Centre for Charity Effectiveness delivers support programme for British Land charity partners

Cass Business School’s Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) has partnered with property manager British Land to deliver a programme of support for its network of charity partners.

With the coronavirus pandemic taking its toll on businesses around the world, the charity sector faces a particularly uncertain time as fundraising and events stall amid lockdowns.

The Centre will provide mentoring and coaching to managers at British Land’s charity and community partners, helping them explore ways of tackling the challenges as well as providing online group action learning sessions to support those leading and delivering vital services.

Fiona Ash, Service Lead Consultant for Governance at the Centre for Charity Effectiveness and Visiting Fellow at Cass, was instrumental in establishing the partnership and said that leadership in the charity sector was more important now than ever.

“The coronavirus pandemic has created a squeeze on businesses globally, but many charities and non-profit organisations have the double-edged sword of cuts to income at the same time as sharply increased demand for their services,” she said.

“By working with the charity and community partners of British Land through this difficult time, we can help leaders to increase morale of key stakeholders and inspire greater decision-making in the sector through building networks.”

The relationship between Cass and British Land began in 2016 with CCE providing governance support which then grew into developing a fully bespoke training programme for their employee volunteering scheme.

Alex Skailes, Director at the Centre for Charity Effectiveness said helping leaders build resilience and strategic thinking capabilities will enhance their efforts for sustainability.

“Strong governance and leadership are critically important for all organisations as they navigate through the unprecedented challenges they face,” she said.

“Leadership is a lonely place at the best of times and the combination of the expert specialist support and access to peer networks that we can provide is invaluable.”

Anna Devlet, Head of Communities at British Land, said Cass’s support for its partners will foster even greater work in the community.

“We’ve been privileged to have built some incredible local relationships with amazing community partners over the years,” she said.

“We recognise that the power of these partnerships alongside the great work of our partners is where the most value can be made, and want to continue to amplify our support by ensuring resilience in what are turbulent times and helping them plan for both the near and long term.

“Through funding expert, strategic advice from the Centre for Charity Effectiveness for the leadership of many of our community partners, we have been able to do just this.”

At an uncertain time for the sector, the Centre has also launched a bi-monthly virtual coffee drop-in to support leaders from the largest national charities working on the front line.