Old fisherman successfully fundraises in all weathers

The sculpture of an old character sitting outside a gallery in Boscastle, North Cornwall has raised £2,000 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance and Coast Watch. The gallery opened in August 2014 and the "old fisherman" sculpture was positioned outside as an attraction and to highlight the work of one of the local artists, sculptor Richard Austin.

Gallery manager, Lesley Walker says: ”A charity collection box was securely attached to the table and as people sat next to the sculpture to have their photo taken they would drop a donation into the box. Boscastle is a small village and the gallery isn’t on the main tourist trail, so he would had taken many more donations if he was in an area with greater foot fall. For any size organisation, it’s a brilliant way to fundraise."

The sculpture sits out in all weathers and is light enough to be taken in securely each night and with a long life expectancy he will be earning money for good causes for many years to come. Richard Austin, who has been creating unique sculptures for 25 years, says: “ The idea that one of my sculptures can raise that amount of money is fantastic. Imagine what else can be created for other charities to aid their funding program or to highlight the work they are doing."

Baby swimmers splash for baby charity

Charity definitely begins in the pool for baby and toddler swim school charity Water Babies. This year’s Splashathon saw thousands of babies and toddlers splashing out to go past the £2 million mark, raising a staggering £806,477 in just two months for Tommy’s, the charity which funds research into miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth.

The Splashathon is a unique event that allows babies to raise money to save other babies’ lives. Throughout June and July, babies and toddlers across the UK took to the pool in Water Babies classes to partake in fun "aquativities" for sponsorship. Parents, children and teachers alike threw themselves into the fun (and the pool), with many swimming in fancy dress and having a splashing time, all for a truly worthy cause.

Paul Thompson, co-founder of Water Babies, says: “Water Babies has been a proud sponsor of Tommy’s Splashathon since 2006 and we are over the moon to have smashed our cumulative target of £2 million this year. It has been a really exciting few months and we are absolutely delighted that so many of our little swimmers and their families got so enthusiastically involved. Over £800,000 raised in two months is just phenomenal! Tommy’s is obviously a charity close to many parents’ hearts.”

Huge benefit expected from plastic bag levy

The mandatory 5p charge for plastic bags for shops with more than 250 or more employees in England is set to generate more than £70 million per year for good causes, according to government estimates. Government guidance suggests that retailers should use the money to benefit good causes. A levy on plastic bags has been in operation in Wales since 2011, and has raised £22 million for good causes since its introduction.

The Charities Aid Foundation points to charitable plans by retailers. For instance, Morrisons is set to use the proceeds to support good causes, chiefly the Morrisons Foundation and the company's national charity partner, Sue Ryder. The foundation launched in 2015 and is open to applications for grants from registered charities throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The partnership with Sue Ryder has raised £3.5 million since February 2014.

The money raised by the charge at M&S stores will now be going to hundreds of local charities and community causes chosen by M&S stores and a selection of national charities which M&S has worked with for many years.

Sainsbury’s will voluntarily give profits from the sale of a new, thicker reusable 5p bag to local charities and good causes. This will generate substantial donations on top of the £52 million it already raises for charity.

In Scotland a number of charities and enterprises have received over £540,000 in donations from Asda’s Carrier Bag Community Awards Scheme whilst in Wales the figure stands at over £650,000. The aim is to do the same for good causes in England.

Charities must manage their travel risk

Key Travel has released a white paper which encourages organisations within the charity, faith and NGO sectors to adopt a robust travel risk management programme. The paper, Managing risk – Why, when, how?, is a call to action - citing that a risk policy is a must for any charity which has people travelling, whether in the UK or further afield.

According to recent survey results published in the paper, the five main factors which affected decisions to travel between 2014 and 2015 were Ebola, terrorist activity, political unrest, natural disaster and risks specific to lone female travellers.

