manager. The project also received £250 grants from JTH charitable Trust. Our aim for the coming year is to raise funds for a full salary for the manager.
A total of 182 therapies were delivered in the pilot project last year and it proved to be a great success and of great need for our local community.

Youth Vision Project – Early Intervention

About a quarter of the Scottish population is under the age of 19. At any one time about 10% of them have mental health problems that are so substantial that they have difficulties with their thoughts, feelings, their behaviour, their learning, their relationships, on a day to day basis. (NHS Health Scotland – formerly Public Health Institute for Scotland – 2003)

Amongst Youth Vision project's 5 objectives is a commitment to improve the confidence and self esteem of the young people engaging with our programme. Young people's intrinsic lack of confidence and self esteem are major issues in Young People's realisation of their full potential.

Our Youth Vision programme offered the young people an opportunity to move smoothly through he transition from childhood into adulthood. I also helped them to develop their social skills working as a community learning survival skills outdoors, e.g. building a fire together, cooking lunch outdoors together, learning to build shelter, etc. By working in a team, they had the opportunity to learn new skills, which will have a positive impact in their lives. 6 young people completed our 12 weeks programme between April and June 2008.

Feed-back on our youth programme shows that our activities improve the confidence and mental well-being of young people. We apply a focused, structured and fun youth work approach outdoors with a lot of emphasis on listening and being heard.

The project evaluate its services through asking young people to complete a monitoring and evaluations forms, before they start the programme and after they complete the programme. A very important part of the project is to help the young people to find their own inner gifts, which they have and can offer the world. This was proven to be extremely successful and gave the young people a sense of proud and achievement. A number of benefits to the young people participating in Youth Vision have been evidenced and illustrated in evaluations and in the Youth Vision Report.

We also delivered a short programme to “The Circle Project” from Craigroyston School, where 7 young people had a day taster of the Youth Vision Programme.

St Augustine High School, Tyne Castle High School, Graicemount High School, Leith Academy and Shelter, all contacted us very interested in Youth Vision and two of them referred young people to our programme.

6. FINANCES

In 2007/2008 the Community Foundation for Planetary Healings was funded by donations received and also by self generated income through the delivery of our charitable services. Grants brought forward from previous year received from Awards for All supported the Youth Vision project. Also, grants brought forward from previous year received from Community Scotland were spent on training for Youth Vision.

An estimated total of £32,884.00 on voluntary services was received on this years’ account.

VOLUNTARY INCOME

Donations:                                                                                                         6,698.60
Charitable and Fundraising Activities                                                        18,593.28
*Grants from JTH Charitable Trust                                                                  250.00
*Grants from Awards for All & Communities Scot. brought forward   5,694.00
TOTAL VOLUNTARY INCOME                                                      32,261.81

EXPENDITURE

Charitable and Fundraising Activities                                                     10,689.97
Volunteer costs                                                                                            1,826.40
Overheads costs                                                                                        13,867.40
* Awards for All & Communities Scotland grants Spent Youth Vision   5,694.00
TOTAL EXPENDITURE                                                            32,077.77

*Restricted funds

7. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

During 2007/2008 the Foundation developed even more Procedures and Policies due to the development of our two projects the Youth Vision and the Holistic Health project. We are constantly watching and updating our health and safety procedures as well as Policies on working with vulnerable people.

8. VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers who volunteer with us state that their work helps them feel involved in the local community, gives them something to look forward to and helps them to develop skills.

We are also always looking to improve our standards so we have started the Investing in Volunteer Programme with the Edinburgh Volunteer Centre this year. The Scheme has been helping the Foundation to improve its policies and make positive changes to give a more structured support to our team of volunteers.

In June 2008, during national volunteering week, out of our 18 volunteers, 4 received the Edinburgh Inspiring Volunteering Awards: Alma Shearer: for Partnership; Jude Warner: for Commitment; Jen Gould: for Impact and Claudia Goncalves: for Innovation

We are proud to be an organisation led by volunteers, run by volunteers with a rich culture and history of community involvement.

9. NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNERSHIP

The Foundation is actively engaged in the Neighbourhood Partnership.
Delivering on its promise to devolve decision-making power to local communities, the City of Edinburgh Council has set up 12 Neighbourhood Partnerships (NPs) across Edinburgh to “improve quality of life” for local communities – designed to make local services better and better integrated, and to give local people more of a say in how these services are planned and delivered.

The key task of the Nps is to involve local people in the decisions that affect them and to monitor local performance and service standards. Meetings are held in public, at least four times a year.

