Corporate social responsibility is a charity thing too!

By Anna Snowling on 22 September 2020

What do Intoart, Time and Talents, Bal Polski and Ickburgh SEN school have in common? They all benefit from the voluntary expertise of Three Cs personnel at Board and Committee level and in turn provide our people with governance experience and skills. Three Cs has been giving its senior managers two days a year of paid work time to use in voluntary roles for over 10 years. That modest donation of time together with working flexibly makes being a voluntary director, trustee, or governor more manageable alongside paid work. Alison, Angela, Stuart and Jo told News at Three what it means for them and the organisations they support

Alison Love has been Chair of Intoart for 10 years

Three Cs has supported my personal and professional development through my voluntary role as Chair at Intoart. I have been granted 14 hours per year to use towards business activities such as attending meetings with funders, Board planning meetings or interviewing new Trustees.

Intoart is an art and design collective of 19 artists with learning disabilities and autism working at the Intoart studio in Peckham Levels. Since becoming involved with the charity, 10 years ago, we have doubled the size of the charity, our profile and impact has extended from a local London provider to a global player and we have become an Arts Council National Portfolio organisation.

Intoart’s public programme of exhibitions, events & publishing aims to impact on policy & practice across the fields of contemporary art, learning disability & education. Exhibitions include Whitechapel GalleryVictoria and Albert MuseumPoetry Library Southbank CentreTatePeckham Platform, and internationally at Texture Museum, Belgium.

The Intoart Design studio spans illustration, product and graphic design, print, textiles, ceramics and fashion. Intoart Design develops limited edition prints, distinctive products and crafted items through creative collaborations. There is an online shop where you can treat yourself and support the work of Intoart www.intoart.org.uk

Intoart at Collect 2020, Somerset House. Mawuena Kattah and her new collaboration with textile practitioner Laura Slater

On a personal note, Intoart celebrated their 20 year anniversary this year which coincided with my favourite exhibition, Collect 2020 at Somerset House, which showcased ceramic works by Mawuena Kattah and her new collaboration with textile practitioner Laura Slater. Intoart were awarded outstanding display at Collect 2020.

 

Angela Woodley volunteers as a Trustee of Time and Talents in Southwark

I have been a trustee at Time and Talents for just over two years. My 27 years’ experience in the charity sector, latterly at Three Cs, has enabled me to be an active trustee who is also the safeguarding  lead trustee. Time and Talents vision ‘A world where everyone feels part of a community’ is totally in line with Three Cs vision. I am able to use the hours Three Cs gives me for CSR duties to support a much smaller local organisation. Recently I was able to visit in working hours to meet and thank staff and volunteers who are providing a weekly emergency relief food distribution hub in partnership with Southwark Council, serving SE16 households.

“Having Angela as a trustee at Time & Talents has a two way benefit. We get the insights that come from her long standing experience of the social care sector, and the safe delivery of care and support to vulnerable people. In turn, Angela continues to build her governance skills as a board member taking responsibility for setting strategy and having oversight of a charity’s finances”.
Sarah Gibb, Director of Time and Talents

 

Stuart Ryland is a Director of Bal Polski CIC and a new school governor

For the past three years I have been using my allocated CSR time to support my work as a director of Bal Polski CIC, an organisation that runs an annual fundraising ball for the British – Polish community. It is sponsored by the Polish Embassy in London, and normally has in attendance many celebrities and politicians from Poland and the UK. It raises funds both for charities in Poland and the UK. Among the Charities that we have recently supported are; Laski Osrodek w Laskach (A school for blind children, based in Warsaw), Specjalistyczny Ośrodek Diagnozy i Rehabilitacji Dzieci i Młodzieży z Wadą Słuchu w Opolu (A specialist unit for deaf children, in Opole Silesia), and Rethink Mental Illness (here in the UK).

From September 2020 I have been asked to become a governor of my local Catholic primary school, and will use my professional finance skills to support the board of governors.

The CSR allowance is two working days, which can be used flexibly. I find being able to parcel the time out into small chunks, sometimes just a couple of hours, very helpful in supporting my activities.

In my view, CSR support puts Three Cs in line with many UK corporations who operate a similar policy. It powerfully demonstrates our values of social responsibility as an organisation.

 

Jo Clare is a school governor at Ickburgh SEN School in Hackney

I have been a school governor at Ickburgh for three years now and enjoy it immensely. The school works with pupils to meet special educational needs due to learning disabilities and/or autism and other conditions and disabilities. I am the link governor in two areas – firstly to the sixth form where pupils are planning their transition to adulthood and have aspirations to study, volunteer or get a paid job. Secondly I link to the staff welfare committee which I must say has made great strides over recent years becoming more inclusive and more solution-focused.  The time Three Cs gives me makes it possible for me to visit or make a meeting during school hours. It’s not one way traffic either. I have learned so much about the way education is funded and the way school governance works.  It is quite different from previous trustee experience.