Charity Awards 2006 - 15th June at the Battersea Arena

The Charity Awards and Dinner was held at Battersea Arena on 15th June. Organised by Charity Finance the Awards are the UK’s premier annual celebration of achievement by the voluntary sector and attract near to 1000 attendees from charities large and small.

This year’s event was very professionally run and very enjoyable. The judges awarded The Management Consultants Company Prize for Charity Effectiveness to London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund, the Charity founded as an immediate response to 7/7 and which started awarding grants within ten days. Gill Hicks, a survivor of the attack, sat with Company members and guests at our table and, at the presentation, praised the winners, to big applause. Edward Hoare and Bill Whitehead of the International Bankers Company were our guests and Company attendees were The Master, third warden William Barnard, Shelagh Rushforth , Julia Lever, John McLean Fox, Bernard Eccles and Gareth Rees.

This is the second year that the Company has sponsored the prize and I have no doubt that we are becoming increasingly recognised in the sector as a benefactor.

Brainstrust - 4 April 2006 at Cass Business School

Corporate Governance: Adding Shareholder Value

This workshop developed from the Corporate Governance Community of Practice. A new approach was tried with this Brainstrust as two presenters were used. Sir Brian Pitman, well-known for his sterling work at Lloyds Bank and then Lloyds TSB, and now an Advisor to Morgan Stanley, and Bob Garratt, known for his long-term focus on corporate governance, and board development and evaluation, presented their ideas and experiences before opening up a lively discussion.

Sir Brian focused on defining the issue of adding shareholder value - "the economic value added after taking into account the reasonable short-term demands of the owners, the cost of capital, and ensuring the long-term viability of the business". He illustrated this with many examples, national and international, of boards failing to be able to juggle all three simultaneously. Bob took up this them and, using the Learning Board process, outlined a way of structuring director's strategic thinking, risk-assessment and decision-making into a process of continuous learning. The dinner which followed was a very cheery affair!

Details of the slides used can be found on the WCoMC website under "Brainstrusts".

Charities Supper - 19th January 2006 at the Armourers Hall

Over 100 members and guests enjoyed this year’s Charities Supper at the Armourers Hall on 19th January 2006. This splendid Hall lent an intimate atmosphere to a delightful occasion.

The speakers included Susanne Niedrum, of International Care & Relief, whose programmes are primarily focused on Kenya and Uganda, and Peter Hollins, of the British Heart Foundation, winner of the Company’s prize for Charity Effectiveness at the Charity Finance Awards 2005. Together with Fiona Dawe, from the internet-based charity YouthNet, they gave fascinating accounts of life in the voluntary sector fast lane and spoke warmly of support received from Company Members.

Susanne Niedrum from the charity, International Care and Relief, and Fiona Dawes from YouthNet, were invited speakers at the Charities Supper. They gave sparkling accounts of their work and the support they had received from our Company.