A4e Fsi

Focus on: The FSI

Charitable provision Big businesses are not the only ones facing tight times in the recession. We find out why it’s important to keep supporting small charities – and how they can help themselves

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hile most businesses around the globe are thinking about how they can survive the credit crunch and keep their heads above water, it might be time to spare a thought for charities. These organisations work tirelessly to help others, and most depend on contributions from individuals and other businesses to keep their work going. In fact, in times like these, they need all the help that they can get. The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) is just one organisation that’s been set up to help charities – not just in hard times, but in their early days too, to help them realise their ideas and flourish. It works by forming partnerships with small charities, and supports them by giving them new and experienced eyes to look at areas such as governance, leadership, finance, administration, staffing, products and services and marketing. Partnerships also focus on charities who are at the visionary stage of their development. These charities may be just starting out, and might need help to put their plans into action.

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One such charity is Tea Leaf Trust. Seven months ago, the FSI met Tim and Yasmin Parr, a young couple who had recently married and honeymooned in Sri Lanka. One morning, in the central tea picking region, they looked out at miles and miles of beautiful countryside, but took the time to look further and dig deeper into the circumstances of the people who, on that morning, were their neighbours. They discovered that 350,000 adults, young people and children in the central region tea picking communities had been abandoned. They had

Above: A lane of typical teapickers’ houses in Sri Lanka.

Partnerships also focus on charities who are at the visionary stage of their development no employment or personal rights, as they were legislated by the private tea estates that controlled their housing, healthcare, education and amenities, rather than by the government. Effectively, they were modern-day slaves, with over 80 per cent of them still living in the single line rooms built by the British over 150 years ago. The vast majority had no electricity or running water, and many were suffering from malnutrition. Domestic and sexual abuse were rife, as was alcoholism and suicide. The Parrs decided to act and set up the Tea Leaf Trust, which aims to end the generational cycle of abuse by establishing a local community centre. Once set up, the centre will offer vocational training leading to alternative sustainable employment, as well as workshops on a range of issues from

Left: A large Sri Lankan family house by a storage shed in the Nuwara Eliya region of Sri Lanka. You can see the waste spilling from the left into a festering pool.

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Focus on: The FSI

mother while she was recovering from labour. This, along with many other devastating incidents in her life, caused her to start to self-harm, and she began to burn herself with a hot iron. Hermione was sent to the UK to live with a relative as a house-keeper, and was not given the support she needed until she was finally hospitalised and came into contact with Positive East. Thanks to the charity, she has now been given support to rebuild her life and to help her look forward to a better future. She is more stable, receives psychological support and has stopped self-harming. The FSI supports Positive East to increase their financial resources to become more independent and effective, and has supported them through training, research into funding sources and helped them interview and select a new fundraiser. Mark Santos, Chief Executive of Postive East, is full of praise for the help that the charity has received. He also welcomed ‘the fantastic booklet of potential funders and other offers of support’ that he’d received from the FSI. women’s rights and promotion of gender equality to healthcare. The idea is that it will provide a safe environment for people to come and have time for themselves, and help them plan their futures. Having sold their home to fund their work and get the community centre off the ground, the Parrs flew out to Sri Lanka in January this year. The FSI trained them before they left, helped them develop their vision and supported them financially. The organisation mentors them and gives them guidance on development plans, as well as being there when they need someone to talk to, and directs them to sources of support. After one mentoring session, Tim wrote to the FSI: ‘Thank you so much for spending time chatting things through with me. It helped pull me back down to earth and refocus. I knew I needed that. I feel more focused and driven now. We will stay safe – I promise.’

Starting out One of the FSI’s small charity partners is Positive East. It is what’s known as a Step-Change Partner – a charity that is established, but pushing its boundaries and getting ready to take on more challenges. Hermione, whose story is detailed below, is just one of the people that the charity has helped. Hermione was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 17, and came to Positive East after she had been unwell for some time. She revealed that she had been raped as a child, and that this was how she had contracted HIV, as well as becoming pregnant. Sadly, Hermione’s baby was given away by her

How charities can survive the credit crunch Don’t talk your charity into a recession! Follow our tips to getting it right 1. Keep donors close – they support charities because they are passionate about their cause. Donors need to be informed in a timely, consistent and appropriate manner of the impact their donation is having. Recognition and stewardship should be part of a charity’s DNA, now more than ever, before donors need to feel great about their charitable ‘portfolio’. 2. Diversify your income streams. Look at earned income or other types of fundraising. Charities that invested in individual or bequest marketing during or after the last recession are in a much healthier situation now than those who didn’t. Also build on the areas currently delivering the most income. 3. Take a long, hard look at overheads. Accept you may have to reduce short-term growth to gain increased long-term growth, but be sure that the services you focus on meet your aims and objectives. Think about collaborative working – how can you fundraise with other charities who support similar beneficiaries or who work in the same geographical area? 4. Don’t stop taking risks. However, make sure that you have researched the potential. Where is growth coming from in other more successful charities?

Right: The Rt Rev Stephen Oliver, Bishop of Stepney, takes an HIV test at the Positive East offices in Stepney, London; Rebecca Byekwaso (left), volunteer co-ordinator and nurse Klaus Erling Johansen.

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