Working with the Young Foundation's Accelerator Programme

 “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.”

                                                                 John D Rockefeller

Is there an advice or support agency out there who doesn’t agree with this sentiment? It has long been acknowledged that an environment which fosters co-dependency is counter-productive, both for the service user and service provider, whose resources are invariably becoming ever scarcer.

This is mirrored in the relationship between service provider and funding organisation. Gone are the days when advice providers, or any third sector organisation for that matter, can expect indefinite hand-outs from funding bodies. Everyone is being asked to do more for less and with the increase in the number of social enterprises; the expectation is that most organisations will eventually be able to 'wash their own face'.  

This was the situation CHC’s money advice service, the Your Benefits are Changing (YBAC) team, found itself in as we moved far too quickly towards the end of the 3 year funding allocation we had received from the Big Lottery (Thanks BIG!). YBAC is an awareness raising campaign. We aim to raise awareness of changes impacting on the most vulnerable in our communities and offer practical, workable solutions and advice. The YBAC team has spoken to over 4,000 people at community events this year. 

Luckily for us, the Young Foundation happened to be in town and a couple of months ago we found out that, along with 8 other projects, we had been chosen to take part in the Young Foundation’s first Welsh Accelerator programme.  

Every couple of weeks, the projects meet up with experts brought in by the Young Foundation for an intensive two days. We are all at different stages of development but everyone seems to agree on one thing: we know our customers well.  

Nevertheless, the tools which have been bestowed upon us by the Young Foundation have allowed us to look at YBAC under the microscope and spot the gaps in our business plan. And access to people who make funding decisions in their daily work allowed us to ponder on some of those really difficult questions. 

We are just about to reach the half way mark in the process, at which point we can expect to hear news of which mentor we have been matched with.  This is particularly exciting for me as it is the bit I have been looking forward to the most.

But what does this mean for YBAC? It means that by January we will have a water-tight business plan with which to approach funders. It means that we will have skills and expertise at our disposal to develop our products which will make us more attractive to funders – funders who ultimately want to know that we have put measures in place to enable us to become a self-sustaining enterprise, and eventually independent of their charity.  

To date the YBAC team has:

• Advised 3,625 customers

• Helped 740 people in fuel poverty to claim £105,000 via the Warm Home Discount scheme

• Helped people manage over £1.2m of debt

• Identified over £1.3m of unclaimed welfare benefits

• Identified £1.6m of water debt, reducing annual billing for 360 people by over £100k per annum and giving 600 people the opportunity to write-off £800,000

• Identified 216 appropriate trust funds to help people find grants suitable for their need

If you would like to know more about the work Your Benefits are Changing is doing with the Young Foundation, contact clare-james@chcymru.org.uk


Clare James
Housing Services Policy Officer, CHC