category

Invest in a good cause to receive greater returns

Former Baillie Gifford & Co partner Leslie Robb shares the rewards of venture philanthropy following his investment in Inspiring Scotland’s 14:19 Fund.

When an investor is running the rule over a potential deal, one question pops up again and again: what’s the return on my investment? Whether it is the dividend or the interest rate or the increase in the share price, investors want to know how much money they will make from a deal.

Yet, not all returns on investment can – or should – be measured in terms of money. As one of the investors in the 14:19 Fund run by non-profit organisation Inspiring Scotland, the return that I want to see is how many young people are being helped into education, employment and training by the charities supported by the fund.

Inspiring Scotland was launched in 2008 to help essential charities become exceptional ones. The organisation not only invests cash from its funds, but also uses what’s known as the “venture philanthropy” model.

This means that charitable organisations receive both funding and advice on how to manage their operations. This knowledge comes from performance advisors and professional volunteers, who help the third-sector organisations on a pro bono basis. The performance advisors work alongside members of staff to strengthen the day-to-day running of the charities. Whether it’s succession planning or risk management strategies, the advisors help the organisations to enhance the essential skills they need to ultimately help more young people.

One of the key factors is helping charities to improve their financial management, including the ability to carry out cost-benefit analysis. We’ve all heard horror stories about how some charities have frittered away their money on ineffective programmes or had it swallowed up in needless expenses – that’s why, as an investor, it’s so reassuring to see how Inspiring Scotland operates.

Another important consideration is how the not-for-profit organisation connects its charities with pro bono advisors. This network of more than 300 experts – from lawyers and accountants through to photographers and public relations advisors – have helped these organisations to tackle issues in their specialist fields.

This use of the venture philanthropy model was one of the attractions for me of investing in the 14:19 Fund. After retiring as a partner at fund manager Baillie Gifford & Co six years ago, I was looking for new interests when an ex-colleague mentioned Inspiring Scotland to me.

Two of its performance advisors had worked in the same industry as myself and so my interest was piqued. That gave me a kick-start to look more closely and the more I saw of what Inspiring Scotland was doing, the more I felt that it was the kind of organisation I would like to support.

I was attracted to the 14:19 Fund because it supports young people who are struggling due problems linked with their background or education. I didn’t come from a particularly well-off background and so I’m a big fan of people who strive to achieve success in whatever they do.

It’s important to try and develop young people’s skills – that’s not something the government or the education system can fully do. Many young people start their lives with serious disadvantages and it’s important to recognise that and try to find ways to deal with it.

One of the most rewarding parts of investing has come when I’ve visited the charities and met the young people who have been helped by the fund. It would be unfair to single out any one cause because they all do good work.

What links the charities is that they all provide activities that appeal to young people – whether it’s football with Street League, cycling with the Rural & Urban Training Scheme (Ruts) or cooking for the café or youth hostel run by the Callander Youth Project Trust. The charities use these activities, which young people don’t find threatening, to build their confidence, before helping them to develop other skills that will aid them in their search for education, employment or training.

The other factor that unites all the charities is how impressed I was with the members of staff who I met. The way they work with the young people is inspiring and it’s great to see how they have developed with ten years of support and investment.

As the 14:19 Fund comes to the end of its ten-year operation this month, I know that members of staff at Inspiring Scotland are busy putting the finishing touches to plans for its next thematic fund. I’m confident that any potential investors who take the time to meet with the team at Inspiring Scotland to learn about its venture philanthropy model will be impressed with the high-calibre of the organisation.

Meanwhile, the current fund is on course to hit its target of helping 35,000 young people over the past decade. That’s a healthy return on investment in my book.

This article was written by Leslie Robb and was initially published in The Scotsman on the 10th of December 2018 

Venture that is reaping rewards for young people

WIND the clock back 10 years and Scotland was in the grip of the global banking crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland was bailed out, Halifax Bank of Scotland was forced into a shotgun marriage with Lloyds TSB and consumers stared into the precipice of a decade of ultra-low savings rates.

Yet, amongst the gloom of the looming recession, there were chinks of light. Without fanfare, but with plenty of gusto, Inspiring Scotland was launched to tackle some of the most deep-rooted social mobility problems in our nation.

This article was written by Sinclair Dunlop and was originally published in The Herald on the 5th of December 2018.

Technology for Social Good – working with JPMorgan

Inspiring Scotland’s Pro Bono team has been working with J.P. Morgan over the last two years. Through its Force for Good program, J.P. Morgan provides, on a pro bono basis, expertise in innovative technology to local charitable organisations.

The bank’s Force for Good initiative leverages the power of technology and people to inspire change, foster inclusion, and make a difference in local communities.

The programme is global in reach and last year more than 900 participants delivered over 49,000 hours, working on 93 projects. 12 of these projects were delivered in Scotland, registering over 9,500 pro bono hours delivered by 112 participants. Two projects were delivered to Inspiring Scotland-supported charities, and a bit of tech support to Inspiring Scotland’s Pro Bono Executive, were very gratefully received!

