News: June 2009
- Welcome
- Annual Conference 2009 - Profit in the Downturn
- CEO recruitment update
- D-Day: Donate, don't dump
- Lobbying and policy update
- Dates for your diary
- QMA survey April-June 2009
- BRC Retail Sales Monitor
- Charity Finance Annual Survey deadline extension
- New Members' Handbook chapter - 'Flu Pandemic Planning
- Recruitment advertisement
Welcome
This is the last Bulletin before the Association's Annual Conference, Exhibition and Awards, so we are hard at work putting together the finishing touches to make this the highest quality sector event that we know our members expect.
Other exciting developments include the growing interest in the D-Day: Donate, don't dump campaign, which we are co-ordinating following the Mary, Queen of Charity Shops series and Mary Portas will be making a special guest appearance at our Annual Conference on 6 July.
Annual Conference, Exhibition and Awards, 'Profit in the Downturn'
Sponsored by
Our Annual Conference and Exhibition, to be held at Keele Conference Park on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 July, once again promises to be the 'must attend' event for the charity retail sector. Over 280 delegates and speakers have registered to attend - so if you have not managed to book a place this year - we hope you will be there in 2010!
View the brochure here
Book online here
Many of you will have seen the recent Mary, Queen of Charity Shops programmes on BBC2 (viewing figures were in the region of 3m per programme). We are delighted to announce that Mary Portas will be making a special guest appearance at the Conference dinner this year.
Win... Win... Win... in our Conference Prize Draw sponsored by eProductive Ltd
The Prize: Two nights B&B for two at a Ramada Jarvis hotel. Choose from one of the 42 hotels across the UK.
The Association of Charity Shops and eProductive Ltd are delighted to bring back our very popular Conference Prize Draw. Open to all charity delegates, all you have to do is:
- Attend the Conference
- Answer questions correctly on the Prize Draw form
- Be at the draw when your name is pulled out of the hat
Exhibition
We are pleased to announce that 45 commercial organisations are exhibiting with us this year up from 39 last year. Click here to view our Exhibition Plan 2009. The Exhibition opens at 11.30am on Monday 6 July.
A big THANK YOU to all our sponsors!
Conference Sponsors: 1st Waste Management Consultants Ltd, eBay for Charity, Wilcox Textile Reclaimers and Processors
Annual Awards Sponsor: Corporate College (Derby College)
Drinks Reception Sponsors:
Choice Textile Ltd, Propress and Stayfast Ltd
Conference Bursary Sponsor: Choice Textile Ltd
Prize Draw Sponsor: eProductive
Delegate Bag Sponsors: Maxa Solutions and Monro Ltd
Delegate Gift Sponsor: Smallwares
Conference Bursaries Winners
Sheryl de Jager, Highway Hospice Association
Tessa Beeney, Dorothy Kerin Trust (Burrswood)
Grace Gray, Yorkhill Children’s Foundation
Rochelle Broman, The FED (Manchester Jewish Federation)
Rebecca Mann, Cancer Research Wales
CEO recruitment update
Unfortunately, the initial CEO recruitment round to find Lekha’s successor did not find a suitable candidate. We are currently re-advertising and will be interviewing once again at the end of July. The Association is working with People Unlimited (formerly Charity People) to recruit to this position and you can find details of the role and application process here: http://www.charitypeople.com/Details.aspx?JobId=64292
D-Day: Donate, don't dump
Do you want to get more good quality stock into your shops? Would you like more people to know what your charity does? Have you thought about setting up a D-Day event with a local business?
Many of you will already have partnerships with local firms. The D-Day idea, as set out in the BBC2 series ‘Mary, Queen of Charity Shops’, is a little different. Volunteers go into a business to talk about the work that their charity does, and the help it provides to those who need it, creating a powerful personal connection with their listeners. People are not asked to return with bags full of donations, but rather to choose one or two pieces they feel could really sell, with the emphasis on quality. The results in the TV series were phenomenal. We think it’s an idea that could really take off.
The Association has been asked to take over the D-Day initiative, promoting it widely. There has already been a huge amount of interest from members and other organisations. Tesco, for example, has already organised two D-days for its headquarters staff.
There is guidance on our website on setting up a D-Day event of your own, from the perspective of charities, businesses, and enthusiastic individuals. See www.ddaydonate.charityshops.org.uk. (Image provided by North London Hospice).
A press release we issued on this on 19 June is also available on our Press page.
D-Day: Donate, don’t dump t-shirts available
We have had white t-shirts printed up with the ‘D-Day: Donate Don’t Dump’ slogan, so that you can capitalise on the interest generated by the programme. These will be available for members to buy at a cost of £5 each, plus P&P. You can purchase these t-shirts at our Annual Conference on 6-7 July or we can send them to you.
