Sir Peter Wanless

This is the first in my short series of blogs for BTA on how the charity sector can embrace the United Nations #SustainableDevelopmentGoals as a key component of their fundraising and governance - and find out how well they are currently performing.

17

2 Comments

The Skills England report published last month illustrates the difficulty that officials and their advisors have with reconciling early 20th Century Fabian/Haldane planning mindsets with the 21st Century pace of change and the need to harness the full diversity of human talent, not just traditional filtering for memory and logic - "which any properly programmed computer can handle". The challenges of educating for an AI-driven world were identified over 40 years ago. See "Learning for Change", put on-line for me by the Oxford Internet Institute in 2010. Albeit we used the terms "Intelligent systems" and "Machine Learning" and the "systems" often needed air-conditioned mainframes to drive them. BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT Better Hiring Institute (BHI) TechSkills.org Skills England Labour Digital WCIT Financial Services Technology Panel Real Time Club Digital Policy Alliance Digital Leaders https://lnkd.in/efSqwmEZ

4

5 Comments

If you are mulling over #tlevels industry placements, you will already know you will need to take colleagues on the journey with you, this webinar can really help you pull together the relevant business case justifications to support your internal conversations.

8

I have just signed this open letter to the Chancellor, and I urge all leaders of charities and voluntary organisations to do the same. Charities are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. Many have had to reduce services, make job cuts, or even close their doors entirely. At the same time, the expectation from central and local government seems to be that we will continue to take on the heavy burden of providing essential, and often life saving services to vulnerable people, because statutory services are no longer able to do so. It seems incomprehensible, therefore, that the government, would further increase the financial pressure on charities by failing to include an exemption to the increase in employers NIC, as they have done for public sector organisations. This short-sighted approach is going to cost even a smaller charity such as Trauma Breakthrough many thousands of pounds per year, and medium to large charities are facing five and six figure increases to their wage bills. This is something we simply cannot afford. It means that more charities will go under and many more will have to reduce or close services. The government has proclaimed loudly that it wants to form a new covenant with 'civil society'. These are fine words, but the government needs to understand that unless it makes immediate practical changes to its policies, the voluntary and charity organisations that make up civil society may not be around long enough to participate.

3

Some great practical advice here from Gill Pipkin about bid writing. Well worth a read!

1

Proud to share that SPD has once again been honored with the Charity Transparency Award by the Charity Council - an accolade we’ve received consecutively since 2016! This means that we have been doing things right. Incidentally, we were also recipient of the inaugural Charity Governance Award in 2012, and then in 2016.   As a charity, we rely on public trust and resources, so ensuring transparent, effective, and efficient use of funds is ingrained in our culture. Good governance has always been our focus, striking a careful balance between control and empowerment to keep standards high and risks low.   To do so, standard operating procedures must be put in place and key policies on procurement, training, compensation are to be instituted and reviewed regularly to stay relevant and current. It takes discipline and effort to maintain this and there is a cost to this. This is a cost that donors are generally not willing to pick up. The public may want charities to be better run, but most would rather their donations be channeled directly to helping the clients rather than to pay for administrative costs. We thus have to strike a right balance between promoting governance and the cost of compliance with the rules and codes that apply to the charity sector.   Thank you to the Charity Council and our supporters for acknowledging our commitment. Your trust allows us to keep pushing forward, ensuring every contribution is put to the best possible use for those we serve.   #CharityTransparency #Governance #SPDAwards  

38

3 Comments

*** 2024 GRANT FUNDING NOW OPEN *** Cornwall Women's Fund is now accepting applications for our 2024 grant funding! We aim to support community projects in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly supporting women’s mental health. For this round of funding projects with a focus on perinatal mental health will be given preferential consideration. In 2021, a team from Oxford University undertook in-depth research into the needs of women and girls across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. They considered existing research where it was available and interviewed charity and community leaders, and women from across the county to get a true picture of what really mattered to them and which areas it was difficult to find funding for. (Read the report here: https://bit.ly/3QLpgdv) One of the 4 key areas in their report “Understanding what matters to women and girls in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly” was women and girls mental health, identifying a particular lack of support for those accessing perinatal mental health services. Our Members have voted the area of Women and Girls Mental Health for our 2024 grant funding and we are now accepting applications. Grants range from £500 to a maximum of £1,000 Our grants are administered by Cornwall Community Foundation and you can find more information and details of how to apply here: https://lnkd.in/gY3Ryzy

15

Pleased to be quoted in People Management magazine today on Over half of business leaders report staff absence due to problems accessing public services, TUC reveals. More than half (59 per cent) of business leaders say staff have had to take time off in the last year because they struggled to access public services, a poll by the trade union congress (TUC) revealed. The survey of more than 500 business leaders further explored the specific challenges faced by employees, finding that more than a third (35 per cent) had staff absent from work due to delays in receiving hospital treatment. To read article in full click 🔽 https://lnkd.in/ejJjwUcg 10Eighty #socialcare #business #economy #privatehealthinsurance #staffabsences #affordablechildcare #workingparents #privatehealthcare #flexibleworking CIPD

4

1 Comment

The impact of increased Employer NICs is front and centre of many charity finance professionals' thinking today. Following the Budget, at CFG we're asking for charities, voluntary organisations, community and faith groups to tell us about the how the changes will affect your work, with the people and communities you serve. Thanks for taking the time to share your views with us. #CharityFinance #VolSec #Charity #Budget #ERNICs https://lnkd.in/etgFPF5T

7

Confirmation that the General Election will be held on 4th July is welcome - as we all know, political uncertainty hinders confidence, investment planning and decision-making for businesses. Regardless of who is in power, we’re clear in the East Midlands of the policy reform that we need to see to enable business growth. For too long our region has been overlooked when it comes to investment, despite the fantastic businesses we have here and our status as a Centre of Trading Excellence – making, moving and innovating the goods and services that make our country tick. Earlier this year we went to Westminster to present our asks directly to the government in our Manifesto for Growth 2024. The Manifesto is the direct result of what businesses have been telling us they need from the next UK Government and provides a clear blueprint for the things that would support our growth and success. The document details specific policy asks across four key areas – People and Skills, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Planning, Taxation and Regulation. For the Chamber's full reaction, see https://lnkd.in/erZHj3DJ.

