Dogs, Philanthropists, Independence and all

Settling down to catch up on Coronation St I was disturbed by someone at the door. It turned out to be a fundraiser from the Battersea Dogs Home. My faithful hound having also appeared at the door I felt I could hardly resist taking up the offer to give them a DD donation.

In fact I'm rather prone to signing up to fundraisers. I've done that for people who popped round from the British Heart Foundation and VSO. And I also can't resist the charms of street fundraisers, or ‘chuggers’ as some term them. So I have an eclectic list of charities I support; but then as the CEO of ACEVO I can hardly turn them down. And it’s a bit like market research for me as I get their literature through the post or the emails. Shelter are particularly assiduous in their search for funds. But then they need to be. Getting support for the homeless sector is difficult. Hedge fund managers and their ilk like something more cuddly, and we have such a long way to go before such people match the level of giving that their counterparts do in the States. Of course there are exceptions, but it is still a dismal fact that poorer people give a higher proportion of their wealth to charity than rich people do.

This is a point that people like Thomas Hughes-Hallett have been labouring for some time. I had lunch with him recently and he was outlining his plans for an Institute of Philanthropy. A much-needed innovation and one to be strongly supported. And he has managed to secure the support of a good philanthropist who is putting a substantial endowment behind this project so it can really motor in a big way, making an impact where it is needed. Thomas is one of the sector greats (I got to know him well from the infamous government ‘listening exercise’ where we laboured together on choice and competition), and it was a rather enjoyable lunch – we discovered we both have a love for the English choral tradition. He supports ‘The Sixteen’ and the choir of Westminster Abbey.

Yesterday I was speaking at the launch of the Independence Panel’s final report on ‘An Independent Mission: The Voluntary Sector in 2015’. You can read it here.

It raises some fundamental issues and concerns. It raises he concerns many of my CEO members have been raising about the politicisation of the Charity Commission. It agrees with ACEVO that the Lobbying Act must be repealed as soon as the next government takes office.  And it challenges sector leaders to continue to speak out. We will. Well, I certainly will.

Oh my heart!

A fascinating few hours with the CEO of the British Heart Foundation on Monday, though it did make me think about whether I'm getting enough exercise (as he gently reminded me). I took a lovely leaflet from reception, “put your heart into walking" which is worth getting. And as I mentioned I do a lot of walking with the Hound.

I met for lunch with Simon Gillespie who has been a longstanding and valued member of ACEVO for many years (he was previously at the MS Society). This is one of the country’s biggest charities. Over 3000 staff and turnover above 200 million. It plays a vital role in the research that goes on into discovering the causes of heart problems and working on cures. Much of the advances in heart research has turned strokes and heart attacks into a long term condition as opposed to what carried you off into the next world is down to this wonderful charity. As I remarked to Simon, too often the NHS claims all this research as its own. In fact a third of all medical research is carried out or funded by charity.

They have great offices in Mornington Crescent, ironically in an old cigarette factory (a glorious Art Deco building). And as they have a big staff group over 2 massive floors they have their own cafe and outside balconies looking out over North London to the glories of Hampstead and Primrose Hill (but couldn't see Ed Miliband's house)! So lunch was at his office which is a change as most of my members don't have such a facility!

Simon has been in post less than 2 years but has been reviewing and revising their strategy, recently appointing new top directors. As the country understands better the importance of prevention and the care of people with long term conditions the work of charities like BHF become more important. There is also crucial work to do in how to reorganise the NHS to provide top quality care hospitals.  The reorganisation of London stroke services which moved to treating heart conditions in just 8 hospitals and not all 30+ London A+E showed the importance of rationalising cardiac services across the country. The idea that you need to be treated in your nearest A+E as opposed to the best centre for your condition is one of those myths we need to bust. And we need fewer hospitals and more resources in community and prevention.

And on health generally worth mentioning that all our Winterbourne deliberations are up on the NHS. England website; terms of reference, Membership and first meeting notes.  We agreed that we would make all our discussions accessible. So see them here.