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Welcome
Tim Beynon: Hello and welcome to this special highlights episode
of the Charity show, the podcast for Charity Insiders by Charity Insiders.
Please rate, follow or subscribe to us on our usual podcast platform. And
here's what's coming up as we take a look back at season one.
Katie Docherty: And the british people were continuing to give to
charity. And what that has meant for this country is that 18.9 billion pounds
was donated by the british public, which is just amazing, but less people are
giving.
Zoe Amar: So I'm not one of these people who believes that
there's going to be a complete bonfire of jobs. But I think that you have to be
ready for a situation where your organisational structure and roles and
responsibilities and delivery models and indeed your culture is probably going
to look very different.
Richard Jane: That's always a bit nervy. To actually change what
you're called is a huge step to take. You're looking at something which has no
story around it. There's nobody stood next to it filling in the gaps for you.
There's no photos, there's no other visuals to go with it. So I think there's
that bit where you need to back it up with research. You need to have some of
those conversations, you need to make some sensible decisions, but at some
point you're going to have to take that leap.
Looking back at Season 1
Tim Beynon: Hello and welcome to this rather different episode of
the Charity show as we take a look back at season one. My name is Tim Bohnen,
head of market engagement at the firefighters Charity. And although I say,
well, take a look back at the last few episodes, basically it's just me this
week as Piers is busy sunning himself on a beach somewhere, probably no doubt
browsing the voluntary sector manifesto as he sips a pina colada by the pool.
Anyway, we're both basically taking a couple of weeks off over the summer, so
we thought what better way to fill the gap than by listening back to some of
the best bits from our first seven episodes. And I must say it's been a
brilliant first few months. Piers and I have both really enjoyed it and we're
really hugely grateful for all the incredible feedback you've given us, as
well, of course, as being incredibly grateful to all those amazing guests
who've joined us on the show. When we set out to do this, we wanted to make a
show that gave other Charity professionals, not that I'm really sure piers and
I can call ourselves professionals, but anyway, nevermind. We wanted to give
listeners something that could hopefully inspire them to think differently, to
hear from folks who are doing great things and who have a great story to share.
People like Alex Staniforf, the inspirational founder of Mind Over Mountains,
who we spoke to in episode one. Tell me a little bit about the inspiration you
touched on the inspiration there for the Charity. A little bit. But tell me a
little bit more about that in terms of what inspired you to launch the charity
and then also what inspired you to launch it in 2020 when the world was heading
towards somewhat of a lockdown on a global scale. So tell me about those two
things.
Alex Staniforth: Sure.
Alex Staniforth: Mind over Mountains
So, first question around inspiration. It came purely from my own
experiences. I think most charities start with a problem and trying to be a
solution to the problem and every charity exists to not exist. Sadly, I don't
think we're ever going to eradicate a problem as big as mental ill health. I've
suffered with my own mental health battle since you've been a teenager. I've
been very lucky that I've been pretty high functioning, but I've had angiosy
since I was a kid. several bouts of low mood and depression. I had an eating
disorder, bulimia, for eight years. And, I naturally and fortunately found the
outdoors and running or walking or cycling just gave me a way not to ignore
that, but to manage it. And I feel that everybody should have access to that.
Ah, I think with access to more natural, natural, tools, it's not just a
plaster on the problem, it's a proactive tool for stopping people getting to a
really good place. and so what really struck me was when I did climb the UK,
which was one of my big challenges, and, I mentioned before climbing to the
highest of all the counties in the UK, you know, nearly 5000 miles of cycling,
walking and running and kayaking. It took me longer to get an appointment for
my bulimia than it did to cycle, run, walk 5000 miles. And I was like, wow, I
feel really fortunate because I've got something, I've got a. Something that
can help me get back up again from the trough. What about everybody else? And
it really struck me. And the idea for might of a mountains was never really planned.
