Third Sector Podcast

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Ian Joseph, managing director of Trustees Unlimited, to talk about what charities need to think about when creating an effective board. Ian describes the key qualities of a good trustee, from having an emotional connection to a charity’s cause to humility, courage and conscientiousness. He provides pointers on how to find the right trustee, starting with a charity’s personal links before casting the net wider, and stresses the need to formulate both a business and a moral case for board diversity to avoid tokenism.Also in the episode, senior news reporter Emily Harle shares some clips from her recent interview with James Needham, chief executive of Help for Heroes, in which they discussed cross-charity collaborations and the rising importance of legacy giving for the veterans charity. Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Miriam Turner, co-executive director of Friends of the Earth, and Victoria Benson, chief executive of the single-parent support charity Gingerbread, to discuss their respective organisations’ move to a four-day working week.Miriam explains how the change is helping to strengthen the environmental justice movement by enabling a more diverse staff body to further the charity’s cause effectively and authentically.She provides insight into the necessary preparations and adjustments, from streamlining meeting culture to ensuring effective cross-team collaboration.Victoria describes how Gingerbread, which is in the early stages of a six-month trial of a four-day week, prepared for the change with the help of a staff working group to balance employee wellbeing and sustained productivity.They also identify some of the challenges of reducing working days, including meeting congestion on core collaboration days and problems faced by some staff in adapting to new ways of working.Also in the episode, Andy and Lucinda discuss the implications of the Autumn Statement for the voluntary sector.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Julie Bentley, chief executive of Samaritans, to find out how the charity has rebuilt its volunteer base after it shrank by 30 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic.Julie describes how Samaritans’ more flexible volunteering packages aim to attract volunteers from all corners of society. She provides her views on the campaigning climate for charities, and the need for more consistent core funding to help the sector overcome the present financial challenges.She also stresses the need for a more joined-up and compassionate social care system to identify and assist people with overlapping needs, from financial to mental health support.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Duaa Falah, executive director for the Iraqi grassroots organisation Mercy Path for Women’s Affairs. Duaa explains how her involvement with Mercy Path and its sister organisation, Mercy Hands, has enabled her to become a force for good in her community.Also in the episode, Emily provides some background to Third Sector’s new podcast series, The Diff. You can submit your feedback on the first three episodes by recording a voicenote here.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Rory are joined by Wajid Akhter, founder of Charity Week, a student and volunteer-led campaign of Islamic Relief, and Harry Twohig, communities officer at the Brilliant Club, to discuss how charities can tap into students’ inclination to support societal causes.Wajid outlines the aims of Charity Week, which he established in 2000, and describes how its partner charity, Islamic Relief, provides important support while allowing students and volunteers to assume full leadership of the initiative.Recent graduate Harry stresses the need for charities to allow students to have genuine ownership of their voluntary work, fostering trust and a sense of belonging. He explains why he considers Amnesty International and the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan to be particularly strong examples of effective charity-student engagement.Also in the episode, Rory explains the ins and outs of charity job shares, the number of which has gone up by 900 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits.In the final episode of its pilot series, The Diff visits the Synergy Theatre Project to hear about its work with prisoners and ex-prisoners. Guests explain how working with prisoners, ex-prisoners, young offenders and young people at risk of offending reveals the many factors that perpetuate cycles of violence in today’s society. They also share the vital importance of lived experience in Synergy’s work.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits.In the second episode of our pilot mini-series, airing 13-17 November, host Rhianna Dhillon learns how the first-aid charity StreetDoctors empowers young people to become part of the solution to knife crime. Volunteer and medical student Suleiman Shurafa gives a quick-fire guide to the vital first-aid skills that can to save the life of someone who has been stabbed or injured in a violent incident. And chief executive Lucie Russell explains the importance of the charity's trauma-informed work.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the team at Third Sector comes The Diff – a new podcast that spotlights the work of small charities and not-for-profits. In the first episode of our pilot mini-series, airing 13-17 November, we ask: what causes a knife crime epidemic – and what would it take to end one? Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, and Nathaniel Peat, founder of the Safety Box CIC, discuss the multi-layered factors driving knife crime in the UK, and explain how their work helps to tackle the crisis. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Andy are joined by Katy Saunders, director at Social Finance, and Mark Jarman-Howe, chief executive of St Helena Hospice, to discuss how charities can make effective use of social investment mechanisms.Katy explains how the social investment market works and describes its growth over the past decade, presenting opportunities to charities to be both investors and recipients of social finance.Mark describes St Helena’s journey into social investment as traditional fundraising streams failed to keep up with rising demand. He explains how the charity now provides lottery services to 35 other charities, with an annual turnover of £5m.They also discuss the potential risks and downsides of social investment, stressing the importance for charities to conduct due diligence into potential partners and acknowledge that grant funding is often preferable.Earlier in the episode, senior news reporter Emily Harle discusses ways in which charities can engage politicians in the wake of party conference season and with a general election around the corner.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda and Emily are joined by Rebecca Gray, chief executive of Maudsley Charity, a grant-maker for mental health projects.Rebecca describes how the recruitment of a new board in 2018 helped the charity to change its approach to funding across thematic, strategic programme areas with input from stakeholders to help influence the charity’s direction of travel.She explains how the charity balances considerations of need, potential for change and the most appropriate type of funding to make a difference, investing in local projects targeting social groups that lack trust in statutory mental health services, with a view to generating a national ripple effect.Charity Changed My Life features the story of Lydia Eccleston, who received life-changing support from Endometriosis UK that enabled her to confirm and manage her diagnosis with the chronic condition and the realities it presents.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.Read the transcript. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucinda takes a look behind the scenes at Barnardo’s as she shadows a day in the life of Becky Rice, the charity’s senior policy adviser for mental health and wellbeing.Becky outlines the different aspects of her job: from conducting research to responding to government announcements and speaking to children, young people, practitioners and parents to ensure their perspectives and priorities are at the forefront of the charity’s policy recommendations.She describes her professional path to her current role and provides tips for anyone interested in joining the policy profession, as well as outlining the key qualities she looks for in a budding policy adviser.Lucinda is joined by Third Sector’s editor, Emily Burt, to reflect on the visit. Also in the episode, reporter Rory Poulter provides insight into a range of leading sector perspectives on how charities can collaborate effectively.Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.