Subject: Help & Guidance
Hello all,
My name is Graham and I am new to this site. I have had in my mind, an idea for what I think would be a worthwhile charity. Unfortunately I have no idea where to go now. I have looked at the Charity Commission Website, and had a quick read of the articles on here but feel like I am going around in circles and not taking the plunge somewhere I should be.
To give you a little more of an idea of what the Charity Idea is (and to have a little feedback);
To provide Support to Unemployed British Citizens. The idea is not to further help the scroungers of the already over burdened Job Seekers System however, so this wouldn't be something you would be automatically entitled to if you are unemployed. Each application would need to be reviewed.
Two of the support methods that have been planned are Monthly Food Care Packs with items such as Rice / Pasta / Tinned Goods and discussions with Service Suppliers such as Gas and Water to be able to provide people with "Bill Coupons" to help them pay the bills (As throwing money at the unemployed person just means they will purchase what they want not what they need).
There are so many other ideas that we have, we just require a little guidance. This Idea was started a few months back and we have been doing little bits here and there, but myself and partner just lost our jobs and are now trying to get through the JSA paperwork. So far we are 3 weeks in and £25 down. Something like this would be a god send to us, so surely there are plenty more out there that would be able to appreciate such a Charity.
So help, feedback, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Look forward to hearing from you all,
Graham
Hello Graham,
I think your idea sounds unusual and worth persevering with. I know certainly when you're starting up, it can be hard to get other people to share your vision. Almost the first thing anyone asks you is "how is that going to make any money??" which can be extremely irritating when often that's not what's at the forefront of your mind. What we did with HRBird was basically set it up as a voluntary project (ie. run by volunteers, not incorporated) so that it can grow without being financially dependent on much beside the free time of those involved!
Resources I've found helpful have included the Business & IP Centre at the British Library - as well as Business Link and the Charities Evaluation Service. These have been helpful at least in the first instance, with drawing up a strategy for your idea, what support you'd be looking to provide and how you're going to measure your achievements. Certainly it helped us work out what we could actually do on a shoe string budget.
You may also be interested in Get Legal which is a website which helps you decide on the best legal structure for your enterprise.
I'd say just start - get together with your partner and start fleshing things out. There is tonnes of free support out there - online resources and training. Dose yourself up with loads conviction that's (i) it got to work and that (ii) there are people out there that need this - and I think you're off to a flying start.
Hi Graham,
I am confused about your idea and have lots of questions! Why do you want to set up something similar to what the government runs? How will you decide who gets what and administer this? How will you cope with an influx of applications and limited funds to allocate? How will you make sure that people who are receiving your aid are still unemployed? How will you raise funds to cover your costs?
I also feel a little uncomfortable about the idea of you working out who deserves to receive your support.
Take a look at the Charity Commission website as they have lots of helpful information including rules about what exactly consistutes a charity.
John
Hello John,
In response to your questions, I think that in providing to support to people on (or below the bread line) there is a clear public benefit to society (or part of society). So in principle, I can see how this could fit with being a charitable objective. The Charity Commission provides guidance about demonstrating public benefit as John pointed out.
With regards to duplicating public services, I think the offering sounds a little different to receiving subsidised rent or jobseekers' allowance. It's providing food and essentials. I think a project of this nature could fit in well with the aims of the Big Society - where voluntary sector projects are encouraged to meet a local need in a way which is different from government support. An initiative such as Graham's could be in keeping with community activities such as running a harvest festival, for example - where everyone donates food and the church distributes this to the 'needy' whoever this may be. The principle is quite similar.
The rest of the questions (around how you do things, how you fund it) are more operational. If you've got a good idea, you can scope it out and answer the "what" and "who" questions (what's your overarching vision? who's it going to benefit? what activities are you going to run to meet the need?) before you look at the "how".
HRBird;
Firstly, thank you so much for your words of support and your very useful links so far. Especially the Get Legal site, as that was very helpful in some of the guidance I required.
I will be spending the next week or so going back through all of the information, and setting it all out in a logical fashion.
JohnOliver;
I am glad you have lots of questions, that means it is already something different promoting thought on the topic. As HR stated, I feel that this is something that could work with what the Government provides as this project would not simply be chucking these people money.
As for the questions you posed in your post, how will I decide who gets what? Well that is something that still needs some thought and consideration.
How could we cope with the influx? I am already aware that this is something that could potentially be a difficult project to handle and would require a number of volunteers.
I was also hoping that the project would be able to work closely with the already existing Job Centre / Job Seekers to ensure people we were helping are actually un-employed.
As for raising funds, again that is something else that still requires thought.
And why would you feel uncomfortable about me deciding who gets what? Have you seen some of the people who make the decisions on our behalf in the Government / Job Seekers offices... that is worrying.
But thank you both so far for the help / feedback you have given me!
