Third Sector

Lucinda Rouse hears from some of the speakers at Third Sector: The Conference 2025, which was held at the Barbican Centre in London this week (18 and 19 June).They are: Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind; Duncan Bootland and Ian Howick, medical director and executive director of corporate services at the Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex; Nadia Alomar, chief executive of Clore Social Leadership; Amar Abbas, chief executive of Youth Action; Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of the Royal Voluntary Service; and James Fletcher, chair of the KFC Youth Foundation.Listen to When Charity Goes Wrong.Listen back to:Nadia Alomar on developing the right leaders for the modern charity sectorKSS on the importance of building trustSarah Hughes on Mind, mental health and the role of charitiesCatherine Johnstone in: Are we on the brink of a volunteering boom?Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.

This episode contains a reference to suicide in the first two minutes.In November 2022, the transgender youth support charity Mermaids was in crisis. Caught up in a media storm over its chest binder service, compounded by internal governance and culture failings, a statutory inquiry was launched.In the third and final episode of When Charity Goes Wrong, Lucinda Rouse hears from Lauren Stoner, chief executive of Mermaids, about the impact of the 23-month inquiry into the charity.Mermaids service users Taylor and Oakley describe the realities of growing up as trans young people in a small town and the value to them of the charity’s youth advocacy network, Mango.Shivaji Shiva, a partner at the law firm VWV, considers the side-effects of being under a regulatory inquiry and the specific challenges encountered by charities working in polarising cause areas. And the Charity Commission’s chief executive, David Holdsworth, outlines the role of the regulator when two charities are pitted against each other.Written and presented by: Lucinda RouseProducer: Nav PalExecutive producer: Ollie PeartArt director: David Robinson

Lucinda Rouse and Andy Ricketts are joined by Victoria Askew, senior marketing campaign manager at Pancreatic Cancer UK, to hear about the organisation’s experience as the charity of the year at the 2025 TCS London Marathon.Vicky provides insight into PCUK’s winning bid and the 18-month preparation process that preceded the event in April. She outlines the charity’s approach to the stewardship of its runners’ fundraising efforts and the most effective forms of communication.She describes how the use of celebrity ambassadors combined with PCUK’s biggest ever PR stunt enabled the charity to maximise on the partnership opportunity.Listen to When Charity Goes Wrong.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.

In April 2020, 99-year-old war veteran Captain Tom Moore became an unexpected national hero after raising £38.9m in less than four weeks by walking 100 laps of his garden. But his legacy quickly turned sour, leading to a very public fall for his family and the charity created in his name.In episode two of When Charity Goes Wrong, Lucinda Rouse hears from Hannah Ingram-Moore, daughter of Captain Sir Tom Moore and former interim chief executive of the Captain Tom Foundation.Her successor at the charity, Jack Gilbert, shares his perspective on the intellectual property dispute that contributed to its downfall.Liz Brownsell, a partner at the law firm Birketts, explains conflicts of interest and personal benefit in the context of charity law.And the Charity Commission’s chief executive, David Holdsworth, outlines how other charities can avoid the same damaging mishaps.Written and presented by: Lucinda RouseProducer: Nav PalExecutive producer: Ollie Peart.

Lucinda Rouse and Dami Adewale are joined by Janet Thorne, chief executive of Reach Volunteering, and Nathan Miller, director at the East London Waterworks Park.Janet provides context to Reach’s finding that volunteering is thriving, with notable growth among volunteer-led organisations with no paid staff. She stresses the importance of articulating a clear purpose to attract volunteers.Nathan explains how the ELWP structures its volunteer activities around thematic circles, allowing flexibility for volunteers to contribute their skills and develop their own roles while working towards a common goal.Listen to When Charity Goes Wrong.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.

In August 2015, one of the country’s most prominent children’s charities, Kids Company, was declared insolvent. Its collapse has been followed by almost a decade of legal wrangling as the charity’s trustees pushed back against regulatory findings of mismanagement.In episode one of When Charity Goes Wrong, Third Sector journalist Lucinda Rouse hears from Andy Gough, a former Kids Company centre manager, about the realities of working for the charity’s charismatic leader, the late Camila Batmanghelidjh.Philip Kirkpatrick, a partner at the law firm Bates Wells, charts Kids Company’s decline and questions how things could have turned out differently for the charity.And the Charity Commission’s chief executive, David Holdsworth, lays out the necessary ingredients for a successfully governed charity.Written and presented by: Lucinda RouseProducer: Nav PalExecutive producer: Ollie Peart

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Saskia Konynenburg, executive director of voice and impact at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and the volunteering strategist Gethyn Williams.Saskia describes the struggles reported by charities in recruiting and retaining volunteers, in the face of a growing preference for more informal roles with less rigid commitments.She suggests ways charities can attract new volunteers by showcasing their values on social media, and stresses the importance of communicating effectively with virtual volunteers.Gethyn outlines ways in which charities can use digital solutions to grow a charity’s volunteer base, improve its management systems and enhance the volunteer experience.Find out more about the Third Sector Awards here.Access the Digital in Volunteering Toolkit from the Association of Volunteer Managers, TeamKinetic and Gethyn Williams.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.

Lucinda Rouse and Dami Adewale are joined by Russell Winnard, chief executive of the care leaver support charity the Drive Forward Foundation, to discuss the introduction of a new model to guide the organisation's corporate partnerships.Russell explains how a combination of insufficient partnership income and the need for more joined-up pathways to employment opportunities for the charity’s service users prompted it to rethink its approach to working with businesses.He stresses the importance of researching corporate priorities and warns of the risk of being drawn into partnership arrangements that service a company’s needs more than the charity’s bottom line.Find out more about the Third Sector Conference here.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Lynne Guyton, chief executive of John Lyon’s Charity, and Sacha Rose-Smith, chief funding director at the City Bridge Foundation.Lynne describes the realities for a grantmaker that has gone from being a nice-to-have to an essential funding pot. She explains why John Lyon’s Charity did not consider it responsible to pause funding and outlines the alternative ways it has navigated the surge in demand.Sacha explains how the measures taken by the City Bridge Foundation during its temporary closure to new applications will strengthen its capabilities going forward, stressing the importance of understanding its place in the system and the areas where it could have the most impact. Read our analysis about funders pausing their programmes.Find out more about the Purpose Awards here.Tell us what you think of the Third Sector Podcast! Please take five minutes to let us know how we can bring you the most relevant, useful content. To fill in the survey, click here.