Lost the Plot - A Parting Eulogy to the Sector

In this, my last Third Sector piece as a CEO, I wanted to pick up some big picture questions for the sector - drawing on my recent lecture as a Visiting Professor at Bayes Centre for Charity Effectiveness ‘Reflecting Forwards’ which looked back on my almost 40 years of working in and with the sector.

In the Q& A I was asked whether the sector had lost the plot? My answer was yes in respect of some larger contracting charities. (I will come to that). But it was heavily caveated, recognising that the sector is like an iceberg. With only the top visible in the conscious minds of the public in the household names we all know, and the bulk (95%) beneath the surface in the 10’s of 1000s of small local charities which have been my focus for the last 11 years at the Foundation.

Over the last 10 years I’ve written the stories of 100s of small local charities. And whilst they are not all perfect, at their best, they connect us with where all Charities all started: whether large or small. A few people in a room getting together to take action on something they cared about. If I think of the three large charities I have worked in at senior level: Sight Savers; Amnesty International and Diabetes UK. Sight Savers started in 1951, as the then British Empire Society for the Blind, by John Wilson (now Sir John). Blind himself, he was tasked with visiting West Africa after WWII to find out why so many volunteer conscripts were blind. He found River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) and the rest is history. Sight Savers now works in scores of countries and, true to Sir Johns vision, has pioneered new ways to address the scourge of preventable world blindness. Twenty years earlier HG Wells (of War of the Worlds fame) formed the British Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK) with Dr Robin Lawrence. Both had diabetes before the discovery of insulin. Diabetes UK remains at the forefront of diabetes care across the UK. And ten years later, in 1961, Peter Berenson formed Amnesty  with two friends – now a movement of 10 million in 150 countries. 

At their best, what all Charities have in common, whether small or large, is that they are founded on radicalism and activism through, dogged challenging of the status quo. They are instinctively innovative – seeing ways to do things that others think are impossible or pointless. They are strident advocates for ‘better’ - shining a light on what ‘better’ looks like through their own work or testimony. And they are prepared to share what do - because they know they can’t tackle the issues alone. But most of all they are prepared to speak out loudly and passionately without fear of censure. 

But I also characterised charities at their worst: obsessed with scale, parochial, driven by powerful egos and fiercely competitive. In particular, I challenged our approach to contracting across successive Governments, of left or right, which risks us being part of the problem if we are willing to take on underfunded and substandard contracts. Not only is this an ethical question for those we serve and those we employ, it is also illusory, given what a tiny proportion of the 'market’ most of us are. At best we risk creating Noah’s Arks for the chosen few - cross subsidised with voluntary income. At worst we become part of the problem - unable properly to hold poor services to account because we have been co-opted into providing them.

This is just as true for local charities, and their relationship with Local Government and the NHS, as it is for National Charities and Whitehall. But the difference is that many Local Authorities, of left, right and centre, would share common cause with us in seeking better properly funded local services, against a backdrop of the austerity which has been with us for 15 years. We all want to see something better. But it doesn’t look like it will be better anytime soon with a bleak macro-economic backdrop - with the end of cheap public and private borrowing; supply chain reprioritisation in favour of domestic security over globalisation - which will continue to fuel inflation, and the demographics of an ageing more needy population and a declining tax base. Added together this means we are entering a period of fiscal conservatism - whoever wins the general election.

Hence my call to look back to our radical roots. And seek to achieve scale through influence and advocacy - drawing from our work to demonstrate what good services can be and should look like. But critically, working together, recognising that many of the issues we face are common to other charities who work in similar areas.  The state of services across the NHS and geographic health inequality are just as much as an issue for every health charity as they are for Diabetes UK. Housing or benefits support for people who are destitute in Leeds in as much as issue for PAFRAS the refugee charity, or Womens Health Matters that supports women experiencing domestic abuse, or Basis that supports sex workers, as they are any number of Leeds charities addressing poverty.  By leaving our organisational egos at the door and working collaboratively we can get much further in addressing the underlying causes of the issues which come to our door. I saw that with the Richmond Group. Large groups of charities working together can make a much bigger difference. Their sum really is more than their parts.

