"I'm not a charity you know!"

As I’m writing this at the beginning of January after a 5 days in a cottage in the middle of Wales with no TV (yes I said no TV!! – my daughters were horrified!) I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on the year.  And, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve realised I’m a bit apologetic when it comes to presenting Children Unite to the world.  I’ve realized that when I explain Children Unite to ‘the wider public’ I use an apologetic tone and something like ‘you know we’re very, very small’ or, ‘we’re not your typical charity’.

But I’ve been meeting up with an executive coach, who has got to know my way of thinking, the values I hold dear and the vision I have for Children Unite and at our last meeting she summarized all this for me.  I was inspired by her description of Children Unite, she talked of us being ‘cutting edge’ and ‘not tied down to old systems’– but this depiction felt in contrast to my own explanations!  How odd?!  So, I’ve been reflecting on this over the holidays and feel the need to share a few of my reflections.

So, everyone’s typical view of us as a ‘charity’ is that we raise money, which we send to local organisations who provide shelter, education and support for child domestic workers.  Essentially the ‘charity’ is a fundraising organisation for others.  But this is not what we do – tempting as it has been in difficult times to apply for funding that would make us take on this role. We want to work in equal partnership with local organisations and, preferably, in partnership with children from these local organisations i.e. who are traditionally termed as ‘the beneficiaries’.  Which, in the international development sector is rather a revolutionary approach and very difficult to actually achieve.

We are setting up a Technical Advice Service for other charities – advising them on how to work with child domestic workers, how to improve their services – and this runs like a consultancy business. We charge a daily fee for our advice. Those working in the development or rights sector are used to this – as most charities have to contract ‘consultants’ at some point for specific tasks that require specialist expertise – for example making an evaluation of their services.  However, explaining this to ‘the public’ is harder because ‘charity’ has become synonymous with providing services for free. You’ve all heard the expression “I’m not a charity you know” from someone who wants payment!

By 2015 we envisage that our Technical Advice Service will fund our advocacy work and are currently recruiting Trustees to help us realise this goal. But, in the meantime, I am looking for organisations that will fund projects where – for example, we support and promote local campaigns that have been devised by the children themselves.

So, in the spirit of resolutions – I am resolved not to be apologetic about Children Unite, I am proud that Children Unite does not fit the usual mould.  It is a cutting edge organisation that, in collaboration with children themselves, fights for their rights and helps them to improve their world….or something like that, I’m still working on the wording but, now, the heart is there!!