The CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, and Cranfield Trust, a national charity that uses a network of skilled volunteers to share best practice with voluntary organisations, have launched a new partnership that will benefit charities across south Wales.
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The partnership will see Welsh CIPD members volunteer to provide free HR advice to charities across south Wales that currently have limited or no HR support.
In a recent survey carried out by Cranfield Trust, many charities said that HR issues were among their top challenges and figures suggest many lack the resources to fund specialist advice.
Recent data from CIPD’s employee Health and Well-being at Work survey* found that a third (33 per cent) of charities reported that stress-related absences had increased over the last year, with 39 per cent saying they had stayed the same. The survey also found that workload, relationships at work and management style were the top three causes of work-related stress absences in the charity sector.
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This new partnership aims to help combat these issues by providing professional HR advice and guidance to charities to ensure staff are equipped to best handle people development.
Jayne Kendall, Cranfield Trust Project Manager for Wales is keen to spread the word to charities and recruit skilled volunteers to the local network. She said: “Working with the CIPD in Wales to recruit HR professionals as volunteers means we can build our service substantially, giving more local charities access to vital business services, which is fantastic news not only for the voluntary sector generally but also beneficiaries and local communities. Charity Managers do not usually have HR expertise and, at a time where funding is tighter than ever, the offer of free HR support is a valuable opportunity for many local charities, that will ultimately also benefit the lives of their employees, their organisations, and the people they support.”
Lesley Richards, Head of CIPD Wales said: “At a challenging time for the charity sector we are delighted to be working with Cranfield Trust to support organisations in Wales build their HR capability and help them thrive. It is particularly relevant for smaller charities where managers can feel isolated. CIPD members will offer free support to charities in Wales to help broaden their skillset and make people management practices more effective. We’re proud to have members who drive positive change in their local communities by supporting programmes such as this, and through them we are meeting our own charitable purpose to champion better work and working lives.”
If you are interested in volunteering with Cranfield Trust or are a charity that would like to learn more about the services available, please visit www.cranfieldtrust.org or email [email protected] or call 01794 830338.
