By Robert Surcouf
FOR the past few years I have been volunteering with the Association of Jersey Charities and have had the pleasure of meeting some of the incredibly hard-working and dedicated staff and volunteers who make such a difference to all our lives with what they achieve in the third sector. The attraction for me of volunteering with the AJC was that it represents such a wide and diverse section of Island life, ranging from large organisations providing essential services to smaller groups representing the needs and concerns of particular communities within Jersey.
Serving with a team that encourages and facilitates charitable and community work in Jersey to encourage co-operation and co-ordination of activities between members and prospective members is very rewarding. The team develops and administers a programme of education and information to benefit members and to assist and represent the entire charitable sector, both individually and as a whole. The AJC also administers the distribution of funds to members, principally made available as a result of receiving a share of Jersey’s proportion of the Channel Islands’ Lottery profits. This provides a very informative view of both the achievements and the challenges faced.
In past articles I have very much reflected on the challenges faced by charities, in particular with often a lack of long-term certainty of funding. This was one of the topics raised in the AJC report Power of Partnerships and we have started to see positive commitment from our current government to both the challenges the sector faces but also the value it presents.
While it is still early days, this gives new hope for the future. The sector has a level of resilience and has achieved so much that must be celebrated and the AJC aims to achieve this by once again running the Jersey Charity Awards. Designed to highlight professionalism and excellence, celebrate charities’ recent achievements and champion best practice in the charitable sector, the awards were first established 14 years ago and are held every two years.
Jersey Finance have sponsored the prize fund since the AJC launched the awards using money raised by member firms, reaffirming the support the finance sector provides the third sector. So often the local finance industry is, in my opinion, wrongly blamed for all local issues. This ignores not only the material tax revenues it generates to provide infrastructure and services but also the direct charitable giving by so many firms and by their staff members, who contribute both financially through fundraising and charitable giving initiatives, but also by volunteering in the third sector as many more firms develop volunteering schemes.
For me, attending the awards is quite magical as it celebrates outstanding achievement by large, medium and small charities. They are open to any Jersey-based charity that has registered with the Charity Commission; they do not even have to be an AJC member, and can include Island charities whose work is based overseas.
There is a very attractive £5,000 prize awarded to the winning charity of each category and prizes for two runners up. The event is a great opportunity for charities to meet and celebrate together their resilience and achievements, as well as inspiring others.
This year the awards will be judged by an independent panel including: former States Member Paul Routier; consultant and trainer in the not-for-profit sector Jane Galloway; Charles Humpleby, experienced non-executive director; and past chairman and long-term executive committee member of the AJC Liz Le Poidevin. I have to say I do not envy the task of selecting the winners. The entries close in a few days. This year the judges have indicated that they will be looking for significant achievements, examples of excellence and innovation, and demonstrations of leadership and collaboration that can inspire others.
The winners of the awards will be announced at a special afternoon tea party held in the beautiful grounds of Government House in September and the Ana Leaf Foundation are once again kindly sponsoring the refreshments; there will be a selection of singers to entertain all the guests and we are very lucky that AJC patron, the Lieutenant-Governor, Vice-Admiral Sir Jerry Kyd, will be in attendance to say a few words, while yours truly will be acting as Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon.
The AJC report Power of Partnerships noted that we are fortunate in Jersey to have a diverse and highly engaged charity sector, delivering a broad range of critical services right across our local community; having such an event to celebrate its achievements is so very important. Charities have had to deliver more with less, operating in an incredibly challenging environment as we recover from the longer-term impacts of the pandemic and grapple with a cost-of-living crisis, a difficult fundraising environment and complex social shifts.
Despite the challenges I have seen, charities have responded positively, demonstrating leadership and innovation in how they deliver their services. The Jersey Charity Awards provide a fantastic opportunity to recognise that and allow the charities to meet and celebrate the remarkable impact that they all have on our local community and overseas.
I am looking forward to the afternoon, as the kindness, camaraderie and positivity within the third-sector community is infectious.
Robert Surcouf comes from a Jersey farming family, though his mother was Spanish and moved to the Island in the 1960s. He became an accountant and now specialises in risk and enterprise management. A father of two school-age children, he still helps organise and participates in local motorsport events and was one of the founding members of Better Way 2022 before the last election. The views expressed are his own.
