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Home / News, Blogs & Events / Blogs / How can we focus on sustainability when we are trying to survive?

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How can we focus on sustainability when we are trying to survive?

In early March we were busy following our business plan; rolling out a new membership service and scoping exciting new initiatives to develop and launch later in the year. The key goal – making our charity, Action Hampshire, sustainable. As Head of Enterprise, that’s exactly what my role is about. We have been going for nearly 70 years, supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to deliver great services to local people and communities; speaking up for the changes they would like to see and shape the future of where they live and work. In early March, let’s still call it the ‘Pre-Covid’ phase, we saw the effects of Covid-19 advancing.

However, like many people, I had not grasped the extent to which it would affect us all.

The ‘Crisis Covid’ phase hit as soon as we were going into lockdown in the week of 16th March. Big decisions needed to be taken. As part of the senior leadership team the first 2-3 weeks focused on making the right decisions in many different areas. Our core mission has always been to respond to the needs of the sector. We have done this by providing relevant information across all platforms and channels so organisations can focus on front line delivery work. We are also collecting evidence about how the sector is coping and feeding this to local and national government. In addition, we developed an internal organizational Covid-19 strategy, our valued staff got to grips with remote working with some being furloughed while others have reduced hours or pay; we re-forecast the short to medium financial resilience of the organization. Times were challenging in Pre-Covid but now they are even more so.

It was welcome to see that on 8th April, the Chancellor came up with a £750m funding package to help charities providing essential services on the front line, following weeks of intense pressure from the sector. However, it is far lower than the £4.3 billion that charities are predicting in lost income over the 12 week period from March. Our charity is not on the front line as it performs a second line function therefore this initial grant will not help Action Hampshire. We do have some reserves, battered by the stock market volatility but some nonetheless. Whilst not launching new services to the market at the moment, we are innovating, adapting and pivoting those that we can to fit the new virtual world and ensure continuity for our participants and beneficiaries. Social enterprise and community business training is being delivered online with all other training following suit. We are connecting (and supporting our students, participants and community businesses) via virtual coffee meetings, and as in Pre-Covid, Facebook, Basecamp forums and good old fashioned telephone calls!

The ‘Recovery Covid’ phase is becoming as much of a focus as the ‘Crisis Covid’ phase.

Charities will have a key role to play in the post-Covid recovery, when social need will have grown. Huge challenges exist right now but as we look to this next phase there are very tough times ahead for so many organisations and enterprises. Getting to a sustainable place will take longer. However, out of this crisis, new opportunities will present. We want to be ready with new models of delivery and pull all the positives from the last month with us. To name but a few – being adaptable and agile, pulling together with meaningful connection both as a staff team and across the sector, operating in the digitally transformed space, continuing to dig deep and importantly, be kind. With these in place, together with strong leadership and putting our creativity, experience and skills in the mix to respond rapidly to the opportunities, we will rise to the challenge of Recovery Covid.

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Author
Nikki Prentice-Jones

Published
1.06.20

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  • Pamber parish council were really pleased with the support provided by Action Hampshire’s Rural Housing Enabler helping us through the development process. It was a good experience.

    Chris Goss, Pamber Parish Council
  • Action Hampshire has always been a useful font of information for us at Winchester Churches Nightshelter. Sue has always been really helpful, and I do find the updates from the ‘wider’ world to be of interest.

    Michèle Price, Winchester Churches Nightshelter
  • Having Action Hampshire as a point of reference, support and guidance is invaluable for small to medium sized charities like ourselves. Without them, we would be far less connected and less able to serve our beneficiaries in a meaningful and coordinated way.

    Juno Hollyhock, The Rose Road Association
  • I have found Action Hampshire to be truly innovative and forward thinking in their approach to their work and their passion for the voluntary and community sector is easily measured through their work to help improve the lives of all sections of the community.

    Grant Cornwell, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation
  • Action Hampshire are the most fantastic organisation and it has been a pleasure to collaborate with them. They are very positive and easy to work with, from Rachel’s warmth on the front desk all the way up to Sue’s vast knowledge and experience on the top floor.

    George Scott-Welsh, IncuHive

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Community Action Hampshire (trading as Action Hampshire and Action Portsmouth) is registered in England and Wales as a charity (no. 1053806) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 3162873)