Nearly a quarter of the survey respondents or their colleagues claimed they had been overseas when a serious incident happened in a location they were travelling to. While 30% of travellers felt global incidents and crises impacted the sense of security they felt when travelling, 40% were travelling less frequently or to different locations as a result of this.

The white paper drew on the expertise of charities themselves. Thus as a starting point, Mark Hide of Planet Wise urges organisations to have a risk policy written up, make it widely available in print and online, and have it embedded in travel policy to ensure that compliance with one automatically means compliance with the other. “You need proof travellers have read and understood your travel and safety policy,” he says.

At Christian Aid, employees make an online travel request that goes through their line manager, the country manager of the destination and security manager, Neil Bullock. He says: “As part of that approval process, they sign off on a number of things. These include basic security training such as personal safety – keeping a low profile, avoiding conflict with local culture with the way they dress, what hotels to choose, avoiding public disorder situations; what to put in a ‘grab pack‘ so that if there is an incident it will keep them going for 48 hours.

“We also get travellers to do their own risk assessment and to look at what is likely to be a threat to them. It gets people to engage with what they are doing and where they are going.”

According to Key Travel, a successful travel risk management programme for charities should entail:

• Creating a team consisting of one person from each department and making one person responsible for executing that policy and communicating it to the charity's travel management company and other suppliers, to ensure compliance.
• Approaching high risk and low risk destinations with the same care and attention. The charity and its employees need to be equally prepared for travel to both.
• The message coming from the top; for example, the CEO and board, should ensure that best practice permeates throughout the charity. This promotes compliance with a policy that should be mandated.
• Assessing the health of employees before sending them overseas for periods of time. High blood pressure or cholesterol, medical history – heart attack, stroke – all this and more can be documented. Many people do not even know their own blood type. Mental health, stress and anxiety are also crucial factors.
• Creating a link between HR and travel profiles, and asking travellers to update their profile each time they travel. This ensures all personal information is current.
• Christian Aid continually assesses whether security policies need to be changed, so review travel and risk programmes regularly, to ensure they are keeping up with an ever-changing world.
• Material created during debriefs should be used to create a knowledge bank, which becomes part of future briefings so that travellers benefit from the experience of others.

Big investment in social enterprise sector

Accountancy and professional services firm Deloitte is investing £1 million of time and expertise to boost UK employability. Through its Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers programme, the firm has this year committed to support eleven "Super Pioneers", all of which have ambitious plans to increase job opportunities in the UK.

The Super Pioneers include: Modern Muse, a social enterprise which aims to inspire and engage the next generation of female business leaders and entrepreneurs; the Employability Trust, which helps unemployed people in the North East develop the skills they need to secure long term employment; and the charity Future First, which coordinates an alumni programme for state schools to help boost social mobility.

David Barnes, managing partner for corporate responsibility at Deloitte, says: “This year, we have prioritised employability as part of a targeted approach to working with social businesses that are tackling this important issue. We recruit 4,500 young people every year so improving employability and social mobility is a strategic priority for the firm. We are proud that Deloitte’s expertise will be used to make a real impact on this issue.”

Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers has already worked with 58 social businesses across the UK, providing £3 million of support. More than 2,000 of its people have been engaged in the programme and 15,000 hours of time and expertise have been received by the social enterprises. On average, the 58 Pioneers increased turnover by 38% per year and two hundred new jobs have been created to date. The total amount of value added is estimated at more than £4.5 million over the first three years of the programme so far.

In addition, Deloitte has now exceeded £1 million of investment in the social enterprise sector through its supply chain. The firm already receives services from former Pioneers including charities From Babes with Love, House of St Barnabas, Debate Mate and Connection Crew. Deloitte has now awarded its UK stationery contract to WildHearts Office, part of the charity WildHearts. One of this year’s Super Pioneers, WildHearts provides employability and entrepreneurship training in the UK and funds microfinance in the developing world.