Since March 2008, The Community Foundation for Planetary Healing's co-founder, Claudia Goncalves is sitting on the Portobello and Craigmillar NP Board, co-representing the voluntary sector in the area with Terrie Tempo from Graigmillar. The Board is made up of the three local councillors, three community representatives, the Police, NHS Lothian and the Voluntary Sector.

As a representative of the voluntary sector, Claudia focus is on helping local voluntary organisations of Portobello and Craigmillar to come together to tackle shared issues, to fully participate in the NP, ensuring that the local voluntary sector is an effective partner and has a voice. Being part of the Board has also helped immensely to raise the profile and the awareness of our organisation. Through Nps local organisations like us can influence strategic thinking, and ensure that our priorities are the neighbourhood's priorities.

10. DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

In order to consolidate and guarantee the consistency and availability of the project for our service users, raise funds for the project manager's salary is essential and must be number one in our priority list. The project would also greatly benefit from an Administrator post included in the plan.
Continue to develop the partnership with Craigmillar Community, coming together to tackle shared health inequalities issues. We want to bring more people from Craigmillar to use our Holistic Community Health Project and benefit from the therapies we offer.
Youth Vision's next natural development is to become a recognised charity. As the parent organisation, the Foundation will continue to support and strive for Youth Vision's continue success.
Install Central Heating, an Electronic Fire System and an extra therapy room in order to maximise space availability and safety for our Holistic Health Project users.

11. OTHER NEWS

Co-Founders receive Award at the Scottish Parliament for their volunteering work

On the 30th of May 2008, co-founders Claudia and Mark were invited to the Scottish Parliament to be presented with a certificate for Inspiring Volunteer Achievement in recognition to the tremendous impact of their volunteering within the community.

July 2008 co-Founders visit the HIV/AIDS project the Foundation helps in Brazil

Tears came down as project works in Brazil, joined by the children, circled around co-founders Claudia Goncalves and Mark Halliday and sang the hummingbird song of goodbye from their heart. A memory they will treasure forever. The visit coincided with the inauguration of the New House for the Children. Jen Gould and Celia Mckenna also joined the co-founders on the Visit. 10 days of hard but happy work was given by the visitors to help finish the house on time for the children. Jen also trained a group of facilitators and “social mum” in Reiki and basic massage to help support the children. Celia used her wonderful skills to create a film about the Project. The visit opened up more opportunities for volunteer exchanges between Brazil and Scotland. There are 2 people already interested in going to Brazil to volunteer in 2009.

Annual Report 06.Oct.2006 to 05.Oct.2007

CONTENTS:

1. Chair’s Report – Mark Halliday

The Foundation for Planetary Healing continues to foster the enhancement of the quality of life and health of members/users by supporting their psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being.

We strive to create and maintain a warm, friendly and inclusive environment where people feel safe, valued and encouraged to develop their full potential.

Active community involvement in decision-making and shaping the future of the Charity has been at the heart of our work with regular meetings and consultation taking place providing the opportunity for everyone to have a say, give direction and contribute to the Foundation’s growth and expansion.

Thanks to all our users, volunteers and trustees in supporting the Foundation to achieve its aims.

Organisational Structure

At the last AGM on 20th of May 2007 four new trustees were appointed for a
period of five years. Co-founder Claudia Goncalves stepped down after serving on the Board for 3 years. The new Board of 6 members meet at least three times a year. At meetings trustees make general decisions, consider strategic direction, make policies and consider risks.

2. Board of Trustees

Mark Halliday: Co-founder & Chair, Mark is also a major donor for the Foundation.

Jed Pemberton: Director of the Light Root Trust, Jed has a great interest and experience on indigenous traditions and holistic living. Jed is our Treasurer.

Emily Boyd: Emily is a retired Health Consultant with background experience of working with communities in Developing Countries. Emily is our vice-chair person.

Fiona Gilbertson - Fiona brings a wealth of 5 years experience as Board member of Positive Voice in Scotland.

Members’ Participation and contribution to the Foundation

12 volunteers support the day to day running of the Foundation.
A group of over 10 facilitators and 20 complementary therapists from the local community deliver the classes, groups and therapy sessions.
Co-founders Cláudia Gonçalves, Mark Halliday together with another 10 invited facilitators, deliver the workshops and trainings over the year.
8 professionals deliver the Youth Vision Project
6 volunteer therapists deliver the Community Health Project.

The community-spirit and team spirit is what makes it possible.