I mean, I never planned to start a charity at 24, but the demand and the need
was there. So, as a result of being open and talking about my struggles,
writing on social media, writing blogs and articles, all the press around the
climate UK challenge gathered quite a lot of interest. And I got approached by
a group called Adventure and Cupboard who wanted to do an event just to promote
the benefits of the outdoors and mental health. And they wanted me to be like
an ambassador to that. So naturally, I kind of threw myself at it. And with my
friend Chris, we
00:05:00
designed this weekend retreat, which combines all the elements
I've just mentioned. And I guess I wanted it to give people tools, not just
walking, because we know that helps, but, you know, you have to keep on doing
it. How can you give people tools that they can use every day? And so kind of
built it around that concept, and we've stayed with that approach ever since. I
don't think there's anybody else that is quite using that same combination, and
that's me.
Richard Jane: It's.
Alex Staniforth: The combination is what makes the difference and
the impact. but we did that weekend in 2018 in the Lake district, and it was
just. We were blown away by it. We thought we had something quite powerful, so
we decided to do it again in 2019. and then we thought if we register as a
charity, then we're going to be able to get funding and reach more people. We
started the registration process in spring of 2020, and obviously not having a
clue what was going to happen next. We had our very first trustee meeting,
literally, as this was all kicking off. And little did we know that we wouldn't
have a face to face trustee meeting for another 18 months. but actually, we had
a lot of benefits to starting in that because we were so small to be in with.
It was just me and Chris and our trustees. So there was no paid staff, there
was no assets or anything. We didn't have to worry about cash flow. Like a lot
of charities really struggled in that time. We were very agile, I hate to use
that word, but we were very agile. And, there were a lot of people needing our
help. And although we couldn't do our walks for retreats, we had to cancel
everything we had planned until summer 2020. we just adapted. And so actually,
we were able to grow very, very quickly because of it, and we were in a
position to help people, so that was what we were there to do.
Tim Beynon: Every cloud has a silver lining, as it were.
Incredible. It does strike me, as, incredibly brave of you to not only launch
at that time, but also, at 24 and having had that, the personal experience and
setting up of the events that you have done, did you have any idea at that
point of the kind of administrative task that was lying ahead of you in terms
of setting up a charity, or was that very much a sort of baptism of fire when
you got to that point?
Alex Staniforth: Definitely a baptism of fire. the Charity
commission did not make it easy. They want to put hoops up for everybody.
Luckily, Chris had, ah, been a Charity trustee, so he had some experience, but
whereas I had none whatsoever. And that was why we started as a CIC, because
we, it was so much easier, we were able to operate without having all the, you
know, the world governance and the trustees and things.
Richard Jane: Yeah.
Alex Staniforth: Ah, I really opened my eyes and people, people
ask me quite a lot. I've had a message this week about asking for a glass and
starting a Charity and I'll happily share anything I've learned. and the
initial setup wasn't too bad, but I think at that point I had never even
imagined that the Charity would be where it is now. And the irony being that
2021, about a year later, I mean, both Chris and myself had burnt ourselves out
and I was in a really, really bad place, which is kind of ironic for a mental
health Charity. And I'm sure there's many small charities out there that are,
ah, kind of found the led having a similar position. and that was when I had to
say, sort of say to our board of trustees, this isn't sustainable. And, we made
a decision that we needed to kind of hire somebody full time, employ a CEO or
an MD, and so we did that and now the Charity is absolutely flying and it's
allowed me to step back and support them where I'm most impactful.
Tim Beynon: what an amazing guy Alex is. Since that show, he's
taken on an epic running challenge and is now leading mind over mountains on
his most ambitious fundraising campaign ever. So well done, Alex. You're an
inspiration, mate.
Richard Jane, Brainkind
Good stuff. In episode two, we were joined by Richard Jain, who
had just completed a major rebrand for Brain kind. So that made him the perfect
candidate to talk to us about all things brand, the common mistakes charities
make with rebranding and the vital things and people they shouldn't forget.
Richard Jane: You know, in any, project like this, you've got two
really important. The most important stakeholder groups. The most important
stakeholder group you've got is the people you support. Are you going to carry,
is it going to be appropriate for them? Is it going to be representative of
them and what they need the rest of your stakeholders to do? But actually, in a
rebranding project, you're very close second. And I with the power to sink or
swim, your project is your staff and your colleagues. So they need to go out
and feel, really it needs to represent them and they need to go out and
advocate for your new brand, your new positioning, your new messaging. Go out
and use it so it's really important to talk to those two groups first and
foremost, and many others that you need to work through, but those two first
and foremost. So we did that with, putting together workshops and meetings. So
we worked with an agency on the rebrand and they did lots of strategy research.
