Bognor Regis third sector specialist says charities must work together

The Bognor Regis-based specialist was speaking at the Charity Think Tank hosted by Hampshire-based HWB Chartered Accountants and Charisma Charity Recruitment.

The round table event at the Southampton Harbour Hotel and Spa was attended by charity leaders and decision makers from across the region.

D’Arcy, who has 23 years’ experience working with charities at a senior level, helps boards and charities develop effective strategy, governance and strengthen the dynamics between the Chief Executive and Chairperson.

He also steps in as an interim CEO where necessary – currently at Autism Hampshire – and is also Chair of Trustees for the Association of Charitable Organisations, representing 120 benevolent charities and Chair of Trustees for the Smallwood Trust, and The Reef World Foundation.

He said: “More charities need to look at how they can partner and work with other charities and, indeed, more mergers. Utilising scarce resources in the best possible way and collaborating to provide solutions remains a great challenge.

“There is a real opportunity at present for charities to work more closely together in order to provide the best possible service to the people they support.

“One of the many things the sector is so good at is sharing, however, what they are not so good at doing is bringing things together and undertaking different actions towards the same goal – sort of a Venn diagram of partnership.

“The charity sector has always been really low on the number of charities that merge. A couple of the barriers to merging are two chief executives and the egos of trustees. I hope that can change.”

D’Arcy, director of his own company Consultdarcy Ltd, said the think tank was ‘a really good opportunity to sense check what you think you know. It’s reassuring to hear that other people are facing similar challenges’.

He added that challenges facing Autism Hampshire at the moment are the same for all charities working in social care, the underfunding in social care and staff retention.

“Our success is better engagement with local authorities and using the Care Act to back up what we are saying – councils are offering different percentages so we are working with the Autism Alliance to collate all of that and share it.

“We are working with local authorities to help them better understand the true cost of care.

“It’s really about good communication to ensure that resources are used in the best possible way.”

Chartered accountants HWB, based at Chandler’s Ford, near Southampton, provides business and tax advice.