Hamburger diners contribute to school meals

School meals charity One Feeds Two, which invites food industry companies to help tackle child hunger, is now benefiting from revenue from Byron, the British group of hamburger restaurants. For every special hamburger that customers buy at Byron, 25p will go to One Feeds Two, directly providing a schoolchild with a meal.

Tom Byng, Byron’s founder, says: “JP Campbell, the co-founder of One Feeds Two, and I have a shared love of doing things properly and in the most simple, stripped-back way. That’s why when we heard about the amazing work he was doing with One Feeds Two, we knew we had to be their first restaurant partner: it’s a natural fit. We’re excited to finally be able to share this new partnership with our customers who will know that when they tuck into one of our proper hamburgers, they’re also providing a schoolchild with a meal of their own.”

JP Campbell says: “We have set up One Feeds Two to introduce the ‘buy one, give one’ model to the food and restaurant industry. Imagine the impact if every time we ate a meal, we could simply share a school meal with a child in poverty? We have made it easy for all food companies to adopt this new giving model and we are delighted that Tom and his team at Byron have committed to leading the way.”

Donors want to know about impact of donations

The majority of people want to be kept informed about the work of charities they give money to, according to research from the Charities Aid Foundation. Four out of five people (81%) say it is important that they receive some form of communication from a charity after making a donation. However, they are more likely to value correspondence about how the charity is having an impact and want regular progress reports on its work.

Members of the public were polled on how they liked to be contacted by charities after making a donation. The CAF research found that evidence about how a charity is having an impact was most likely to be valued by people, with 68% of respondents agreeing this was important. Regular updates on the charity's work were seen as important by 57%.

Identifying how an individual donation had been spent was seen as important by 54%. A standard thank you was regarded as important by 48% and a personalised thank you was seen as important by 39%.

The findings also show that while people of all ages appreciate correspondence from the charities they support, younger people are most likely to consider it important. 16 to 24 year olds are most likely to want evidence of impact and regular updates, with people less likely to find follow-up correspondence important as they get older.

Women are more likely than men to want progress reports on how their donation is being used, with 61% regarding it as important, compared with 54% of men.

Hannah Terrey, head of policy and campaigns at CAF, says: “These findings show that most people do not want their relationship with a charity to end when they donate. Those who give their money want to be kept informed about the work their chosen charity is doing.

"It is really important for charities to maintain the good rapport they have with their supporters and ensure people are happy with the way charities get in touch. We need to get the balance right so that supporters of charities feel valued and informed but never harassed.

"The nature of charities’ communication with donors has come under the considerable scrutiny recently. It is significant that our evidence shows there are few things that motivate people to give to a good cause more than straightforward information about how a charity is having an impact.”

IN BRIEF

APPOINTMENTS. The Institute of Fundraising has appointed Suzanne McCarthy as the first independent chair of its Standards Committee. The British Asian Trust has appointed former Scope chief executive Richard Hawkes as its first chief executive officer. Parents charity NCT has selected as its chair Helen Stephenson, head of the government's early years education and childcare section and head of the cross-department Child Poverty Unit. NCT has also chosen Seana Talbot to be its president - she has been an NHS manager and commissioner and currently manages a Sure start project in Belfast. Susan Scott-Parker, founder and CEO of the Business Disability Forum, steps aside to become honorary vice president and full time CEO of Business Disability International. World Child Cancer has appointed Jon Rosser,currently consultant and interim response manager at VSO, as CEO.

MORE APPOINTMENTS. Medical research charity RAFT (Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust) has appointed Sally East as chief financial officer; her previous experience includes positions at SkillsActive, the British Heart Foundation and Amnesty International. PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Alison Baker also joins RAFT as a trustee and treasurer, to work with Sally East. Leonard Cheshire Disability has appointed Sally Davis as chairman, whose previous career included being chief executive of BT Wholesale. Children's communication charity I CAN has appointed Huw Davies, chief financial officer of the Wates Group, as chair of trustees.