00:10:00
Richard Jane: They spoke to our, clinical colleagues, our, ah,
central support services, our, corporate colleagues, and the people we support
and ask them about. This is the direction we're going to go in. What is it
you'd like to see us become? What does it mean to be and what does the
disabilities trust mean to you and what do you want it to mean in the future?
so there's some physical meetings there, there's some surveys, so we did some
name testing and we surveyed staff and other stakeholder groups as well. but we
also had, co, production sessions. We spoke to people we support, and took them
through the plans in the same way that we'd spoken to the staff. And ultimately
we had a brand steering group, which was the board with authority, in the
organisation, with some trustees, some senior managers, some people we support,
and some clinical staff to sense cheque the decisions we were making and the
direction of travel we were taking. So we had a number of ways of doing that.
Researching, having those conversations and running that co production
throughout the process. At a couple of stages, we then, had open sessions of
teams, meetings or zoom calls. we had open invitation to staff, particularly to
talk about the timings that were coming at the first stage when we chosen a
name, we went through the process. We'd been through the things that had been
rejected, the reasons why, the decisions we've taken, and then the next steps.
And then that led up to launch last September, where we did another session with
people, to tell them what was coming. Here's the materials that are on the way,
all the nice, exciting, creative bits that were coming, and the launch date to
really try and galvanise that support amongst the staff and, as I say, use them
as our advocates.
Tim Beynon: That's a really interesting point. I think the
consultation amongst start and off staff is obviously really, really crucial.
You want your people to buy into what you're doing, but change is a scary
prospect for some people, isn't it? Especially perhaps people who've been,
around an organisation for a long time. How did you help those people? How did
you sort of, work with those people to reassure them that this was a change for
the good?
Richard Jane: Yeah, there was. I have to say, I can't remember.
There's only a couple of points I can remember in this particular process where
we had those issues. As I say, we'd had a number of years of the organisation
wanting to do this. It then just comes down to the. How one of those times is
when it was one of the only. It's one of the. Not many organisations work on a
full renaming as well. That's always a bit nervy. to actually change the
change, what you're called is a huge step to take and I think there's a bit in
that in the process where you choose the name and then inevitably you have to
spend quite some time working on the creative to support it. And that's a
really difficult moment because you can present the facts and you can present
the research and you can say, this is, this is what this research is telling
us, but we've got to make a decision and there's some practical things to put
in there as well. But you're looking at a black and white name, you're looking
at something which has no story around it, there's nobody stood next to it,
filling in the gaps for you. There's no photos, there's no other visuals to go
with it. So I think there's that bit where you need to back it up with
research. You need to have some of those conversations, you need to make some
sensible decisions, but at some point you're going to have to take that leap.
Sarah White, SuperShoes
Tim Beynon: Sarah White, the chief executive of a brilliant small
Charity called Super Shoes, which creates bespoke, hand designed shoes for
children with cancer, shared her incredible journey with us in episode three,
shining a light on the challenges of starting and building a charity from an
idea that started life on her kitchen table. The model for super shoes very
much relies on, you know, at its heart, you have that army of artists. Tell us
a little bit about how that works, how you work with them and how that whole
sort of model of engagement with your volunteers, works.
<name> Speaker C:
Unidentified</name>: Well, I think it's. We have 250 volunteer artists
currently and the way it works is they get to choose as and when they paint. So
we ask an artist, when they join our team to paint a minimum of three pairs a
year. But to be honest, painting super shoes is quite addictive and most people
have painted ten pairs within a space of two months. And so it goes on. And
we've got artists that have painted over 100 pairs, we've got one artist in
particular that's painted over 200 pairs. And I think what it is for our,
volunteer artists especially is that they may not be fortunate enough to make a
living from their creativity. And, few and far between, can you actually earn a
great living from art? Unfortunately. so we have a lot of artists that have
this amazing gift and talent, but they don't use it as their day job. And for
them to be able to paint such a unique gift, for a very, very poorly child, and
then actually to see that child wearing them, is really magical. I mean, what a
great gift. You are so much part of the journey for
00:15:00
<name> Speaker C:
Unidentified</name>: that recipient and their family.
