Fellow member of The Sussex Collaborative Joe Lynch has started supporting a Sussex based charity, who we think deserve as much publicity and profile as they can get to support the amazing work they are doing.
They are dedicated to creating partnerships with local businesses and the wider community in the Fratton, Portsmouth and Chichester areas and by doing so, to help their beneficiaries, people with learning difficulties and or autism, to enjoy life together and lead the most rewarding and fulfilling lives possible.
They use these partnerships to provide education, training, employment opportunities and specialist care.
One of their key assets is the stunning, Aldingbourne Country Centre, that hosts a wide spectrum of attractions, including café, petting zoo, children’s play area and maze. It also makes a great venue for conferences and meeting room hire.
Joe is working with the trust to shape the remit of and to recruit a new Visitor and Enterprises Operations Manager, who will have the responsibility of identifying new and maximising current commercial opportunities for the Trust.
“We hope that if you believe in making a difference, enjoy seeing people grow and providing the very best experience at the Country Centre – you will come and talk to us”
Sue Livett, the Trust’s MD
What a brilliant way of summing up this opportunity for the wider business community to also get involved!
Commenting on his involvement with the trust Joe said..
“This is a very exciting opportunity to make a huge impact for a charity that does great things. It’s another charity that has the maturity and wisdom to realise that committing to a commercially astute strategy is not a necessary evil, but the best way to make the biggest possible impact. Not just to their beneficiaries, but also to the local community that enjoy these great facilities”.
It seems to be a recurrent theme for a lot of the charities and social enterprises that Joe supports creating and developing commercially focussed strategies and changing mindsets, to realise that rather than being at odds with a charity’s purpose – it is entirely supportive of their aims.
Joe has managed similar projects with other charities and social enterprises, including The Youth Hostel Association, The Leeds Castle Foundation, South Downs Leisure. He explains that these and many more social enterprises realise that being a charity where the majority of funding comes from paid for services, is only part of their commercial standing and that their charitable status alone will not guarantee their future. In competing for patronage, for customers and for income, whether donations or paid for services, means that first and foremost, investing in the customer experience to attract new supporters, is an essential parts of any charities’ strategy.
The Aldingbourne trust sum it up perfectly with their messaging to all of their customers…
Thank you. When you support the Aldingbourne Trust people with learning disabilities and or autism live more fulfilled lives and become more independent. And that makes you amazing!
You can find out more about the Trust here
If you would like to know more about the exciting role of Visitor and Enterprises Operations Manager more information is available here – please do share this amongst your networks, as Joe and the team need to find someone very special!