White Ribbons - not white flags

Over the last year, it’s been our privilege at Cranfield Trust to work with more than 40 organisations dedicated to providing vital services for survivors of rape and sexual violence.  This week, Monday 25 November was White Ribbon Day, which raises awareness of and campaigns against violence against women and girls, and the charities we’ve worked with are very much in my mind.

Many of the organisations we’ve worked with are run by experts in the services they provide: support, community, counselling, ISVA services which help women to navigate the criminal justice system, and other vital services to women who have experienced trauma. 
They are wildly overstretched: some of the organisations we have come to know have waiting lists lasting months, at a time when women need immediate help.  They are often reliant on one or two main sources of income, so they’re very exposed to the loss of individual grants or contracts.  Running these charities takes nerves of steel, to cope with the uncertainty, the pressure and the sheer number of women needing help.

We know that there is little money in the systems that fund organisations like these, so what can we expect of them?  I believe that we need to be supporting their services to be as secure as possible, and to be doing everything we can to ensure that highly experienced people aren’t stressed into leaving the work that they do so well.  This may mean that not all organisations survive in their current shapes, but focusing on services, the people who use them, and the people who provide them, is key.  Security of services rather than substantial innovation and change should be our focus; if there’s high demand for support, we need to be investing in successful delivery, ensuring services are as efficient and effective as possible.

We are very conscious of the trust that the leaders and managers of our clients in the rape and sexual violence sector – and all our charity clients – put in us, by investing time to work together on organisation and personal development.  

Many of the organisations we’re working travelled greater distances, improving their skills and confidence, in the area of leadership and strategic direction than in other management areas.  Using our impact framework, ‘Journey to Excellence’ they measured their development – this was the key area in which they felt under most pressure.  Leaders don’t have much time to think ahead right now, but we’re working with many organisations on business plans, helping people to plan ahead at a time when they are often pulled into day to day service delivery because of high demand and low resources. 
Planning ahead – especially focusing on financial forecasting – helps to build a sense of control, even in an environment which often seems far beyond our control.  Exploring different scenarios – especially negative ones – helps us to feel prepared.  It’s better to know that a cliff is coming up, and to have looked over the edge, than to fall off without having planned for landing – even if our planned landing will be as a smaller organisation or different shape of organisation than before.

We’re also working on lots of mentoring assignments: having a mentor helps to carve out some time to discuss different challenges, and to rehearse decisions, in a supportive conversation.  Being mentored can also contribute to improved wellbeing, which couldn’t be more important at present, you can’t have a resilient organisation without having resilient people.

In these days of action against gender-based violence following White Ribbon day, we stand with organisations tackling violence against women and girls.  I’d like to thank all the people in the organisations working with us for their time and trust in us, as well as for the amazing and vital work they do.