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Resettlement training, retraining courses, recruitment / job opportunities for all ex armed forces military personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, The Army and RAF.
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According to the latest figures from the Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, there are nearly 200,000 registered charities in England, Wales and Scotland. They range in size from the very biggest household names like Oxfam, the National Trust and the Red Cross, through numerous schools and colleges, hospitals and trade benevolent societies, to small regional funds, perhaps to support a sick child or the victims of a local disaster. Their total annual income is nearly £52 billion in England and Wales, and just over £5 billion in Scotland (although around half of registered charities exist on an income of less than £10,000). Together, these charities employ 634,000 paid workers (235,000 of them part-time) and a further 13.2 million unpaid volunteers (volunteering at least once per month). In addition, an estimated 750,000 trustees take (unpaid) responsibility for governing individual charities. Almost 90% of the resources in the sector are controlled by only 9,297 charities, or 5.9% by number. These charities, each with annual (gross) income of more than £500,000, have their accounts professionally audited and are also required to provide information from their accounts in their Annual Returns. The Charities Act The Charities Act 2006 has underlined the requirement that all charities must exist for ‘public benefit’, and has given the Charity Commission a new objective: to promote understanding and awareness of this public benefit requirement. The Commission has stated that every charity will therefore have to demonstrate that it exists for public benefit. The four key principles of public benefit are:
To qualify as a charity under the new legislation, an organisation will have to be involved with:
Other significant elements include new forms of Charitable Incorporated Organisations and Community Interest Companies, changes to the roles and operation of the Charity Commission, a new definition of religion, and new forms of reporting and accounts. The Office of the Third Sector The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) is a government department (part of the Cabinet Office) that leads work across government to support the environment for a thriving ‘third sector’ (the collective name given to voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives and mutuals), enabling it to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. The OTS was created in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role that this sector plays in both society and the economy. Charitable giving More than half of the public give to charity in any one four-week period, while total giving is declining. The three groups most likely to donate to charity are women, people aged 45 to 64 years, and managers or professionals. The cause supported by the greatest number of people is medical research, followed by children/young people and then hospital/hospices, while high-level donors disproportionately contribute more to religious causes. Lottery funding is a lifeline for some, but many charities do not have access to it. Advertising, direct mail, telephone appeals and commercial trading have opened new areas of employment as charities become businesses to an extent that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Political pressure and lobbying at national or local level are undertaken as necessary, and there is sometimes a harder edge to campaigning than was usual in the past. The lines between government responsibilities, local service providers and some charities become blurred, with compacts, contracts and agreements worth billions of pounds between them. Indeed, it may be argued that charities now deliver much of the welfare state, with this leading to greater government interference and regulation as to how charities conduct their affairs. Many charities struggle for funds, particularly given the large number of good causes competing for donations. Disasters like the recent typhoons in East Asia, African famine and the Pakistan earthquake, as well as extravaganzas like Live Aid, Live 8 and Comic Relief Red Nose Day (which takes place every two years, alternating with Sports Relief) affect the nation’s ability or preparedness to support other causes. Charities in the Services There are hundreds of Services-related charities. A number of Service people also become involved in the management of charities as part of their duties – acting as museum trustees, managing funds and running large fundraising occasions. Some Service people also wish to continue working for some higher cause when they leave, and a second career in charity management can help them to achieve this. Employment in charities It is important to distinguish between the paid employees of a charity and its volunteers. The former generally cannot be members of its governing council, while some of the latter may be on the council, and all will have a view on its activities. Charity management is not an easy job and often involves out-of-hours work. While it may be personally satisfying to serve a good cause and be motivated by something other than money, charities can be complex organisations with challenging ‘people issues’. Service charities are largely staffed by ex-Forces people, although some posts that require specific expertise are filled from external sources. Position and appointment may still be made on the basis of Service rank, but they are a significant source of employment at head office (often London) and regionally. There are plans to form a new charitable Sector Skills Council, and this will include development of national occupational standards and qualifications. While very senior officers are still recruited to head up non-Service charities on the basis of their leadership, organisational and administrative skills, many such charities now recruit people who can bring commercial experience to bear. Such people may also be looking for a more uplifting use for their talents. Opportunities for employment generally are reasonable and growing. Skills and attributes that are important in charity employment include:
Apart from general and financial management, those thinking of working for a charity might consider:
Fundraising managers are responsible for the various ways that charities collect money, and for organising staff and volunteers. In small charities, fundraising managers will probably run all the different revenue-collecting activities; in larger ones they may only be responsible for one or two. Methods of raising funds include:
Many fundraising managers are graduates and mature people who have previously worked in relevant areas like marketing, PR or sales. Working in other charities or as a volunteer are also ways to enter the profession. Some large charities have management training schemes consisting of a series of placements in different parts of the organisation. There are courses for beginners, and others for people with some experience. Volunteer organisers recruit, train and manage unpaid volunteers. They interview, match candidates to vacancies, and organise training and ongoing support. They will probably supervise the volunteers in a geographical area so the work involves administration, budgets, record-keeping, report-writing, applying for grants and organising fundraising. Some posts are part-time, depending on the size and location of the charity. Entrants are often mature people with experience in other fields. Experience as a volunteer, or of organising people, committee work or fundraising can be an advantage. There are courses and qualifications available in this specialism. Case workers help individuals and groups to find assistance and relief from their problem. They may be specially trained – like nurses or welfare workers – or lay people. They are often involved in assessing individuals’ needs and directing them to the appropriate source of help, which may be their own charity, another charity or state assistance. They will often become involved in counselling, and helping with tribunals and paperwork to assist in getting the right result, and will often need to understand complex laws and regulations. There are no set entry requirements except that some case workers may need to be professionally qualified. Training is often on-the-job, although some large charities run courses. Salaries Because of the very wide range of different charities that exist, as well as the current financial climate, it is quite difficult to give an accurate picture of average salaries, but the website CharityJOB.co.uk offers the following guidelines:
Office of the Third Sector, 2nd Floor, Admiralty Arch, South Side, The Mall, London SW1A 2WH Tel: 020 7276 6400 Website: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector Charity Commission Direct, PO Box 1227, Liverpool L69 3UG Tel: 0845 300 0218 Website: www.charity-commission.gov.uk Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), 2nd Floor, Quadrant House, 9 Riverside Drive, Dundee DD1 4NY Tel: 01382 220446 Website: www.oscr.org.uk Institute of Fundraising, Park Place, 12 Lawn Lane, London SW8 1UD Tel: 020 7840 1000 Website: www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk Volunteering England, Regents Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL Tel: 0845 305 6979 Website: www.volunteering.org.uk National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), The Tower, 2 Furnival Square, Sheffield S1 4QL Tel: 0114 278 6636 Website: www.navca.org.uk CharityJOB, Victoria Hall, Victoria Road, Kingston upon Thames KT1 3DW Tel: 020 8939 8430 Website: www.charityjob.co.uk  
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