Inspiring Scotland and J.P. Morgan’s team demonstrates the value of collaboration between the third and corporate sectors.

Working with J.P. Morgan’s Force for Good programme for the last two years, ENABLE now has a mobile app aimed at supporting its clients to build skills for the future and allowing them to develop these skills independently in a format accessible to them. The JPM team successfully delivered features requested such as “I’m lost”, which sends their location to an emergency contact, and “To Do” which allows users to record video, audio, and pictures to aide them in their regular tasks. User feedback has been fantastic: “This app is a life saver and I love using it – no one knows when I am looking at my phone and that I need some help, it just helps me be the same as everyone else.” (ENABLE client)

J.P. Morgan’s Force for Good team migrated People First Scotland’s static website to a freshly-designed WordPress platform that is easy to maintain and has clearer navigation with appropriate accessibility options, enhancing the overall user experience. As the National Organisation of adults with a Learning Disability in Scotland, People First needed a website that reflected the wide scope of its work. “The Force for Good team worked really hard to listen and understand what our members were looking for, we really enjoyed being part of the project.” (People First Staff member)

Pro Bono at Inspiring Scotland took advantage of some last-minute capacity from one of the technology teams who subsequently delivered a tailored add-on to our Salesforce CRM. “I was delighted to work with the team and my first-hand experience brought home the complete ‘buy in’ from the teams – they really own their projects!” (Elaine Crichton PBE)

It’s Volunteers’ Week and we want to say Thank you

From board rooms to community halls, volunteers are the backbone of our thriving third sector.  National Volunteers Week (1 -8^th June) is shining a spotlight on the extraordinary commitment of the 12 million volunteers who give their time and experience to charities across the country every week. It is an opportunity for those of us who work in the third sector to say a huge thank you.

Volunteers are active across all areas of our work at Inspiring Scotland, and without them we and the charities we support, would not have been able to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland in our first 10 years.

We are continually amazed by the commitment shown by individuals from Scotland’s business community in helping the charities we work to become truly extraordinary.  Unlike many traditional corporate volunteering programmes based around staff volunteering days, our pool of 400 Pro Bono volunteers focus on using their skills and expertise to fill gaps in knowledge and help organisations to build their capacity, resilience and sustainability, and be better able to overcome challenges.  All our Pro Bono supporters lend their time and knowledge because they share our vision and our values and want to help the voluntary sector to transform the lives of the most disadvantaged people and communities in Scotland.

As an example, please watch this video of Pro Bono supporter Elaine Speirs, an operations expert, using her skills and experience to support Move On to improve the way its food distribution warehouse works.

Inspiring Scotland Pro Bono Supporter Elaine Speirs helps FairShare Glasgow from Inspiring Scotland on Vimeo.

Being a volunteer can also be a very powerful experience for the individual involved; a way to build skills and confidence that can open doors to new life experiences. This is evidenced in our Link Up programme where 1,160 volunteers are now taking an active role in making positive change in their own communities and in their own lives.  These volunteers set up and run many of the groups in their communities and go on to create entirely self-managed programmes embedded in their communities.

Volunteering also creates opportunities for individuals to connect and spend time together.

The whole intandem programme relies on the support and commitment of volunteers to make it a reality. In little over a year, 236 volunteers have signed up and are ready to be intandem mentors, offering their time and support to young people whose home life can be difficult and disruptive. By simply taking an active interest in a young person’s life, a mentor can help each young person to go on to realise their full potential.

As a keen cyclist and experienced charity and business leader, I have found my perfect volunteering balance as a board member and volunteer coach for a children’s cycling club. Whatever way you choose to volunteer, I hope you find it fulfilling.  Thank you for doing it. Volunteering makes a difference.

Celia Tennant

Chief Executive 

Go2play is now Thrive Outdoors

At Inspiring Scotland, we want all of Scotland’s children to thrive.

We have been working in outdoor play since 2010 and we know that by playing outdoors, children grow, learn and develop, emotionally and physically, in the best possible way. In short, growing playing and learning outdoors is how children thrive.

That’s why, after eight years of working to increase outdoor play opportunities for children across Scotland under the go2play name, we are changing to Thrive Outdoors.

We will continue to champion outdoor play as vital for children’s development by supporting Scotland’s children to grow, play & learn outdoors.

We will continue to fund Play Rangers in communities across Scotland, providing opportunities for children to access free play within their community – on street corners, or in local parks or woodland.

We will continue to deliver Active Play in primary schools to increase children’s health and fitness and boost their social, emotional and cognitive development.

And we will continue to lead on the expansion of Outdoor  Childcare  to ensure children’s emotional, physical and mental health and wellbeing are prioritised by giving children the opportunity to have fun and learn in the outdoors from an early age.