Tim Beynon: Does the artist ever correspond, directly with the
child or do you act as kind of an intermediary between them? How does that
work?
<name> Speaker C:
Unidentified</name>: Yeah, exactly. We're an intermediary and we
facilitate, any communication. So with, an artist's pack, when they receive a
blank pair of shoes and a design brief, they also receive a little cardinal,
because we recognise that when artists are painting for a recipient, you build
up a connection for who you're painting for. And it's almost like every
brushstroke, you're thinking about the recipient and injecting hope into those
shoes as they're being painted. So all artists can write a little card and the
child receives that. And of course, likewise, if we receive emails and cards,
which we do, then we share that back with the artists, but they don't have
direct contact, of course.
Tim Beynon: obviously, June is coming into volunteers week very
soon. When this goes out, volunteers week may well, m have passed, but June
always shines a spotlight on the incredible work of volunteers across our
sector. Tell us a little bit about as you grow and that number of volunteers
grows, how do you engage with them? How do you keep them engaged? How do you
keep them, as part of the, your army of volunteers, how does that work? Is that
an increasingly, hard challenge as you grow in size?
<name> Speaker C:
Unidentified</name>: Yes and no. I think the way that we work is we have
a closed Facebook group where all of our artists are members of that group. So
that's where we communicate about what the Charity is doing, what we need right
now. so it has such a lovely team aspect to it. Although these individual
artists, we're all working towards this bigger, cause this bigger picture and
that's how everybody feels part of it, you know, and people share their artwork
on there and there's a lot of beautiful interactions where maybe an artist has
found a great technique for creating a galaxy sky and they filmed how to do it,
you know, and that will be, it's a very giving environment, the whole Facebook
group in itself, having all these volunteers in one place. And I think when an
artist signs up and becomes part of that, they feel that even though they're
not in the same location, you know, we have artists all over the country. it's
a big part of what we do that they feel part of it, and of course, that's where
they select the shoes that they paint as well, in that, within that group.
Zoe Amar, AI and charities
Tim Beynon: In episode four, Piers and I pretended to know what
we were talking about when we were joined by Charity digital and AI guru Zoe
Ammer. Zoe chatted us through the incredible potential that AI has for
reshaping the way charities work and where they need to be investing their time
and money to get the most out of this exciting new technology.
Piers Townley: Where do you think charities should be focusing
their energy going forward?
Zoe Amar: M. Yes, I think this is a great question, because for
me, it's going to be about what you have learned from what you've done so far.
and every Charity is at a different stage with that. I mean, I've spoken to two
quite well known charities already today who are at quite different stages,
with AI. So where I have commonly seen charities, Doctor, adopt AI over the
last year, it's for some of those use cases that we talked about in terms of
the creating the content, meeting notes, but also maybe starting to think about
how might we use these tools in order to analyse our data and better
understand, our beneficiaries and target campaigns. So it really depends on
what you have managed to do so far and what you feel confident about doing,
what your staff has skilled up to do, what you've got the capacity and
headspace to do, and also what on earth is going on with your wider digital
transformation. So there are charities I speak to where they've got a lot of
interest in how they can use AI tools to understand their data and get better
insight from, make better decisions from it, such as how they better target
campaigns. But if your data is in a mess, if the data quality isn't there, if
the data sitting on six different databases, if your data flows are sort of all
over the place, that's going to be a real challenge and that's going to limit
your AI maturity and the return on investment you get from using these tools.
So where I think this stuff is a real opportunity is where it will prompt you
to review and rethink your digital transformation journey so far. And if any of
those foundations, those building blocks, are in place, not or yet. And, if you
don't have them yet, to plan for how you
00:20:00
Zoe Amar: make sure you get them, to be put in place.
Piers Townley: That's really, really interesting because
obviously as a health Charity, we see a lot of AI being used, very obviously in
the research where it's crunching health data and patients data and cancer
treatments and all of that sort of stuff, but then more on a, day to day
Charity level, because obviously AI, the biggest worry for people, is it going
to affect the creative side of things? Is it going to affect the comm side of
charities? And does that inevitably lead to cost cutting? Does that inevitably
lead to losing jobs? Do you think that's the case or is this yet to be sort of
seen in the real world?