69

3 Comments

Third sector providers make a huge contribution to local communities investing in services and the workforce. The next government has an enormous opportunity to strengthen how it works with the sector - the #VoluntarySectorManifesto offers a clear roadmap https://lnkd.in/gMvuwzVz NCVO ACEVO VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group)

23

We're over a week after the budget, and the impact is becoming clear for many charities, particularly those delivering statutory or commissioned local authority services. ACEVO and NCVO continue to do a fantastic job highlighting the issues, but there are no signs that things will change. The government is fond of a 'triple lock'. We're currently in our own version of a more than decade-long triple lock: rising costs, escalating demand and budget cuts. In the short term, we also have a budget-driven triple lock of rising NI payments, lower NI employer thresholds, and a living wage increase. We support wholeheartedly the intent to increase living standards for those that need it, but need help to make it happen. As organisations that deliver public services, we need the NI rebate in line with local authorities that deliver public services. Charities like Positive Steps, Mahdlo Youth Zone Northern Roots Urban Farm & Eco-Park and Action Together are essential to our communities. It's time for a new deal for our sector. If you haven't already, please support us and many others by signing the letter below.

22

3 Comments

Upcoming webinars with Northamptonshire Community Foundation Managing Risk: Preventing Fraud for Small Charities This webinar will take place on Wednesday 29th May at 11am and is designed to raise community groups’ awareness of how to manage the risk of grant fraud by putting simple procedures into place. We will help you to get smart on charity fraud with our top tips to prevent grant fraud in your organisation. This session will also bring you up to speed with good practice. Email [email protected] to book your space. Alternative Sources of Funding This webinar will take place on Wednesday 19th June at 11am and is designed to raise community groups’ awareness that Northamptonshire Community Foundation is just one of a large number of sources of funding, and how to go about accessing other sources of funding in addition to the Foundation. Looking at what you want to deliver and why and how best this can be resourced. This workshop will help you research alternative sources of funding and information on additional support and resources available. Email [email protected] to book your space.

6

The landscape is a little busy at the moment if you're looking for help in starting up a social enterprise or purpose-led business 🔎🔍 Junction Point CIC have events almost twice a week running up until Christmas so it's well worth checking out this little blog to help you navigate the support available. Please do have a read through and share so people know about all the amazing stuff they can freely access at this time. There are events, training programmes, support to accessing startup funds, seed funding, coaching and more! This support is for people who maybe have the seed of an idea all the way through to people needing help to get registered & get going. Don't worry, the next blog is all about established organisations 😘 #SocialEnterprise #NorthEast #ChangeMaker #PurposeLedBusiness #PreStartSupport

7

1 Comment

In the next few weeks public sector budgets in Wales will start to be set, following the publication of the Welsh Government’s draft budget on 10 December. The headline figures will inevitably be about the NHS and about how much money is allocated to cutting waiting times. That is understandable both politically and for what it means for those who have been waiting a long time for essential treatment. However it will obscure a longer running challenge that Wales has been facing – and largely failing at - for the best part of two decades, namely how we prevent people needing urgent services in the first place. Austerity has led to significant cuts to preventative services in the last few years as priority is given to acute needs and high profile services but often ignoring longer term pressures which are building up bigger problems for further down the line. These choices have partly reflected what must be funded to avoid either chronic service failure or political disaster, but they also reflect two other problems endemic to Welsh policy making; short term thinking (strangely the Future Generations Act isn’t very influential when tough financial decisions need to be made) and the self-interest of budget holders. This self-interest becomes especially pertinent in the distinction between preventative and treatment focused approaches: preventative work (I hesitate to use the word services as it’s often a poor descriptor) is often carried out by organisations in the voluntary and community sectors, in the case of the latter often very cheaply, while treatment focused work is either carried out or directly commissioned by the budget holders. When there are difficult choices to be made only one side is at the table; the other, to adopt a well-honed cliché is on the plate (until things are so desperate that the cheap option is the only one and then they have to deal with all the issues). It is ironic that we have found ourselves in this state in Wales, where of all places, the Government could have focused on long term thinking given its generational electoral strength - but it won’t be happening again this year.   This year however we do have an opportunity to start pulling ourselves out of the cycle of short termism and to start looking further ahead: the budget settlement will be more generous than most in recent years and there is the prospect of multi-year funding settlements (promised by Angela Rayner for England but must surely also apply here). Both those factors provide not just an opportunity but surely also an obligation to think more long term, to have those conversations about longer term thinking and more upstream investment – and they are long overdue and increasingly needed. And if these changes don’t begin now, it’s hard to think when they ever will.

42

2 Comments

Voting in a local election is as important as voting in a general election as it allows you to directly impact change within your communities 🗳️ https://lnkd.in/e2bAe-cD

7

1 Comment

This is well worth a read if you are seeking grant funding. Some great tips here thank you Gill Pipkin. Writing bids is time consuming and so often pressured with short deadlines. So important to do the groundwork, be prepared, read the funding criteria carefully, write in simple terms and avoid jargon, tell your story of who you help, why and the difference you will make but make sure you are answering the question being asked! Take any opportunity to build a relationship with your funder. #charity #fundraising

7