You can continue to follow our work on Twitter @Thrive_Outdoors and on Facebook.

Our Vision:

All Scotland’s children will thrive.

Our Mission:

Because we will:

• improve the health, wellbeing and development of Scotland’s children by leading on the development and delivery of outdoor play-based learning for all.
• make the health, wellbeing and developmental benefits of outdoor play-based learning universally understood by acting as leaders, influencers, innovators, and champions of Scotland’s outdoor play-based learning sectors.
• support collaboration, innovation and development within the Early Years, education, play and outdoors sectors, helping to increase scale and advance ideas which improve the health, wellbeing and development of children, using outdoor play-based learning as a vehicle.

Together, we are Inspiring Scotland

Our vision for Scotland is achievable, says Chief Executive Celia Tennant.

A Scotland without poverty or disadvantage – that is our vision. It is not going to be easy to achieve. But we know from experience when people, communities, charities and government all work together, remarkable things can be accomplished.

We want to tackle some of the long-term, entrenched social problems faced by Scotland’s people and communities. Problems such as poverty and longstanding deprivation have caused deep-rooted, self-perpetuating inequalities among our communities, leading to long-term unemployment, poor health, and diminished opportunities.

To be in with even a chance of solving these problems, we all need to work together across all sectors. And that’s what we aim to do. We build networks and foster greater collaboration between organisations and the people who work for them; we build long-term strategic partnerships between the voluntary, public, private and academic sectors, and increase long-term funding and help develop sustainability within the voluntary sector.

As we strive for a better Scotland, we are helping essential charities to become extraordinary charities, allowing them to better help those they support.

We are working with government, local authorities, academics, communities and local people to develop new ideas and shape effective public policies.

We evaluate, we learn and we share our knowledge. What we do works because we have the opportunity to work with incredible people and we test our work to rigorous standards.

We believe a better Scotland is possible; a Scotland without poverty; a Scotland without disadvantage; a Scotland with opportunity for everyone.

We have this belief because of the extraordinary commitment, compassion, skill, professionalism and drive of the people we work with. We have this belief because of the extraordinary things we have achieved together already. None of which would have been possible without the support of so many generous and warm-hearted supporters, investors, partners, friends and colleagues.

Our vision for Scotland is achievable. And as we look to the future, as we design new programmes and develop our current funds, we will continue to build partnerships and strengthen existing relationships, tapping into the knowledge and experience of Scotland’s people, communities and charity sector.

Celia Tennant, chief executive

Make outdoor play the norm for our children

Rachel Cowper from our go2play fund urges us all to let children play outside in The Herald. 

With a sunny start to April and the longer days ahead, you might begin to see the streets and green spaces of Scotland filled with children and wonder: is it not always so? Sadly, like the rose-tinted memories of endless childhood summers, it isn’t. But it could be.

While Scotland’s children and their families have been taking full advantage of the weather and time off school to go outside and play, it is, in truth, far from the common state of affairs. Children are not playing outside enough and it is a serious problem.

Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular problems, and mental health issues are all linked to inactivity and are on the rise. Instances of bone fractures and osteoporosis are also increasing, caused by a lack of physical activity and poor motor skills. Our children are sitting inside too much and not running and playing outside enough, and the ill-effects of this will be with them long into adulthood.

In a 2016 study of 38 countries, the Active Healthy Kids Report Card, Scotland scored an F for levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour – joint last place. Yet we scored high marks – joint second place – for both physical activity policy and facilities.

Public investment has been made into the play sector but we are not yet at tipping point. The problem lies with us as adults. It is up to us to unplug the computer, take away the tablet or smartphone, open the back door and put our wellies on. It is easier not to, of course. It is less demanding of our time, effort and energy to settle for sitting on the couch with a screen but it is damaging our children.

The benefits for children of playing, and playing outside, are enormous. Research, from Scotland and elsewhere, shows playing physically active games increases children’s health and fitness and teaches them the basic physical skills they need throughout their lives. Studies also link active playing, and the interaction that comes with it, with the development of social skills and emotional resilience. Children learn to problem-solve and risk-assess through play and being physically active develops cognitive ability and is linked to academic achievement.

And all of this comes perfectly naturally to children; play is physical activity, and personal development, by stealth. But we still keep our children indoors.

If we believe in a better future for our children, we need to make playing outdoors a fundamental part of growing up in Scotland. Why don’t we take down No Ball Games signs and make outdoor spaces in our communities safe, child-friendly places where play is encouraged? Why should we make playing outside weather-dependent when puddles are fun and snow is magical? Why don’t we make playgrounds accessible outside of school hours to act as community spaces?

We need to start early and make outdoor play something children do every single day and not the preserve of school holidays or a lucky few kids. Playing doesn’t need expensive equipment or facilities, just space – a street corner, a park, a garden or a woodland. And all children want to play. All we need to do is learn to let them.

Originally published in The Herald 18/04/17