Ward Goodman hosted their annual Dorset Charities Conference on 4thJuly at Bournemouth University. Now in its eighth year, the one day conference provided Trustees, Fundraisers, Volunteers and Chief Executives from the charity and the not-for-profit sector with an understanding of current issues affecting the sector and also opportunities for networking.
Ian Rodd, Managing Director of Ward Goodman and Ian Jones, Head of Regional Community Partnerships at Bournemouth University welcomed the delegates.
Throughout the day various guest speakers enlightened the delegates with their knowledge and expertise:
Gareth Sherwood, Chief Executive Officer at Bournemouth YMCA, gave the keynote talk. An engaging and passionate presentation on the charity sector, why and how we do what we do. The 160+ delegates were left under no illusion as to the passion that Gareth has for making the world a better place through charitable and voluntary organisations. Gareth, who was on hand all day to chat to the delegates commented ”It was a real honour to be asked to speak. Hopefully the event will help inspire others throughout the charity sector in Dorset. Thank you to all those involved for a great day”.
Gareth was followed by a selection of speakers from umbrella organisations within Dorset who shared information about their organisations and the support and help that they are able to provide to the wider charity sector within Dorset. They included Graham Farrant (CEO BCP Council), Ian Girling (CEO Dorset Chamber), Alex Picot (CEO Dorset Community Action) and Marie Waterman (CEO Volunteer Centre Dorset).
After a short coffee and networking break, Jen Richardson, Head of Charities at Ward Goodman and Geoff Trobridge, Head of Charities and Social Enterprise at Lester Aldridge LLP presented the DCC Technical Panel segment, providing accounting and legal updates on governance, accounting policies, risk, organisational structure, land transactions and tax, which also included useful links to Charity Commission guidance.
Either side of the Technical Panel, the delegates was delighted to hear from two of the organisations that proudly support the event.
Bev Jesse from Teachers Building Society spoke about the savings opportunities within the Building Society and James Johnsen from Church House Investment Management spoke about their management of investment portfolios for charity clients and how they manage the risk.
The afternoon session commenced with Chris Conroy, Cyber Crime Protect & Prevention Officer, Dorset Police. Cyber Crime is a significant problem for organisations in current times and unfortunately charities and not-for-profit organisations are not exempt from being targeted. Chris gave an overview of what to look out for and the best ways to prevent you or your organisation from becoming a victim of cyber crime.
The second afternoon speaker was Lucy Gower, founder of Lucidity. Lucy shared her experience as an accomplished trainer, coach and fundraising consultant specialising in helping individuals, teams and organisations to think differently to get better results. An engaging talk left the delegates with plenty to think about within their own organisations.
The final speaker of the day was Ellie Maguire, Grants Manager at Dorset Community Foundation. Ellie gave an overview as to what the Foundation is currently involved in and emphasised the theme of the conference in how important it is for all the organisations attending to find ways to work together.
Ian Rodd, Managing Director of Ward Goodman, then thanked CAF Bank, Teachers Building Society, Church House Investment Management and Bournemouth University for their support with the event. He also thanked ROUTEpr and BH1 GIN for their support of the networking breaks.
All that was left to do before delegates headed off to network over afternoon tea and gin tasters was to select the winners of the charity draw with prizes including a £500 cash donation (donated by Ward Goodman), a bottle of champagne (donated by Church House Investment Management), a hosted charity quiz night (donated by Quizalot) and a beautiful framed painting (donated by local artist, Katie Cook of Carnelian Creations).
Jen Richardson summarised by saying, “Each year our objective is to hold our annual Dorset Charities Conference at charity or trust run premises and to provide an informative and collaborative environment for smaller charities. We build on feedback from previous years and would love to hear from anyone in the sector with ideas for future speakers and topics”.
To find out more about how Ward Goodman can help your Charity, Trust or Not-for profit enterprise with accountancy, audit or financial services, please email charities@wardgoodman.co.uk or call 01202 875900.
Ward Goodman offers specialist services to charities, providing accounting and auditing services to charitable organisation throughout the South. Their services include independent examinations, charity accounting, taxation and gift aid reclaims, Trustee support and governance training.
Dorset Charities Conference 2019 | Keynote Speaker | Gareth Sherwood | CEO, Bournemouth YMCA
To find out more about how Ward Goodman can help your Charity, Trust or Not-for profit enterprise with accountancy, audit or financial services, please email charities@wardgoodman.co.uk or call 01202 875900.
Ward Goodman offers specialist services to charities, providing accounting and auditing services to charitable organisation throughout the South. Their services include independent examinations, charity accounting, taxation and gift aid reclaims, Trustee support and governance training.