Zoe Amar: Well, I think this is all about how we end up
approaching this in organisations and I do hope we'll see more cross sector
collaboration on it. So if you talk to someone like, Roger Davis, who I think
is, very, very insightful on this, I know that one of the things that, he's
concerned about, and I obviously share these concerns as well, is that, if
charities are very reactive on this and if they stick their heads in the sand
and they think, well, just, you know, let's let it sort of develop very organically
and then you may get to a point where you almost fall off a cliff if your fixed
costs are very high and you're thinking, well, actually there's a sort of AI
solution I could use and that means that I only need two people in my
fundraising team as opposed to five. And you want to avoid being in that
situation, right? Because the organisational knowledge, the donor, knowledge
that, people in those jobs will have, there's a way for those people to be
retrained, perhaps their roles look slightly different for them to skilled up
in these tools so they can continue to make a huge amount of difference. So I'm
not one of these people who believes that there's going to be a complete
bonfire of jobs, but I think that you have to be ready for a situation where
your organisational structure and roles and responsibilities and delivery
models and indeed your culture is probably going to look very different.
Katie Docherty, CIOF
Tim Beynon: It was a case of back on more familiar ground in
episode five, as we were joined by Katie Docherty, chief executive of the
Chartered Institute of Fundraising, to explore today's fundraising landscape
and the challenges facing charities, from the impact of technology to the cost
of living crisis. Katie told us what it's really like for fundraisers today.
What's it like at the moment for the third sector. What kind of landscape are
we working in?
Katie Docherty: Well, I mean, the good news to start with is
that, this remains a country filled with a lot of generous people, and the
british people are continuing to give to charity. You know, nearly three out of
four british adults did something charitable last year, whether that was
donating money, volunteering, or sponsoring somebody. And what that has meant
for this country is that 13.9 billion pounds was donated by the british public,
which is just amazing. That's up from 10 billion before the pandemic. But less
people are giving a. So there's a challenge in there. So less people are
giving, but those who are giving are giving more. And so whilst there's more
money, the future is challenging, and there is no doubt out there that the
world is a difficult place for charities who are trying to meet ever increasing
needs all the time.
Tim Beynon: I saw that figure of 13.9 billion pounds, it blew me
away. It's an incredible sum, and it puts us right at the top of the table in
terms of being one of those most, philanthropic of countries, in, the world,
which is fantastic. But it goes against all that we've heard about the cost of
living crisis having an impact on fundraising and negatively, impacting
charities. Has that been overplayed, do you think? Or actually, would that
figure have been greater had it not been for the cost of living crisis?
Katie Docherty: Well, yes, the figure would have been greater if
the number of people who used to donate, we're still donating. So to give you
an idea of what that looks like in terms of numbers, before the pandemic, 65%
of people made some form of donation to a charity, and that's dropped to 58%,
which is a lot of people, when you think about how many adults there are in
this country. So it's offset by the fact that those people are giving more, but
there are less of them. And so that is a concern for charities looking ahead to
the future, because there are so many charities under so much pressure, because
inflation means that the amount of money they're getting in doesn't go as far.
The pressure on services is so much higher, and therefore, the need for the
british public to carry on being generous is so important. But if that decline
in the number of people donating continues,
00:25:00
Katie Docherty: that's definitely a concern.
Tim Beynon: Raoul, do you think, as well, are people giving
differently? I saw in that report about the number of committed donors. I think
that figure of 65% down to 58% was, from the way I read it is that was
committed donors, people giving regularly on a monthly basis. That's dipped. Do
you think because of the cost of living crisis that maybe people are changing
the way they give and perhaps not committing so much, but giving more on a one
off basis, perhaps? Are you seeing that as a puzzle?
Katie Docherty: So there's a lot of different reasons in there as
to why this is happening. So, yes, people are donating in a different way. So
technology is having a huge impact on that. As we use cashless, people are
giving via QR codes and credit cards and online in a way that they never did
before. And that number continues to grow every year by huge amounts of. But
also, and I think this is where, when we were looking at why are the numbers of
people donating dropping? Most people give in response to a direct ask. All the
research says that that's why people give. Somebody asks them and connects with
them on a cause. But there are less ways for charities to make those asks now.