3. Corporate Objects

The objects of the Foundation are the promotion, study and practice of the art of holistic therapy for public benefit and in particular to foster the psychological, emotional and physical welfare of the community. In furtherance of which but not otherwise the Foundation seeks to:

Nurture the personal development of individuals within the community through holistic therapies
Make a positive difference in the community by offering a recreational/holistic therapeutic base for the well - being, self-development and inner growth of individuals within the community.
Promote the revival of ancient healing methods and natural healing practices
Support individuals through whole-person approaches in workshops, group discussions, creative activities, and complementary therapies
Provide access to educational resources such as books, tapes, cds or other means
Assist individuals who are restricted financially by providing them access to services offered by the Foundation through bursary fund.
Promote public education in the practice and principles of yoga, meditation, relaxation techniques, dance, drama, art, music and holistic therapies
Provide a meditation/retreat room for the community
Provide a library and a reading room for the community
Provide conferences, seminars, training, workshops, and networking opportunities to enable members of the community to develop personal growth.
Promote cultural exchange and voluntary community work between the UK, the Americas and other Continents

During the year we made significant progress towards the achievement of each of these objectives as shown below.

4. Facts and figures: Services delivered

Two new projects targeting economically disadvantaged people within our community started to be developed at the Foundation in Oct 06: Youth Vision Project and the holistic Community Health Project.

6 Young people registered for the Youth Vision Pilot project. 4 complete the pilot which was delivered from Oct to Nov.06.

32 complementary therapy sessions were delivered in our Community Health Pilot Project during Oct to Dec 06.

597 member/users are registered in our database.

227 people are currently registered as library members and around 180 of them are regular users. During this year 216 books were registered as borrowed from the library.

850 people registered in our fire safety/visitors book since its introduction in Feb 07 making it approximately 100 entries per Month. Registration is for classes, workshops, complementary therapies, volunteer and users of the library. It does not include visitors for the craft-shop.

An estimated total of £23,962 on voluntary services was received last year. £940 credits were given to volunteers estimated around £3,342 on voluntary work. Two volunteers do not claim credit: Nadia Nike who takes care of the finances and Claudia Goncalves the volunteer manager. Between both of them they work an average 37 hours per week estimated at £20,720 per year.

Individual complementary therapies are provided on an appointment basis and occasionally on a drop in basis. 240 individual therapy sessions took place during 2006-07.

488 entries were registered as bookings for classes, groups and workshops.

8 facilitators went through the recruitment process for Youth Vision and also attended 3 days of initial training on Wilderness Rites of Passage with David Wendl-Berry, one of the most widely known and experienced consultants on Rites of Passage in the UK.

5. Principal Activities in 2006-07

Community Health Project For 3 months,10 therapists delivered a wide range of therapies for the community as a Pilot Project to find out if there was a need, and what it was that the community wanted.

50% of the people who came did so because of stress related problems; 30% due to mental health issues, specifically depression and anxiety; 20% to improve their well-being. Half- price was still too expensive for many people: homeless people were not able to pay half price only give a donation.

With the Pilot we found that stress, depression and anxiety is a major cause of ill health causing for instance absence from work. The ‘orthodox’ treatments delivered by the NHS is often overloaded and the time it takes for clients to restore their health and see them returning to work is quite often very lengthy. Complementary Therapies can work in conjunction with orthodox medicine enhancing and supporting its treatments helping an individual’s body to rebalance and accelerating the healing process. The pilot gave us a good base and experience to develop the project further in the coming year.

Participants: People on income support, housing benefit, incapacity benefit, carer’s allowance, homeless or people at risk of becoming homeless, people with mental health conditions, single parent under stress, the elderly, asylum seekers/refugees, 16 or 17 yrs under stress and people with a health condition.

Youth Vision Project: For 6 weeks we delivered the Youth Vision pilot project. The objective was to establish a need for the project and consider the views of the young people.

They gave the following feedback:

“I really enjoyed getting out of the city every weekend and it was good fun.”

“I most enjoyed making lunch and building a fire.”

“I most enjoyed working together and taking part in a team.”

“I feel the programme is a complete success and hope it will change more peoples lives in the future”

After a successful pilot we received grants from Awards for All and Communities Scotland to start developing the project. We will work outside school hours in the field of informal education and offer young people meaningful and positive experiences through teamwork and sharing, having fun and being outdoors.

The outdoors can be an important tool in helping young people deal with a range of social problems. Through discussions and sharing, many issues such as drugs, alcohol, antisocial behavioural, lack of confidence and/or trust and other problems can be addressed. The main objective is to support young people to work well in community and integrate with the adult world in a positive way.

