#SmallCharityLife

This week is Small Charity Week. I have loved being here at Age UK Sutton for the last few months, getting to know our community, our clients, and our partners.  It's been great being part of such a vibrant community here in the London Borough of Sutton.

In my career, I've had the opportunity to work in large national and international charities as well as smaller, local ones, and I've learnt a lot from all of these experiences, but I know that the small charity world is where my heart is - that's why I'm here now!  I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of my personal reflections on what makes working in a small charity so great.

1: You benefit from incredible local support and kindness

I'm not going to dress it up - being a small local charity has its challenges, and one of them is finding the funds to keep doing our work.  Age UK Sutton is part of a national network of Age UK 'brand partners', which has its benefits (we get some support with branding, and access to a network of colleagues, for example) but we don't get project or service funding from the large National Charity.

This means that we have to raise all of our own funds locally, through applying for grants, seeking commissions and fundraising with the public and local businesses.  This last one is increasingly important to us and we are lucky to benefit from some fantastic support.  As just a few examples, our local friends Rosindale Pavitt estate agents and BGL Wealth Limited (a partner practice of St.Jame's Place Wealth Management) have committed to making  donation to Age UK Sutton every time they do local business, and Cuff & Gough solicitors donate, and support our events by supplying expert advice on legal matters.

The Slug and Lettuce Sutton are hosting morning coffee events for us and our friends over at Tazza helped us bring people together recently to tackle loneliness.  Local knitting stars Rowena, Louise and the Purls of Wisdom knitting group have been powerhouses of tiny hat production for the Sutton 'Big Knit'. Our friend Jennie ran 10K for us in May, raising over £500. 

We are also really lucky to enjoy support from several hundred volunteers, helping with everything from information provision, to befriending, from occasional event support, to running our Age UK Sutton allotment. A group of young volunteers from Cheam High School, Wallington High School for Girls and Nonsuch High School for Girls have been helping with knitting, office support, and training local older people to use smartphones and tablets, and we have recently teamed up with the grassroots volunteers from Free Cakes For Kids Sutton to start 'Cakes Vs Loneliness', delivering treats and companionship to lonely older people on special days.

Without all of this support, we simply can't keep delivering the much needed, high quality services that we do - I am inspired every day by the kindness and commitment of all of our supporters, we value every pound raised or hour donated.

2: You get the opportunity to know your colleagues really well

Here at Age UK Sutton, we have fewer than 30 permanent employees, and a small but perfectly formed team of flexible workers (delivering our home support service) and volunteers. We are a tight knit team and we work hard to use our most important resources - people's time and their talent - well.

What I love about being part of this is that I have the opportunity as CEO to get to know everyone who makes Age UK Sutton work, really well. This has given me the opportunity to work with colleagues to think creatively about how we can develop our services and continue to build connections that will enable us to support older people to love later life, and to learn a huge amount from my colleagues with all of their different skills and interests.

3: You get to be part of a tight knit, supportive community

Our staff and volunteers are a real community, working together to get things done, and supporting one another when it's needed.  Similarly, our wider community in Sutton means a lot to me, consisting of other charities, statutory services like the council and the NHS, and businesses.  Working in a small charity gives us great opportunities to work with partners to deliver something that  makes a difference, and sometimes to help celebrate amazing success, like the Sutton Council Staff awards that I co-hosted last week. 

We are proud to be part of the Council funded ALPS (Advice Link Partnership Service) delivery team, along with Sutton Carers' Centre and Citizen's Advice Sutton. We three work with dozens of other local partners to provide a 'one stop shop' for information and advice - about ANYTHING - here in Sutton.  

We are also working with Sutton Housing Partnership, supporting one another to reach deeper into all of the communities in Sutton, and to deliver support like Age UK Sutton's digital training, for which we have use of SHP's brilliant IT suite, and our Advice Roadshow, which we are beginning to deliver through SHP's new community hubs. In a smallish borough like Sutton, working together with partners means we can use resources wisely and make a bigger difference - brilliant!

4: You have the chance to meet your clients all the time, to see the impact of your work and to learn what can make it better

Working in a big charity definitely has its benefits, but over the last few years I found as I took on more senior roles, I had less and less contact with the 'real' work. I missed seeing our clients regularly as this really motivates me, and also helps all of us to keep focused on how we can make what we do better and better over time.

Listening to the people we are here to support has to be a central part of how we decide what to do, and I am really enjoying that I get more opportunity in a small charity to get 'back to the floor' and meet a wide range of people who use our services.  It's fantastic to see our talented staff and volunteers delivering support, home services, advice and advocacy that is designed around local need - something we get daily opportunities to understand because we work locally all the time.

5: It's incredible fun!

Finally, let's not lose sight of one of the best parts of working in a small charity - or any small team - it's just really enjoyable! Because we get to know one another well, and have strong, positive relationships with so many local partners, we have a great time working together.  

Where else but Sutton would you get into a Twitter debate with another charity about who can make the best chocolate guinness cake? (I'm looking at you, Sutton Carers' Centre!), or get an email from another CEO in response to  a note about the Big Knit, full of puns about how our organisations are beginning to 'Knit Together'?!  When, other than in a small charity on a rainy Tuesday, would you find the team adorning a member of the council with tiny knitted hats for a photo opportunity, or persuading a trustee to pose with a rubber duck!  

Being part of a small charity has its challenges, for sure (and if you would like to help us to fundraise - please do) but I wouldn't swap it for anything.  I love knowing my colleagues so well, seeing the impact of our work every day, and being able to work with such dedicated, talented partners.  

If you love Age UK Sutton (or even just like it very much!), it would be great if you could show your support for us by writing an "I love Age UK Sutton...." message and posting it on your Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn account. You can see some examples below. It means a lot to us to know we've got your support, and we might win £300 during Small Charity Week if we get enough messages! 

We're also looking for fundraisers and volunteers, so please do get in touch about how you can support your local independent charity!As always, I'd love to hear from you if you have any comments about this blog, or anything Age UK Sutton. You can leave a comment below, email me at comms@ageuksutton.org.uk or tweet me: @nicola_upton 

Thanks and stay cool in the heat!

Nicola