Select a region
The challenges facing charities and their struggles to recover following covid have been well documented, but this autumn marked a significant shift – a feeling that the charity sector was now at breaking point.
The wake-up call started with the shock collapse of the Jersey Recovery College followed by BSK's sudden closure of La Hougue Bie tearooms, and then a warning from AllMatters Neurodiverse that its community hub was to be scrapped at the end of September due to a lack of funding to secure another property after its building was put up for sale.
Many in the sector spoke of an impending "crisis", with warnings that more closures could follow without swift action.
Playing a key role in supporting the wellbeing of the sector is Association of Jersey Charities Chair Marcus Liddiard (pictured top), a passionate problem-solver with a first-class zoology degree under his belt, and a business background in intellectual property as a former Director at CPA Global and sustainability consultancy in his role as Chief Operating Officer at True.
He stepped up to his new AJC role over summer alongside three other new committee members, Adrian Franklin, Peggy Gielen and Karen Lysiak, having previously served as Chair of the Grants Committee and then Deputy Chair.
Ahead of the publication of the 'Value of the Third Sector' research report at the end of last week, which showed how charities bring £230 million in economic value to the island, he spoke in the latest edition of Connect about where the balance lies when it comes to Government support and regulation, ways for businesses to ensure their CSR plans are making the most impact at this challenging time, and why donating skills can be just as meaningful as cash...
We do an annual survey, and the results of last year's still hold true. No one has come to us saying things have eased significantly - they are still quite challenged.
There has been as increase in service demand for charities, people wanting help from them, and difficulties in fundraising. The challenges were clear from the answers we had to our survey, and the fact that charities are telling us that they are still using their reserves right now - that's what reserves are for, for difficult times.
Obviously, if we don't find a way out of this challenge quite soon, you end up with quite a picture of long-term instability.
We understand volunteers, funders, whoever else can get concerned about the sustainability of charities. What we're trying to do is signpost all the ways in which people can help support charities, and the AJC also helps charities to become sustainable in their own right. We provide training, we provide support, and try to encourage the right kind of behaviour to lead to good outcomes for charities, and therefore good outcomes for Jersey.
I think often action is delivered off the burning platform. When there is a problem, what needs to be fixed? The problem at the moment is that a lot of charities are having a great deal of difficulty... and we need to make sure that people [from all areas] are involved.
There is no way to fix this. A lot of people will say, 'Well the Government should step in more.' But that can create its own problems - we'd end up not being a low-tax jurisdiction anymore, if the Government had to pick up all those costs. It has to come down to a mix of Government and corporate and individual support.
Absolutely. Deep specialisation and focus is what they offer - and they offer it in an incredibly efficient way. There's no way, with all the best will in the world, that if the Government tried to run those services, it would be anywhere near the cost of what charities can offer.
They're well run, they're focused, they're efficient and lean regarding costs, and that's great. We'd all love to live in a world where we didn't need those charities, but, actually, the sad fact is that we do.
Jersey is a microcosm of the world, and we will have the same issues. We may have them to a different level to other parts of the world, but we have those same issues, so we must decide for ourselves, how do we want those addressed?
Charities fill the voids. Across the charity estate in Jersey, there are a number where you cannot believe these charities aren't being essentially managed and controlled because of the fundamental nature of their services... For example, when people are missed, when they're not being picked up by the services that are available, your charities are filling a lot of those gaps.
As an example, there are a lot of cancer charities. But, actually, if you look at it in detail - there's one for that kind of cancer, that kind of support, that knowledge, that one for supporting the family, this one for the patient. Suddenly, that duplication goes away when you look at it in detail.
Charities here are in the main incredibly well run, focused and efficient, and it's worth remembering that they have to pass a number of tests to be a charity. They have to pass the Charity Commissioner in the first instance. If the Commissioner believed there was no charitable value to what these charities where doing, they wouldn't be there.
The Government and the Charity Commissioner appear to have deliberately taken a fairly light approach to everything so far. I think that's a good thing, because it's easing everyone into the process.
There is a huge value to having a regulator there.
You've no longer got entities deciding to be charities who have no charitable value whatsoever operating in the space. We work with Charities Commissioner very regularly. When there are challenges, we've worked together to assist.
Charities have been having a tough time getting bank accounts, so they've done a piece of work to assess that area and provide support and guidance...Charities need to have a bank account to be able to be registered, so if they can't get a bank account, they can't.
Of course, there have been increases in regulation, but those are sometimes good because it's professionalising the sector. You need good levels of governance, but I think [the Commission] is cognisant of what they are doing, and want to provide that regulation and structure, while being sensitive to the needs of the charities and Jersey at the moment.
We want to be encouraging people to take interest in these roles, even when they see times that maybe challenging - we need them to be more involved now, because times are challenging.
But it's not a one-way street. The value and the enjoyment they'll get back from being involved will far outweigh those challenges. There's lots of data about the value of volunteering, but we're trying hard to make people understand that link even more.
We need charities to be supported financially by that, be that by the government, or be that by legacies, or be that by regulator giving or payroll giving, which is something we're trying to push quite strongly, but volunteering - in any way, but particularly volunteering using skills - is a huge thing.
Charities are always in need of skills. You'll always need, for example, someone who has the right skills to support as a Treasurer or as a Secretary. I think some people may limit themselves and say, 'Well, only lawyers or accountants can be of value to charities' - I'm neither of those things.
It's really important we try to show the broad needs of charities, and explain what roles are available so people can see themselves in those roles a bit better - be it using digital skills, HR skills, communication skills, they'll always be of value to somebody.
On the AJC website, we list paid roles and volunteer roles, and have a regular newsletter which mentions all the opportunities coming up.
Corporates, often through CSP, will offer some of their staff to volunteer for a time, and we try to help them to make that as easy as possible. However, they may only offer up their staff for one particular scheme that resonates with that firm. That can be a good thing, but it could be potentially better to open up different schemes so that staff can work on whatever resonates with them. That will be better in terms of recruitment, retention, employee wellbeing, all those kinds of things.
Doing that requires understanding of the landscape of charities in Jersey, what their needs are, so that's hard for companies to do. They are not there to be experts. That's where the AJC comes in.
We can't say, 'Go to this charity', because that's unfair - we're a membership organisation. However, we can give a broad description of everything and, if they have any particular interests, we can give a sense of which charities best fit those.
It means that all charities have a chance of getting greater corporate support. It's then a case of being clear on what the CSR value is to the charity and vice versa.
The result is that the charity gets people supporting them in the way they need, and the individual gets to be able to support a charity, which means a lot to them.
Over 400 charities are registered in Jersey
One in four charities reported rising costs in 2023
At the same time, more than 50% had seen a drop in their income - while they are experiencing an increase in demand for their services
Two thirds had been forced to use their reserves
Nearly £700,000 in grants awarded by AJC to charities in the first half of 2024
£50,000 donated and another £50,000 pledged for a soon-to-launch Jersey Community Foundation fund aimed at helping high-value residents support local causes
This article first appeared in the October edition of Connect magazine which you can read in full below.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.