So restrictions in data protection and things like that mean that it's more
difficult to make that ask of donors. And in return, that means that less
people are donating.
Vicki Beevers, Strategic Leader of The Year
Tim Beynon: Far from sending us to sleep in episode six, Vicky
Beavers, chief executive of the sleep Charity, told us all about the importance
of good strategy. Voted the Charity comms Strategic Leader of the year. Vicky
also discussed some of the common mistakes and issues that charities can face
if they either get their strategy wrong or they try to go it alone with no
strategy at all.
Piers Townley: What do you think of the dangers of, not having a
clear strategy to a charity?
Vicki Beevers: Yeah, I think there are so many dangers because
you can drift away from your mission quite easily. So it can be tempting,
especially when there's little funding coming out that you can jump on for and
try to make your sort of projects, your service delivery, fit, funding, which
actually isn't about your priority. So I think it's really important that
you've got a strategy, you've got a clear idea of what you're aiming at, ah.
And what you're focusing on, so that you can really focus on that and not let
yourselves drift. Having said that, I think there's going to be some
flexibility. So although we've got sort of a three year, strategic plan, it may
be that actually sometimes we start to do things that, were down in year three,
because it may be that things have changed within the news or there's been new
research, so it's not sort of sticking to it so rigidly that you miss really
important opportunities that come along as well. So something that flexible
approach is important too.
Tim Beynon: Yeah, there's so much to consider, isn't there? But
obviously strategy is something that, it's a buzzword that, you know, that
fills the sector and every Charity says, oh, we're working to our strategy, we
got to do it. We've got a three year plan, we've got a five year plan. But
where do you think some charities fall down when it comes to trustee? Were
there any sort of fundamental things you mentioned, strategic drift and people
not sticking to their plans? Is that at the heart of where charities fall down?
Or are there other things that perhaps charities are just making fundamental
mistakes when it comes to strategy?
Vicki Beevers: I think with the smaller charities that often the
strategy doesn't exist. And I know that I do a lot of pro bono work supporting
small grassroots organisations and they want to do a lot of good and they want
to do it quickly and they perhaps don't have the skills or the resources to put
that strategy in place. So, I think, you know, a lot of it is about being under
resourced, but actually it's got to be a priority because it's important that
everyone's working to do the same thing and I think it's probably around
communication as well. So it's important that everybody knows what's being
worked towards, that everyone has an input into it, so that there's some
ownership of the strategy, that, the team, whether that's teams of volunteers,
trustees, whether it's, you know, employees have had an input into the
strategy. So it belongs to us all. And we've got a team meeting next week and
I've just been printing out like, our strategic aims again. And what we do is
we review them, so we break them down into the business plan so that you can
see the flow of the work, so it's meaningful. And I regret everything
throughout the financial year. So we can see how we're progressing towards
different elements of the strategy. So it's really quick and easy. You know,
you can see it's red. We
00:30:00
Vicki Beevers: need to work on that or consider if it should stay
in the strategy this year. It's green, it's done ambers and stuff that's
ongoing. So I think it's, I mean, systems in place is really important as well
and it doesn't, they don't have to be complex, you know, simple, because we've
got enough complex work to do in the Charity sector right now.
Saskia Koynenburg, NCVO
Tim Beynon: And last time out in episode seven, we got the inside
line on what the new Labour government might have in store for the third sector
when we spoke to Saskia Konjanberg from NCVO as she begins the challenge of
holding key Istama to account in regard to the voluntary sector manifesto and
ensures that we all get a seat at the table when it comes to policymaking in
the future.
Saskia Konynenburg: We saw the chance for an election this year
as a real opportunity to engage a, potential new government, although now we
see we have got a new government, with the challenges and really lay out our
stall as a voluntary sector. So we worked with Akivo and engaged with lots of
different members around the country. We did workshops, we did online sessions,
you know, from the real big charities to our small grassroots organisations, to
really understand what they would want to see. In, voluntary sector manifesto,
we had everything, we heard everything. So we had a huge amount, a huge wealth
of information, from really micro issues that are important to certain members,
to huge world changing ideas that we would all love to see, but might not be
able to really, get traction on at the moment. So we then did a big task with
Akivo, really working through all those different things and really pulling
together what would be effective for us as a whole sector. So we really tried
to kind of take the top level, asks, and put them into something that would
really work for everyone, because, you know, our roles are to try and improve,
the Charity sector, the voluntary sector, and make it really impactful. So what
would that be? And so we decided that the best way to do that as well is to
offer solutions. So not just go with a whole list of tasks of what we want to
also use the manifesto to demonstrate what we could do as a sector. You know,
we very much feel, I'm sure lots of listeners feel as well, that we are
overlooked as a sector, often undervalued, that our talents, our skills, our
expertise really aren't often taken into that initial decision making process.