The project targets young people who have low self-esteem, lack confidence, are underachieving in school, not in employment, education or training (NEET), have behavioural problems and/or other issues that can affect a healthy transition into adulthood.

Integrated Therapists: 20 qualified and experienced therapists offered complementary therapists offer sessions to the Community.

Meditation/relaxation/yoga/massage/therapies: A different class every evening of the week was available for the community.

Library one of the most popular services offered by the Foundation: 500 books provide access to education on holistic approaches to health, world spiritualities and well-being.

Charitable Healing Fair: We had 3 fairs where therapists donate their work for free, and the monies raised went to children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS in Brazil and South Africa.

6. Other progress made since last Annual Report

Volunteer Involvement From 12 volunteers we have now 18 who assist with reception, events, enable longer opening hours and lower staff costs in delivering the Community Health Project and the Youth Vision Project and administration work in general. We estimate that without this volunteer help, at least two full time staff members would be required to undertake “front of house” duties at a cost of approximately £26,000 a year.

"People really need such a place as the Foundation. I am proud that I can help this to exist!" Jude Warner, volunteer for 3 years

7. Financial Review

Our success in obtaining new funding for 2006/07 from Awards for All and Communities Scotland provided the much - needed resources to start the Youth Vision Project.

A key part of our ethos is to be ‘open to all’ and that barriers to access our services are minimised. The pricing structure for our services is on a sliding scale according to income high/medium/low income. The main bulk of our income comes from this source. 50% of our users access our services through the low-income price charged.

The principal funding sources were:

£ 13,895 income self-generated through the charitable services offered
£ 7,388 donations received
£10,000 Awards for All for the Youth Vision Project
£ 2,950 Communities Scotland for specialised training for Youth Vision Project

8. Policies

Equal Opportunities Policy

The Foundation has an equal opportunities policy. Our policy on equal opportunity states that all volunteers and or staff (when applicable) should be treated equally irrespective of their sex, marital status, age, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, working pattern, employment status, gender identity (transgender), caring responsibility or trade union membership.

Disclosure Scotland Policy

The Foundation is very committed to ensuring that vulnerable people, whether children, young people or adults at risk, are protected and kept safe from harm while they are with facilitators and volunteers in our organisation. In order to achieve this we ensure that facilitators and volunteers are carefully selected, screened, trained and supervised.

9. Future Developments

In the year ahead we will:

Specifically continue to focus on developing, establishing and implementing the Youth Vision Project and the Community Health Project.

With the Community Health project our aim is to make sure that those who are economically disadvantaged have the opportunity to access the same services as everyone else.

With the Youth Vision Project our aim is to give Young people the opportunity to mark and celebrate their transition into adulthood. Help them build a strong inner foundation as a base and support for a healthy balanced adulthood.

Develop a strategy plan for 3 years ahead and for income generation – the Foundation already raises some income. The question is how to develop this strand of work, and in particular, with reference to services to vulnerable and marginalized individuals that need to be offered free at the point of delivery.

In order to maintain a culture of excellence in volunteer management and development, we have registered for the Investing in Volunteers Fund run by the Volunteer Centre Edinburgh and are ready and looking forward to start the programme.

We have been, and will continue to, work with EVOC (The Edinburgh Voluntary Council), receiving support and guidance.

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Policies

We have over 700 members/users registered with us. Users of our services are at the heart of everything we do. We pride ourselves on meeting all the standards in policies and procedures, whether these be set by government, grant providers, the community or ourselves. We regularly update our policies, review our processes, systems and the performance of our volunteers and facilitators working through the Community Initiative.

Below is a list of all our policies, procedures and documents in place. They are available for the public in a folder at the reception at the Centre in Portobello as well as electronically whenever requested.

Code of Conduct
Equal Opportunities Policy
Health and Safety Policy
Volunteer Policy
Child Protection Policy
Protecting children and/or Adult at risk Policy
Secure Handling, use, storage and retention of Disclosure Information Policy
Recruitment of ex-offender Policy
Managing Fire Safety Document
Written agreement with expectations, roles and responsibilities for: Community Initiative Facilitators, Youth Vision Facilitators, Volunteers, Integrated therapists and Therapists volunteering in the Health Project.
Induction Training document containing: Disclosure Scotland, disciplinary procedures, dealing with sensitive issues, procedures for responding to concerns about abuse/neglect, name of the officers for Child protection and Adults at Risk, Confidentiality, Complaints, Grievances, Policy on Whistle Blowing and Data protection.
Lone working policy

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