What happens when leaders from five charities step away from the day-to-day and share a table? Dr Patricia Vella-Burrows BEM, Director of Music4Wellbeing, reflects on an evening hosted by The Fore in Brighton – an inspiring exchange of ideas, experience and practical support that showed the charitable sector at its collaborative best.
After a long, hot day looking after the grandchildren, the prospect of a two-hour drive to Brighton to spend an evening with complete strangers felt a little daunting. As it turned out, it was one of those occasions where the effort was more than worthwhile.
The evening, organised and funded by The Fore, brought together representatives from five current or past The Fore-funded charities, each working in different fields but united by a shared commitment to improving lives.
I was there representing Music4Wellbeing, which currently supports over 650 adults living with significant life challenges across Kent and Medway, through regular, social, music and creative activity groups.
My fellow dinner companions were, without exception, informed and inspiring.
I learned from Colin, founder of SAY Aphasia, the challenge of living with post-stroke or other conditions leading to aphasia, and that the charity currently supports 30 peer-led aphasia groups across the UK. It was fascinating to hear about the charity’s inspiring work; how Colin, who has himself aphasia, and his dedicated team grew the initiative from one single group in Sussex to help so many more people country-wide to adapt to a new way of life and to regain independence and confidence (www.sayaphasia.org)
Silvie, founder and CEO of the Sound Waves Foundation shared how her family’s experience of raising two deaf children inspired her to co-found the charity with Nicola, another parent of a deaf child. The charity empowers deaf children and young people through initiatives such as campaigning for live captioning in mainstreams schools and advocacy for inclusive education. Through their undaunted commitment, Silvia and Nicola managed to generate funding to support their own work in the charity and recruit a project manager and social media lead (www.soundwavesfoundation.org).
Hannah introduced us to Farmers’ Voice Radio, an international initiative of the Lorna Young Foundation. The project uses radio to empower farming communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, promoting communication on issues such as human rights, labour equality and fair trade, healthcare and education. It was encouraging to hear how The Fore supported the Lorna Young Foundation to develop Farmers’ Voice Radio’s free training programme and resources, which has enabled over 50 farmer cooperatives to produce and broadcast their own local-language radio programme series. The Fore’s support also helped leverage other funds from businesses and trusts, including the Sussex-based Chalk Cliff Trust. (www.farmersvoiceradio.org)
Mary described her role at Brighton Therapy Centre and their charitable provision, including the Hope and Healing project. The project provides free counselling and therapy for individuals and families with a cancer diagnosis. It was most interesting to hear from Mary about the referral and funding systems, which includes an innovative model where commercial therapy services help fund charitable provision for people who would otherwise be unable to access treatment (https://brightontherapycentre.org.uk/services/hope-and-healing/)
The greatest benefit of the evening was the open sharing of knowledge and experiences. We discussed the many delights and challenges of running a charity including: the joy of seeing people transformed through our work; our missions to reach more people; measuring impact; different funding needs and models and our collective funding fearfulness in light of ever greater need and less money to go round; the process of social enterprise supporting community need; our gratitude to The Fore for including, in addition to financial support, capacity-building/sustainability training opportunities.
Through their open generosity, I learned from the other charity representatives a great deal, particularly information on risk assessments, safeguarding, working with children and young people, and the process of adjusting charitable objectives through the Charity Commission.
As Music4Wellbeing is increasingly being asked to support a wider range of underserved people with communication difficulties, these conversations were especially timely and valuable.
The dinner venue itself (Bella Italia, Brighton) was delightful, with exceptionally helpful staff who created a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. More importantly, the evening perfectly encapsulated the very best of the charitable sector: organisations genuinely interested in one another’s work, generously sharing ideas, experiences and practical advice without competition or self-interest (well, a little benevolent self-interest on my part, I have to admit).
Running a small charity can sometimes feel quite isolating. I left Brighton with a renewed sense of connection and the feeling that we have found new allies within the charitable community.
Notwithstanding a delay in the start of the proceedings, where, unaware, three of us were seated at an outside table and two inside , this was an enjoyable, informative and genuinely fulfilling evening.
The evening reinforced the importance of creating opportunities for charity leaders to connect, learn from one another and build relationships that ultimately benefit the communities we all serve
Thank you to The Fore for bringing us together.