Please contact Isabelle on 020 7255 4477 or isabelle@charityshops.org.uk if you would to know more.
TopLobbying update
Gift Aid
As members will be aware from earlier Bulletins, the Government is still considering improvements to the Gift Aid scheme. As part of this ongoing review, the Treasury invited the Association to put forward its proposals as to how the scheme could be significantly improved in the charity shop context. Following a round table meeting with members, a survey of costs and further discussion at Board level, we have now finalised our proposals which build on the response we made to the 2007 consultation on Gift Aid. These proposals are being submitted to the Treasury Minister at the time this Bulletin is being circulated so that they can be considered alongside the other proposals for improvements to the scheme. It is hoped announcements will be made at the time of the pre-Budget report in November this year, with any changes being implemented from 2011 when the current transitional relief comes to an end.
Scottish Retail Consortium Board meeting
David attended the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) Board meeting in Edinburgh on 27 May. This was the first SRC Board we have attended as full members.
The Board meeting was followed by a political lunch with Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, and her Deputy, Murdo Fraser. Ms Goldie made very clear the Conservatives commitment to Scottish retail and to protecting the High Street.
Sustainable Clothing Action Plan
David attended DEFRA’s Sustainable Clothing Action Plan steering group meeting on 24 June. One of the Association’s commitments in the Action Plan is to continue to promote reuse of textiles through donations to charity shops. We reported on the D-Day initiative and how this will feed into this promotion.
Key dates and meetings
Please see the Events page for a full list of 2009's meeting dates.
H&S Interest Group meeting, held 3 June and Property Interest Group meeting, held 11 June
Thanks to all who came to the recent Health & Safety Group meeting, held on Wednesday 3 June at the Association’s offices. Topics discussed included ‘flu pandemic planning and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, as well as the guidance issued by Fire Officers and Environmental Health Officers.
Thanks too to all who came to the recent Property Group meeting, held on Thursday 11 June at the Association’s offices. Topics discussed included the upcoming rates revaluation, cost saving measures, and the threats and advantages generated by the current economic climate.
The minutes for both meetings will shortly be available to download from the Members’ Area of our website on the H&S Group page and the Property Group page.
QMA survey April-June 2009 - deadline 31 July
Members, download the surveys here: QMA page
Members, please download the quarterly survey for the second quarter of 2009 and the Sources of Stock survey from the QMA page using the link above. We have divided the survey into three sections: donations made directly to your shop(s), house-to-house collections and banks. Please fill in whatever sections are relevant to you. We use the information to estimate the amount of clothing that is diverted by the sector from landfill. This is very important to support the Association’s lobbying activities. The survey results will also help the Association gather information to support the anecdotal evidence of declining response rates to house-to-house collections and will provide members with a measure of the extent of the problem.
We use different subsamples for each section of the report because most charities are not able to provide all the information. So please return the survey even if it is partially completed. It would be very much appreciated if you could submit your figures as soon as possible.
Please email the emailable forms, or fax (020 7255 4475) or post a printable versions to Cristina by Friday 31 July.
BRC Retail Sales Monitor
Below is a summary of the BRC's Retail Sales Monitor for May 2009. Visit the BRC page for more reports.
SALES GROWTH SLIPS
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Charity Finance Charity Shops Survey 2009 - deadline extension
The deadline for returning your completed Charity Finance Charity Shop Survey questionnaire has been extended to Tuesday 7 July. If you would like to take part in this annual survey, please download the questionnaire from the Charity Finance website.
Now in its eighteenth year, this annual survey provides invaluable benchmarking information and analysis of key charity retail trends and performance figures. The results will be published with the September 2009 issue of Charity Finance. Charity Finance would be grateful if you could spend some time completing the questionnaire in as much detail as possible and return it to them at the freepost address stated on the questionnaire or by fax on 020 7819 1210.
New Members' Handbook chapter: 5H - 'Flu Pandemic Planning
We have created a guidance note on 'Flu Pandemic Planning, which covers some of the things which your organisation will need to be aware of. A pandemic could affect both volunteers and donors as well as customers and stock, and preparations will need to be made to deal with a potential crisis. This new chapter of the Members' Handbook is available to download from the Handbook page.
Minor revisions have been made to 1 other chapter and the contents page, which are also available for download:
Contents page
12A - Duty of Care and Waste Legislation
Recruitment advertisement
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If so, then you could join as a key player in driving income through our 300 charity shops. Location - Following a restructure we are recruiting to vacancies in:
Further information: For further information and to apply on line please visit www.redcross.org.uk/vacancies and search with quoted reference. |
RETAIL FIELD MANAGERSOur newsletter (the Bulletin) is mailed on a monthly basis to approximately 400 charity retail contacts. If you are interested in advertising any vacancies or properties in the Bulletin, please contact Michelle on 020 7255 4473 or email michelle@charityshops.org.uk.