"You bring in someone with autism, and you’ve got a typical work problem, they’ll look at the problem possibly in a different way and give you a different solution to the nineteen other people sitting in the room, and that’s significant…” – Jeremy ‘Jay’ Hay
In this episode we speak with Jeremy Hay, Chief Executive Officer, and Simon Steed, Your Voice Engagement Manager at Talkback UK, about the challenges that their charity is facing as they seek to support autistic people and people with learning disabilities. We talk about how working with councils and other charities is helping them to deliver their work and how they are working with businesses to meet their member’s needs.
1. The power of storytelling
We’ve spoken before on the podcast about charities telling their stories well and what this achieve against their strategic objectives, especially with fundraising, marketing and engaging new audiences. The power of storytelling and giving beneficiaries the chance to tell their stories is also a confidence building opportunity which in of itself can have profound benefits for the individual and explaining the impact of the charity.
2. Lack of government funding
A lack of government funding or support is a common thread across the charity sector and while many charities are having to seek out new stakeholders to support their work, there are some like Talkback UK who are working hard to develop good relationships with their local council, as well as other charities as partners in delivering their work.
Working with companies is a solution that is helping Talkback UK to meet their objectives for their members. We’ve talked a lot on previous episodes of the podcast about the benefits for charities in building meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with companies, and finding the unique selling point of your work to fit with corporate’s objectives – not just philanthropic but also commercial too.
3. Giving people the same opportunities as everybody else
Autistic people and people with learning disabilities are just asking for the same opportunities as everyone else. Many of us in our work are personally and professionally aiming for an inclusive, diverse and equitable society. In the context of our chat with Jeremy and Simon, we can all help to create this for autistic people and those with a learning disability by being open, creating employment opportunities and seeking to understand those who think and interpret the world differently to us.
4.
This episode of Charity Chat has been brought to you by our platinum sponsor Work for Good.
Work for Good is a fundraising platform helping businesses raise funds for charities through their sales. The platform makes the legal agreement needed for businesses to fundraise from sales quick and simple. Saving charities time and resource, and enabling them to raise more unrestricted income.
Pop to www.workforgood.co.uk to learn more and book a free demo.
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
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