In spite of the enormous pressure on public sector finance this has been another successful year for Lifeline. This is due entirely to the efforts of our staff and volunteers and I would like to record the thanks of the Board of Trustees for all the hard work they have put in over the past year.

As a charity at this time, our first duty is to be alert to the current environment, and to adapt in the right ways. Our timely governance review and our forward-looking teams led us to the embark on this journey some time ago. We had already embraced a root and branch review with energy and optimism well before the economic downturn. We established new governance structures fit for a dynamic sector, with new strategic aims which I have described in previous annual reports.

This put us in a good position to quickly expand the reach of our transformation efforts once the fuller impact of the cuts became clear. We engaged the full workforce in an exercise that clarified our mission, vision and values: what they mean, and of equal importance, what they do not. Everyone has had the opportunity to contribute, and we are now moving forward with determination. Lean organisational consultations are driving our recovery strategy forward. Demonstrable growth in access to on-the-ground recovery is leading to improved outcomes and opening up new routes into volunteer training. We will do everything we can to facilitate and deliver the best results efficiently, and flexibly.

We will not, though, leave behind unfairly those people who are unable to stay on the right side of public opinion. We will not abandon those many people unable to benefit from the priority focus on abstinence and employment. We will not redistribute our efforts at the expense of the most needy. Continued...

Fit for purpose

The new financial environment inevitably brings with it anxiety and uncertainty. We pay a lot of attention to how we manage expectations and maintain the right internal focus, in a very challenging external atmosphere. But the call for efficiency also brings an appetite for increased connection to our Mission, not just from the board and financial stakeholders, but from a much broader base in our workforce. We embraced the opportunity to engage our beneficiaries and lead our employees in an organisational improvement programme that includes efficiency. We are already seeing results as many of our workers seek out ever more innovative and effective ways to get results. The new climate allows and encourages more engaged and productive ways of working with people with substance use problems and affected communities.

We appreciate that many of our grant making bodies, local commissioners and other stakeholders are also facing unprecedented change and challenges. We are keen to work alongside all our stakeholders as collaboratively and flexibly as we can to ensure we deliver the best outcomes we are able. In the same vein, we must strive to become ever clearer about what we are here to do. In order to anchor our efforts productively amid contradictory policy, practice and financial demands, we must know who we serve. I encourage you to explore this Review further to hear from our beneficiaries.

• We need to ensure that the funds we generate are spent on the Individuals and communities we exist to engage with.
• We must be confident that our workforce - paid and volunteer - are clear about the role they are to play in the lives of others.
• We must ensure the campaigns and product we deliver have impact in line with our Mission.
• Most critically, we must be absolutely certain that what we do is of tangible value to the populations we serve, people needing our support, and our stakeholders.
  

John Scampion