Third Sector Podcast

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Alicia Nagar, head of people, wellbeing and equity at Mental Health First Aid England, and Samantha Stapley, chief operations and people officer at Trussell.

Alicia describes the complex mental health challenges faced by people working in the voluntary sector. She outlines the need for a holistic approach to organisational support, with Mental Health First Aiders forming a part.

Sam explains how Trussell is responding to the mental health needs of its staff, volunteers and food bank users as the charity grows in response to sky-rocketing demand. She stresses the importance of listening to staff rather than making assumptions about the most valuable forms of support.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of Opinya Lilly Okello, whose farming enterprise in northern Uganda has become more profitable since she received training from Feed the Minds through the NGO ACSET Uganda.

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 [email protected] for further information.

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Lucinda Rouse travels to the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon, to meet the charity’s senior statistician, Stuart Norris, and find out about his pathway to a career in data science.

Stuart describes how he combined a background in ecology with his long-standing interest in computers to find his niche in the voluntary sector. He explains how his team combines open source data with internal information to create platforms that are used to inform the charity’s strategic decision-making.

He suggests ways in which applicants to data roles can stand out, and stresses the importance of soft skills on top of technical know-how.

Lucinda is joined by Third Sector’s editor, Emily Burt, to reflect on the visit. 

And senior reporter Emily Harle shares snippets from her recent interview with Dan Corry, outgoing chief executive of the think tank NPC.

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 [email protected] for further information.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Ndidi Okezie, chief executive of UK Youth, to discuss the need for the voluntary sector to overcome its siloed approach to solving systemic problems.

Ndidi explains how UK Youth is pushing for a more integrated approach to delivering youth services through a new initiative called the Joined Up Institute. 

She shares her views on the role funders can play in generating action from evidence, and the need for bold leadership to drive an intentional process of learning between charities.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of a service user who received support from For Baby’s Sake, a charity that helps families with experience of domestic abuse to give their baby the best start in life.

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 [email protected] for further information.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Collette Philip, founder of the anti-racist brand agency Brand by Me, to discuss the findings of its recent audit of anti-racism work by the top 30 charities listed in Third Sector’s Charity Brand Index.

Collette explains why adopting a non-racist organisational approach and focusing primarily on diversity and the representation of racialised communities will never go far enough in the fight against systemic racism. 

She outlines the areas where progress has been slowest and describes ways in which charities can take meaningful action, starting with making a public commitment to anti-racist practice in order to promote accountability.

Also in the episode, senior reporter Emily Harle talks about her recent long read, which suggests measures charities can take to enable meaningful contributions from their young trustees.

Read Brand by Me’s Dismantle report.

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 [email protected] 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.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Burt are joined by Gemma Peters, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, to discuss the charity’s ‘year of transformation’.

Gemma explains how its new strategy will enable Macmillan to better meet the needs of people living with cancer and describes the challenges of managing the accompanying organisational turbulence.

She shares her views on the responsibility of larger charities to support their smaller counterparts and warns of the risks of focusing on current need to the detriment of driving longer-term change for good.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of Michael, who was saved by the RNLI in Scarborough after a winter swim in the sea went awry.

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 [email protected] for further information.

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Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Clare Mills, deputy chief executive of the Charity Finance Group, and Mike Conroy, director of commercial finance at the banking trade association UK Finance.

They start by listening to an account of contrasting experiences with two high street banks by Cat Ross, chief executive of Baby Basics and volunteer director of Rwanda Child.

Clare describes recent progress in strengthening the relationship between banks and charity infrastructure bodies, as well as an uptake in digital banking services by charities. She also stresses the need for banks to simplify their administrative requirements.

Mike explains why charity customers often present complications to banks, not least due to the varied nature of charity governance structures. He outlines measures to improve communication and understanding on both sides, including a new Voluntary Organisation Banking Guide published by UK Finance.

Also in the episode, reporter Dami Adewale talks about his recent long read exploring how charities can contribute to the longer term response to the recent riots. 

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 [email protected] for further information.

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Lucinda Rouse and Andy Ricketts are joined by Nathan Coyle, senior peace tech adviser at the Austrian Centre for Peace and author of the book Open Data for Everybody: Using Open Data for Social Good.

Nathan explains how open data can be used by the voluntary sector to support work in areas including campaigning and influencing, completing grant applications and demonstrating charities’ expertise and openness to collaboration.

He cites useful open data sources, from government and police data to 360Giving, and provides pointers to guidance on accessing and using data. These include the Open Data Institute, Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Data Day and Open Data Manchester.

Also in the episode, Andy and Lucinda hear from Zoe Amar, founder and director of Zoe Amar Digital, and Anj Handa, founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers. They consider the sector’s response to the recent riots across the UK and suggest tangible actions that charity leaders can take to help tackle the root causes of racism and Islamophobia.

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 [email protected] 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.

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Andy Ricketts and Dami Adewale are joined by Abi Long, executive team manager, and Yusuf Ciftci, head of refugee involvement at the Refugee Council.

Abi presents the findings of research conducted by the Refugee Council into barriers encountered by refugees navigating the UK job market. She describes the intersectionality of challenges facing people with different types of lived experience, from homelessness to disability.

Yusuf describes his own employment experiences in the voluntary sector after being granted asylum in the UK. He stresses the benefits of utilising the lived experience of staff at all levels and suggests ways of getting more people with lived experience into senior leadership positions.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of Stephanie, who receives invaluable support from Zoe’s Place Children Hospice in Liverpool to help care for her daughter, Robyn.

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 [email protected] 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.

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Lucinda Rouse and Andy Ricketts joined by Bekki Wilkins, special events manager at the Willow Foundation, and Sam Dimond, director of the event production company Spotlight Sound. 

Bekki recounts the challenges of organising events such as the Willow Ball and the London Football Awards in the face of inflated costs and lower corporate ticket sales. She suggests ways of reducing costs through contra deals with suppliers and moving to venues outside London.

Sam sheds light on the types of charity approaches that are most appealing to suppliers, stressing the importance of forming long-term relationships and dedicating time to ensuring a supplier fully understands a charity’s mission and event goals.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of Jerry, whose participation in a community horticulture programme at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has brought him comfort and inspiration after experiencing homelessness.

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 [email protected] 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.

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Lucinda Rouse and Andy Ricketts are joined by Robyn Mountain Wade, director of income generation at Martin House Children’s Hospice, to find out how the charity recruited major donors for the first time to meet a £21.9m fundraising target.

Robyn explains how Martin House engaged local philanthropists by inviting them to events co-hosted by their ambassador and the former England football manager, Gareth Southgate, to tell them about the work of the hospice.

She describes the value of giving local businesspeople the agency to host their own fundraising events as well as providing the option of donation pledges while stressing a sense of urgency.

Also in the episode, Lucinda and Andy hear from Chris Fairbank, director of communications at the headteachers’ association HMC, about the possible effects on the wider voluntary sector of the government’s plan to scrap VAT and business rates exemptions for independent schools.

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 [email protected] 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.

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