"Go forth, advocate, be stroppy, be proud and be proud of being woke. The country needs this sector more than any of you could possibly believe."
We should all take note of this rallying call by Paul Streets, along with his warning that charities have lost their "radical identities" due to over-dependence on state funding and contradictory guidance from the Charity Commission on how and when they can speak out.
I see this all the time in my work - charities trying to tread the line between saying what they feel they need to, keeping funders/donors happy, and avoiding falling foul of regulation.
For smaller charities especially, if you lack the time to properly weigh up whether to speak out and what the risks are, and lack the expertise to make sense of the confusing guidance, all too often you end up simply staying quiet. Just like the system wants you to.
We all need to remember and rediscover a bit more of that "purposeful anger". After all, we're not here to deliver contracted services, we're here to change the world.
https://lnkd.in/eyR2GUKD