My call to the wider sector is to engage collectively on the macro issues - recognising that the central debate in all Western Economies facing the economic and demographic realities of the UK is not about the quantum of wealth, but how it is distributed - geographically and individually.  This might seem a long way from our individual national or local issues - but it will be the key driver of whether we get decent health outcomes, whether our social care sector is properly funded, whether we have a benefits system that works for the poorest, or a compassionate asylum system. At the moment, I fear we are losing the argument by seeming to accept a degree of poverty and destitution that even some of our Victorian forbears might have baulked at. Worse than that, we sit alongside the toxic narrative of the culture wars played out by a Government that seems happy to turn the attention on anyone but themselves, and risks fomenting a divided society that blames and vilifies those many of us would seek to serve. Deeply cynical Political poison. I fear we will see this play out over the election. Can people coming on boats really be the central challenge facing the a country? When 30% of our children live in poverty. And we are christened by the Financial Times as ‘a world leader in homelessness’? Politicians who don’t bring these real issues to the fore don’t deserve our vote on July 4th.

My hope and belief is that the negative narrative that dominates the current political discourse is out of step with the Britain of today - with the most diverse population in Europe, and with younger generations, who have been sidelined by economic prosperity and opportunity. It is certainly out of step with the compassion I see played out by thousands of small local charities and the communities that serve them. Hence my cry for the sector to coalesce positively and collectively around the zeitgeist of a younger more diverse Britain focused on the three big issues of today and tomorrow: inequality (intergenerational and geographic); inclusion and climate change. These are just as relevant to the big national players like Cancer Research, the National Trust or the RSPCA, as they are to myriads of small local charities, like PAFRAS, Womens Health Matters or Basis in Leeds.

Am I optimistic? 

If it starts from the top I think the sectors national leaders, at NCVO, ACEVO, ACF, CFG and DSC are beginning to mirror this new way of working. And we see some of this in key coalitions like the Richmond Group, the Nature 2030 Campaign and the Disabled Childrens Partnership – though it needs to go further and bigger. But perhaps just as important, many of the small charities I see through my work at the Foundation are beginning to turn away from contracting as the way forward. They are recognising that it creates a rollercoaster of feast and famine which is counter to the very ethos of their work to create long term bespoke support to people who really need it. Some large charities are following suit. Notably Scope, Leonard Cheshire, Shelter and the Childrens Society have all questioned whether the large-scale contracting model is the route to maximising impact and reach for the people they exist to serve if it compromises their ability to speak hard truths to deaf power. Holding to account. Not being on account.

To be effective we need to look back to our roots and the activism and radicalism that has always been at the heart of who we are. To become a force for positive change for all those we exist for driven by our impatience to see better. This will require us to be bolder and more strident individually and collectively. It won’t win us friends with Government, of left or right, but it might with a next generation who want someone to care about inequality, inclusion and climate change.

But my columns have always been about stories. And in parting I wanted to end as I have begun most of my Third Sector pieces – with a story. A story about ‘Steph’. Steph lives in Sunderland: she’s had a tough life, struggles with alcohol, has no job, and has landed up so often in A&E that they get concerned when she doesn’t turn up regularly. She is also supported by NERAF - a local Drug and Alcohol charity. Recently the A&E charge Nurse rang NERAF concerned that they hadn’t seen Steph and, fearing for the worse, contacted NERAF to ask if they had seen her. Yes, said Amanda the CE, ‘I’m looking at her – she’s across the office doing the photocopying’. NERAF had realised that what Steph really needed was some structure and they had offered her a part time job. As a result, she had turned a corner and was currently dry. The charities I have visited over the years are replete with stories of people like Steph, because they see People as People not Problems. And they tackle the problem not the person. Invisible to many perhaps. But to those they serve they are truly #SmallButVital. So, I end celebrating the unsung heroes of our sector. Below the ice perhaps - but our country would sink without them. 

1st July 2024