Pilotlight starts to lobby politicians in the run up to the election
In the run up to the election, politicians will be campaigning on issues that Pilotlight charities are tackling all the time, from rising unemployment to child care. We started the year at a Pilotlight Westminster Breakfast, hosted by Lord Kirkwood, talking to parliamentarians about exactly why small charities can be so effective in tackling big issues.
As unemployment figures for the young had peaked in October, we highlighted the work of one of our partner charities, Globetown, which works with young people from families on low income and a history of high unemployment. We know there are many Globetowns in many communities across the country able to dent the figures.
Three reasons to back small charities
We gave three reasons why small charities work. I would be interested to hear from you with additions to our list. Too often, we all pay lip service to the work of small charities but never say why they work.
First, small charities succeed by tailor making solutions to needs of the local community, for example, Globetown works with families as well as students.
Second, small charities are cost-effective. I gave an example of CCVS, a non-emergency ambulance service in the Cotswolds. Gloucestershire County Council was amazed when CCVS cut their cost per ambulance mile by 22% in a year.
Third, small charities are endlessly innovative. Sikh SanJog in Edinburgh encouraged Sikh women who had not ventured into town at all out of their houses and into employment by asking them to run a café. The café is now a thriving and profitable part of the community and the women are at its hub.
Many of the charities we work with are set up by practitioners whose sheer determination and passion gets them the first grants. Three years on they are swamped by clients. However, instead of being able to celebrate success they find themselves running a business with very little management training. On top of this, their first funding often runs out as some grantmakers have a duty to fund new projects.
We, at Pilotlight, believe in the power of small charities and also in the power our members and charities have combined, through Pilotlighting, to take the next steps to growth and stability.
We urged the politicians to recognise that small charities and social enterprises can turn around a myriad of problems and could even turn local solutions into national ones. We asked them to think of ways they could help such charities in their local community.
If any of you are meeting politicians in your course of work, please mention your connection with Pilotlight so we continue to spread the word. We want to make sure that policymakers are aware of the charities in their communities that are able to solve problems. We also want them to know about the tried and tested method we use to enable such charities to reach more people, more efficiently. We need their help to make sure more small charities grow and realise their full potential.
Our thanks to host, Lord Archy Kirkwood and former Pilotlighter, Iain Anderson and his colleagues at Cicero Consulting, who made the event possible.
Fiona Halton
Chief Executive, Pilotlight Group