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Press Release Tuesday 1st February 2011. Three Charities in Wiltshire have announced that they have joined the Big Society

The following charities, Wiltshire Blind Association, Age UK Wiltshire and Wiltshire Mind have agreed to collaborate on delivering their services for the good of people in the county. At this time, central and local government are facing the urgent need to cut costs to secure our economic recovery. Across the county, the challenge of the spending squeeze is seen as an opportunity for change; to do things more smartly and more efficiently.

The joint statement says:
“In recognising the challenges ahead, Age UK Wiltshire have invited Wiltshire Blind Association and Wiltshire Mind to look at the services they all deliver and see how best they can together improve those services and introduce other much needed help to people across Wiltshire. It is their combined view that all charities should consider seriously and imaginatively whether there are ways in which they could do more for their beneficiaries by working together. Whilst every charity is independent and has its own distinctive contribution to make to society, an effective charity must explore whether collaboration or partnership with other charities could improve efficiency, the use of funds and the delivery of services to current and future beneficiaries.

All organisations in this collaboration understand that to achieve this will require close co-ordination and the need to plan strategically and allocate resources where it makes most sense. There is a local need for joined-up decision making so that, no matter what the problem, not one person falls through the net.

Together over the coming months they will examine how by combining some of the back office functions and jointly simplify the process of getting a quick and satisfactory resolve to service users’ problems.”

Mike Weston, Chair of Trustees for Age UK Wiltshire, commented " After over 185 years of combined service, we cannot allow the national financial crisis to distract us from the long term care and support that both older and disadvantaged people urgently require. It is our hope that in the future, funders will only need to approach one organisation for the delivery of services and reporting of outcomes. We are currently in discussion from several charities and would also welcome contact from others".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILTSHIRE COLLABORATION of INDEPENDENT CHARITIES (WCIC)

POTENTIAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

 

 

Q.      Are the charities forming WCIC merging to become one new organization?

 

A.      Absolutely not.  Each of the charities will remain a fully independent charity in their own right with separate Boards of Trustees, finances and their own teams of staff and volunteers.  The term WCIC is purely intended to identify that certain Wiltshire based charities want to work more closely together to the benefit of end users.

 

Q.      Is this collaboration a legally binding entity?

 

A.      There is a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) that each of the charities have signed however, the MoU purely describes that the principle objectives of the collaboration is for those charities involved to work together in a cohesive manner for the purposes of promoting the interests of older and disadvantaged people in Wiltshire.

 

Q.      Will this collaboration mean that the types of services and the end users for whom these are provided change for each of the charities?

 

A.      No.  Each of the independent charities within the collaboration has their own memoranda and articles.  These describe very clearly those people within the community that each charity exists to support.  There will be no changes to the memoranda and articles of any of the charities in the collaboration.  Whilst it is almost certain that a proportion of those end users served by each charity will have similarities (e.g. general and more specialist services to older people within the community), services provided will not change.

 

Q.      If there are no changes to the charities or the services that they offer, then what is the point in collaboration?

 

A.      There can be no doubt that as a result of the current and likely future economic environment and the move towards the “Big Society”, the pressures placed upon the funding of charities will increase, as will the demands placed upon their services.  Whilst each charity within the collaboration is independent and retains its own distinctive contribution to make to society, effective charities have a duty to explore whether collaborative working might improve their efficiency, the use of funds and most importantly, the delivery of services to current and future beneficiaries.