When our last Community Networks Accountant left in March, we took the opportunity to review the finance support we provide to our groups. As a result of this, we developed two new roles with slightly different focusses:
A fixed-term, part-time, Finance Assistant - to respond to and resolve volunteer queries
A Community Networks Business Partner – to look at some of the bigger challenges we need to address, such as processes that need improving
The MS Society’s Lifeline Appeal was broadcast on the BBC on 26 June. Chef Tom Kerridge presented the film, which focused on three people with MS (Sasha, Stuart and Val) and their stories about our MS Helpline, research and local groups.
Back in March, we were delighted to tell you about the launch of our new volunteer Impact Awards. These replace our Shining Star programme and will spotlight how the invaluable contribution of our volunteers creates impact in all areas of our work.
We received over 30 nominations in the last three months, which is a great reflection on our growing culture of recognition – but there’s always room for more!
We hope that you all had a great Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2022). We certainly enjoyed celebrating Volunteering and taking the opportunity to say thank you for all that you do for the organisation and all our service users.
GDPR training is important and relevant if you’re in a role that has access to personal data. Having access to personal data could mean using online systems such as the Portal or an MS Society email account. But it also includes simpler, paper-based, activities such as recording attendees’ names, addresses and phone numbers at the start of an event.
When the pandemic first hit and we found ourselves in a quickly-changing environment, we needed a way to keep in touch and have a space where our volunteers could voice their concerns and ask questions. As a result, Volunteer Voice was introduced.
These monthly Zoom sessions have been a great way to come together, to hear organisational updates from our Chief Executive Officer, Nick, and other members of staff, and to hear from each other.
People with MS and their loved ones are experts in their condition. We call them ‘Experts by Experience’, and we work with them to find solutions to the challenges people living with MS face.
It’s only by involving our community in the planning, development and delivery of services that we can be sure the end result will meet their needs. When people living with MS are fully involved in every stage of a project, we call this co-production.
We’ve been made aware that GoodBox, our supplier of devices for contactless donations, is in financial difficulty. It’s hard to predict what the outcome of this might be. They may be able to resolve their issues. Or perhaps their future lies in being absorbed into a larger organisation. The worst-case scenario would be that they go into administration and cease to trade. We can only wait to see how the situation plays out and what it means for us.
The results of this survey (run every three years) help us start conversations with national and local decision makers about the things that matter to people with MS. Please spread the word and share the link through your networks. The resources below should help with this:
Printable A4 poster and A5 postcard
These can be displayed at events, They include language help and scannable QR codes for the surveys. You can find these here.
In an email on 24 March we shared a reminder of how Gift Aid works for our groups. Unfortunately, this contained inaccurate information about what groups should do with cheque donations where there is also a completed Gift Aid declaration. In these cases, the Donation Processing Team are not able to accept cheques (made payable to a local group) and then process Gift Aid claims on the group’s behalf. This is due to issues involved in the administration of this.
