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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Senior reporters Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Berenice Levenez, director of strategy, technology and transformation at Girlguiding, and Liz Gadd, environmental lead at the think tank NPC.

Berenice describes how feedback from members that Girlguiding should be doing more to address the environmental crisis prompted the charity to develop a new environmental strategy.

She explains how the strategy was devised and costed and why it includes a target to halve carbon emissions by 2040.

Liz stresses the importance of giving service users a sense of agency in responding to the climate crisis. She suggests ways for charities to collaborate in their environmental work and the benefits of doing so.

Charity Changed My Life features the story of Darrell, who so valued the support she received from the Weston Park Cancer Charity after being diagnosed with breast cancer that she volunteered to set up an affiliated choir.

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 and Emily are joined by Rebecca Linford, senior legal adviser, and Mark Ellis, head of communications, at the whistleblowing support charity Protect.

Rebecca describes Protect’s role in the development of a storyline about whistleblowing for the BBC medical drama Casualty. She outlines the scripting process and stresses the need to be clear on timelines to help manage workloads.

Mark explains how the charity weighed up the benefits and risks of getting involved, after being approached by the programme’s producers. He describes how Protect measured the impact of its participation in furthering its cause.

Also in this episode, Lucinda and Emily speak to Sarah Elliott, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, to consider what’s next for the voluntary sector under the new Labour government.

Sarah advises how charities can best establish relationships with new government stakeholders, starting with offers to help achieve Labour’s missions and agenda.

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 and Emily are joined by James Dunbar, chief executive of the poverty reduction charity New Start Highland. 

James describes how the charity was able to move from being a predominantly grant-receiving organisation to generating three-quarters of its income through trading and contracts.

He explains how he identified income-generating opportunities for New Start Highland, from furniture-making to removal services, as well as some of the risks of taking a more commercially-minded approach.

He provides pointers for other charities considering taking a similar route and stresses the importance of communication with all stakeholders. 

Also in the episode, news editor Andy Ricketts joins Lucinda and Emily to consider Labour’s landslide election victory and its implications 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 [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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