Leading charities meet to discuss creation of new charitable programme
Some of the region’s leading charities and not-for-profit organisations gathered at Engineers’ House on Tuesday to co-design a charitable programme that will deliver greater impact for older people across the south west.
Hosted by the St Monica Trust, the event focused on how to best address the needs of older people and the wider community and inform the development of a new charitable programme that will be launched in June alongside the Trust’s Charitable Foundation.
Chief Executive of the St Monica Trust, David Williams said: “Last year saw the launch of St Monica Trust’s new ten-year strategy with our renewed commitment to communities where older people flourish, fostering connection, provide choice, and strengthen older people’s sense of contribution.
“As part of that strategy, we have identified that to serve older people and the wider community better, the St Monica Trust will facilitate the launch of a charitable foundation with our partner organisations.
"We believe that for the foundation to have the greatest positive impact, we must respond to the deeper needs of older people and the wider community.
“This means we need to take a long-term approach, moving away from short-term thinking and funding models, collaborating across sectors and engaging with like-minded partners to co-build and deliver such a vision.
"We also recognise that as times have become progressively challenged, we must innovate to use our resources more effectively and generate lasting impact.”
The event at Engineers’ House was attended by representatives of more than thirty charities, organisations and funders across Bristol, BANES and South Gloucester, including The Shaw Foundation, Eden Project Communities and Bristol Beacon.
Key note speakers included St Monica Trust’s Director of Innovation, Paul Tisdale and Acting Head of Charitable Impact, Catherine Robinson.
Catherine Robinson said: “The energy in the room strengthened our commitment to work across sectors so we can best serve our communities.
"By identifying shared priorities and opportunities we can create change together and jointly support solutions that can make a meaningful impact for years to come.”
“We believe that by working with like-minded partners we can achieve longer lasting change with greater impact.
"Not only do we want to strengthen connections across our sector, but engage and work collaboratively with a diverse range of stakeholders to achieve this.”
Paul Tisdale said: “Times have become increasingly challenging for the communities we serve and in this moment we can either decide to continue on the same path or we can look to collaborate with like-minded partners who also share the desire to drive a fundamental shift in the sector.
“For me, this represents an incredible opportunity for the St Monica Trust and our partners to work strategically, utilising a proven methodology to address the needs of our community and deliver positive lasting change through innovation.”
Supporting the lives of older people in Bristol and the surrounding area has been part of the vision for the St Monica Trust since it began 100 years ago.
Currently our Charitable Giving team helps tackle a variety of issues affecting older people by distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds to individuals, families and organisations across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath & North-East Somerset.