Annual Report 2010

Chair’s Report for Annual General Meeting 2009/10

Overview of activities for the year September 2009 – September 2010

The Sutherland Trust has now been in existence for over fifteen years.  It is a Scottish Charity which supports work in education, health and social care through attention to the importance of human relations for human services.  The specific annual remit of the Sutherland Trust is to organise two public lectures and seminars per year and to award small sums of money for bursaries allocated to people who wish to pursue studies with an underpinning psychodynamic ethos.

In the year September 2009 – September 2010, the successes that we can record are:

• Two public lectures which attracted over one hundred and twenty people for each event and included a number of new attendees
• Allocation of £2,500 for bursaries for seventeen people involved in educational endeavours
• A healthy financial balance as of August 2010
• Co-operation with other like-minded organisations and financial assistance given to two other public events
• The research project associated with the monies ((£300,000 over three years ) awarded to the Sutherland Trust by the Gordon Small Trust involving the Scottish Prison Service and in association with experts from the Tavistock Consultancy Service is underway and on schedule
• Successful maintenance of the new office bearer roles allocated to trustees at the September 2009 AGM
• Successful combination of the roles of administrator and development worker for the Sutherland Trust

Specific events run by the Sutherland Trust

The autumn lecture in October 2009 was entitled “Applying psychodynamic thinking in political contexts” and was delivered by John, Lord Alderdice who is a consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, former Leader of the Alliance Party, member of the independent Monitoring Commission and current President of the Liberal International. He was one of the founders of the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations and is an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society. In this lecture, Lord Alderdice reflected upon the application of a psychodynamic understanding in situations of conflict and sectarianism. The working party which conceived and organised this event worked particularly hard at attracting local politicians to this event.  

This was a powerful and thought provoking lecture which attracted numerous positive comments about the extent to which the ideas were transferable to organisational dynamics and work situations.

The spring lecture in May 2010 focused upon the links between the underpinning ideas and values of the Recovery Movement and psychodynamic thinking and was entitled “Recovery meets psychoanalysis – but are they on speaking terms”. This was an innovative event in which a dialogue occurred between Professor Julian Lousada from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and Professor Julie Repper from Nottingham University who is currently Recovery Lead in Nottingham Healthcare Trust.

The organising committee were significantly assisted by members of the Lothian Recovery Network and the event was chaired by an ex-trustee – Dr Steve Tilley. Ten sponsored places were offered by the LRN and NHS Lothian. This was matched by ten places from the Sutherland Trust and a certificate was issued to those who requested this for continuous professional development purposes.

Again, the response to this event was very encouraging with the attendees commenting upon the way the event was structured as a conversation and making explicit the areas of endorsement or tension between psychodynamic thinking and recovery. A seminar followed this event and was attended by eight people who debated the key ideas and issues which had emerged from the conversation.

This event specifically emerged from the September 2009 conversation which followed the AGM in which key speakers from health, education and social care were asked to consider and reflect upon the conceptual, practical and theoretical links between the recovery movement and psychodynamic thinking.

The ambience which is created by the café style of seating at the public lectures which maximises communication both between speakers and between people who attend the lectures continues to be successful.  

Sutherland Trust Finances

This is a challenging time for charities with the recession affecting donations. The financial position of the Sutherland Trust remains robust with in excess of £30,000 in reserve.  This is inflated by the monies received from the Gordon Small Trust for the Prisons project and £9,557 remains in restricted funds for this project.   However, we are aware that the Gordon Small Trust has now ceased to exist and no more funds will be available from that longstanding source.

While, lectures are attracting a wider audience the net income from those events has resulted in less than £200.   The Trustees and Administrator have financially tailored the main lecture provision and it is considered that this cannot sustain any further cuts without affecting the quality of the event. Our financial position is carefully monitored by the Trustees at each meeting and a monthly worksheet is provided by the administrator. Financial contributions to date have been received from one source and monies have been provisionally agreed from the Esme Fairbairn Trust and Mary Hartnoll. We have asked our Patrons to assist in finding additional sources of funding for the Sutherland Trust

Organisation of the Sutherland Trust Events

All events are planned at the four regular Sutherland Trust meetings and small working parties ensure that the ideas fit with the values of the Trust, the logistics are organised and that help is given to our administrator to mount the event.     The venue which has been chosen for the last four years continues to be a success and is conducive to the type of event which has been planned.   Marketing style has remained the same in terms of the postcards which advertise the event and they have become a signature of the Sutherland Trust lectures.

Sutherland Trust Awards Scheme

This is a primary remit of the Sutherland Trust and demand has increased this year. The small group responsible for receiving and considering applications carefully check demand with available resources and although smaller amounts have been allocated this year, it has been reported that the nature of that financial help has been invaluable to applicants. To date fifteen awards have been made.

It has been agreed that those people who have been beneficiaries of a Sutherland Trust award should be invited to the conversation after the September 2010 AGM to help the trustees understand how the awards have furthered their continuous professional development. This will be chaired and run by trustees within the Awards group

Governance of the Sutherland Trust

There are four meetings plus an AGM per year of the Sutherland Trust and in those meetings the governance of the Trust is always discussed.   Attendance is good and the meeting is always quorate. Business cards have been designed by our administrator and have been allocated to each Trustee. One of our Trustees has taken a year out due to work commitments but we look forward to welcoming her back in 2011/12. We abide by OSCR recommendations and although we have always worked with an action plan, this will now be formalised into a Business Plan for the Sutherland Trust and the first draft of this will be discussed in September 2010. All accounts are monitored monthly and then are verified by solicitors.

Profile of the Sutherland Trust

Work on the website has continued to ensure public access to forthcoming activities and this has been partly responsible for increasing audiences at the lectures. Reciprocal links with SIHR have continued and an event planned for the autumn of 2009 entitled Crossing the Boundary – leadership across professional boundaries was to have been both financially sponsored and chaired by the Sutherland Trust. Regretfully this event did not attract sufficient numbers of participants to proceed.  

The Sutherland Trust offered £100 sponsorship to an event dealing with a study day/seminar concerning the psychodynamics of ageing which took place in April 2010.

In October 2010, the Sutherland Trust have agreed to jointly sponsor the second event run by the Scottish Institute of Human Relations in the Working Below the Surface series entitled “Conflict and Resilience – what is really going on in organisational life”

The collaboration between the Sutherland Trust and the Tavistock Consultancy Service on the Scottish Prison Service project which is aimed at promoting a developmental approach to dealing with organisational and relational challenges will be a significant aspect of the Sutherland Trust profile over the next three years.   Progress is steady and work has begun in one Scottish Prison with the intention of moving on to other units.  A research assistant is now required to record and analyse the project and will be paid from the Project funds.

Proposed Action Plan for the Sutherland Trust 2010 – 2011

Grateful thanks are offered to all Trustees for their steadfast support of the Sutherland Trust.  This involves considerable gift of personal time to organise lectures, seminars, the SPS project, organising the Business Plan and co-operation with other organisations.   Particular thanks are offered to office bearers and to Marshal Schwenn for his calm administration of the Sutherland Trust, attention to detail and facilitating each public event.

Dr Sheena E. E. Blair
Chair 2009/10

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