So the voluntary sector manifesto is very much for the sector, with the sector,
and to really shine a light on the sector, to say, this is what we can do, this
is how we can help you achieve great things if you work with us.
Tim Beynon: Fantastic. I can imagine it's a m monster piece of
work. One thing we've certainly seen with the show, if you ask people for their
opinion in this sector, they will give it. So I'm sure you ended up with a
wealth of stuff. And, actually paring that down into a, manifesto, I'm sure,
was a real challenge. But looking at some, of the key headlines, looking at the
manifesto, there's basically seven key headlines, aren't there? Perhaps you
could just talk us briefly through them, because just to rattle them off, we've
got engaged charities in policy making. Ensure fair and sustainable
partnerships, make sure every voice is heard, build strong and resilient
communities, place value on volunteers, support a thriving Charity sector and
make public giving easier. That's a huge amount of work. There's a lot in
there, isn't there?
Saskia Konynenburg: Yeah. And under each heading, we then have
other specific asks. So it is quite a meaty document. So engaging charities in
policy walking is where we feel that the best policy solutions that will make a
real good impact on our communities are those that are created or co created
with the voluntary sector and actually involve the voices of people, who are
going to be impacted by those policy decisions. So we started talking about
whether we could get commitment to establishing a civil society charter. And
that's something that we're working on now, as with other infrastructure bodies
and with our members, whether we could develop a civil society engagement
strategy. So how we can really get the voices of those, who will be impacted by
decisions to the right areas. And it's not just dcms. So quite often we work
with just dcms and that's where our strongest engagement has been. But, you
know, decisions made by the treasury are, you know, hugely important to
communities and the charities supporting them, and how we can also, within that
policymaking, look at working cooperatively with other administrations and
devolved, powers. So the second part is ensuring fair and sustainable
partnerships. So this is all about making it much easier for voluntary sector
organisations, to play a part in public service delivery. We know there have
been lots of challenges around that. So how can we make public service
contracts be delivered, by charities in a fair and equitable way? Another
important part of the manifesto is making sure every voice is heard. So how do
we really raise the voices of communities so that, you know, they are heard by
those decision makers? And that goes in terms of campaigning and people's
00:35:00
Saskia Konynenburg: rights and freedom to protest, to also how we
might, suggest reforming electoral law. We talk about building strong and
resilient communities. So in there, there's some stuff around the shared
prosperity fund, but there's also a lot around the Community Power act and
developing strategies to support really direct investment into social
infrastructure volunteers. Of course, we couldn't have a voluntary sector
manifesto without placing value on volunteers. So we're looking in this full
support on our vision for volunteering, but also looking at volunteers week,
big help out, and how we really create the environment for people to volunteer.
So breaking down any barriers to volunteering. We want to support a thriving
Charity sector. So this could be about improving tax systems, the voluntary
workforce, protecting the independence of the Charity commission. And then
finally, we talk about making public giving easier. So a lot around gifting,
philanthropy and innovation, and giving fund and things like that. So really to
help charities, you know, who do rely on fundraising, so that that's a real
sustainable strategy dream for them.
Tim Beynon: So that's it.
We'll be back!
Now you're up to date, eight episodes might seem like a bit of an
odd number to end the season on, and you're probably right. But there you go.
Piers and I need a holiday. So we'll be back in September, in fact, on the 16
September, to be precise. And in the meantime, we'd love to hear from you. If
you've got a story to share, if you've done something innovative, new, or
amazing, or if your Charity is doing something the rest of us need to know
about, about. Come on to the show in season two and, tell us all about it.
You'll find all the links you need in the show notes. So, until the 16
September, look after yourselves and enjoy the rest of the summer. Take care.
00:36:46
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