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Rank Ripples, Spring 2023 edition is out now!

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This edition of Rank Ripples magazine focuses on the cost-of-living crisis. It features articles about enterprising and innovative responses from leaders across our network. There’s also some inspiration from Canada from our friends at Place Matters and an article about trust-based philanthropy from our resident PhD Janis Petzinger.

You’ll also find a double-page spread of the Foundation’s year in numbers. It quantifies our founder’s vision that each and every pebble can create ripples into towns and communities right across the country. We’re delighted with what we’ve achieved together with you.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

RankRipplesCostOfLivingEditionApril2023-1Download

Celebrating 50 Years of Giving

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The Rank Foundation is grateful to Gareth Hart, Director of Plymouth-based Iridescent Ideas and Rank Network member, who shares his experience of the Rank Foundation’s 50th-anniversary conference in this blog.

What do Family Fortunes, Sweet Caroline, cutting keys and the Carry-On films have in common? Well, they all featured, to some degree, in the wonderful Rank Conference 2022. Some 500 people joined the gathering from all over the UK. This year’s theme was celebrating fifty years of giving and was held amidst the guns, swords (Highlander’s iconic blades duelly (ba-dum) noted) and armour of the imposing Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. The ‘royal’ epithet was apt as we held the conference during the national mourning period for Her Majesty the Queen. RIP.

First up was a documentary film about the life of J. Arthur Rank, whose bequest led to the formation of the Rank Foundation. The film opened my eyes to previously unknown – to me at least – elements of his life story. These included his early forays in to film-making, his trip to Hollywood to fight for British cinema, his involvement in the building of Pinewood Studios (yes, THE/THAT Pinewood that brought us Harry Potter, Marvel, Star Wars and hundreds of other amazing, iconic films!) and his deep faith.

David Sanderson, Rank CEO, opened the conference, setting the scene with a talk about Rank’s giving and establishing the challenge of tackling the consequences of inequality. This was followed by a panel discussion about the impact of Rank on personal lives. It was great to see several Plymouth representatives in the film and this panel debate.

Next up was a seminar on J. Arthur Rank’s role in the British Film Industry. The role was, well, vast, sprawling and almost monopolistic. J. Arthur’s approach seemed to be: ‘vertical integration’, i.e., buy every and any business linked to film from the cinemas themselves, through distribution and production right down to projection device manufacturers and the makers of the very seats you sat on in the movie theatres!

Sir John Timpson

The evening’s activities and gala dinner were marked with much mirth including a Family Fortunes-Four Seasons-Time to Shine inspired game show (good wig!). Sir John Timpson, he of key-cutting and shoe polish fame, gave an interesting talk about ‘upside down management’ whereby you put the managers in service of the front line and fundamentally, be nice to people.

Time to Shiner, Chelsea Reynolds performing on stage.

The evening was rounded off with a great performance by Time to Shiner, Chelsea Reynolds, providing loads of sing-along-able moments and unusual mashups and medleys. Much wine was quaffed, and many people stumbled home well after midnight.

Caroline Broadhurst.

The next morning saw more entertainment in the form of a rousing rendition of ‘My Time to Shine’ to the tune of ‘Sweet Caroline’ – sung largely in the direction of Caroline Broadhurst, of course.

Key note speaker and writer, David Bodanis then gave a stimulating talk exploring

  • ‘what to do when lost’ – listen without ego as Danny Boyle did to get the London Olympics 2012 opening ceremony over line without leaks;
  • ‘how to get stuff done’ – use committees wisely as Prime Minister Clement Attlee did to enact dramatic changes to the UK’s welfare state and create the NHS; and
  • ‘how to meet a deadline’ – be quick don’t hurry (more haste less speed to a British audience maybe) as John Wooden’s mantra went with his all-conquering UCLA Bruins basketball team in the 1960s and 1970s.

I had a quick chat with David in the break and he remarked that despite shyness Attlee’s honesty and integrity kept the whole show together.

My final seminar was a tremendous and deeply fascinating look at the history of philanthropy and the move towards a more ‘relational’ style of giving. Taking us on a journey from the Philanthrocapitalism of the 1990s through Venture Philanthropy and bringing us right up to the now with Relational Philanthropy, Janis Petzinger of University of St Andrews, explored trust, giving more than money and building relationships. This was a compelling, intelligent and forensic account of philanthropic movements and took me back to an early career moment when, at the then National Lottery Charities Board, as a grant maker I learnt a lot about the need for trust and flexibility. Sadly, that was all too often, absent in the grants-system in the 1990s.

Phil Davies and Plymouth based network members, Wendy Hart and Hannah Sloggett.

The Rank Foundation’s work in Plymouth is a shining example of this more relational approach to funding and the word ‘trust’ repeatedly comes up in my thinking about how Rank has operated in the city. A far cry from experiences in my early career.

Joey Newton, Chair of the board and Lord Rank’s grandson.

A final session explored faith and the need to take action in the face of the looming cost of living and energy crises – analyse, consult, act. A closing talk from Rank Foundation’s chair and Lord Rank’s grandson, Joey Newton, invited us to join the Foundation on the journey of the next fifty years and to share the joy and challenges we all will face.

My top takeaways from the conference were:

  1. Network and share to help face the coming crisis
  2. Give back more
  3. Recognise the importance of individual stories but also the need for strategy and policy
  4. Have fun, be upside down and sing more songs.

My thanks go to the Rank Foundation and all the staff and volunteers who helped make the conference such a success. To the venue and the staff at the Royal Armouries for hosting us so well and to all the speakers, performers and especially the Time to Shiners who entertained, educated, enthralled, challenged and informed us – all with the aim of creating a better world.

Rank Ripples – 50th Anniversary Edition

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This special 50th-anniversary edition of Rank Ripples magazine celebrates the legacy of our founder Lord Arthur Rank.

Lord Rank was guided by his Christian faith, a belief in nurturing leadership and supporting young people to achieve their potential. We hope you enjoy reading 50 stories from people whose lives have changed because he was driven to create this Foundation.

Use the buttons below the magazine to enlarge it and flick through each page.

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Pro Bono Economics launch their findings on the Time to Shine programme

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The Rank Foundation are elated as Pro Bono Economics launch their findings on the Time to Shine programme.  Pro Bono Economics uses economics to empower the social sector, today launching a report detailing the impact on charities who take part in the Time to Shine programme.

The full report is available to read as a PDF by clicking the button below.

Key findings from the report find:

Charities which participate in Time to Shine are estimated to have, on average, 5% higher incomes after the programme compared to similar charities which do not participate – this is equivalent to an average increase of around £200,000 per year. As the cost of funding the average Time to Shine charity in 2019/20 was approximately £22,000, the programme’s benefits would outweigh the costs if it increases a charity’s annual income by just 0.5%.

With 80% of organisations having incomes less than £100,000 per year, most of the sector is working on very tight budgets. Hiring a full-time employee at the Living Wage would cost more than 18% of these charities’ annual income. This means that expanding their teams is extremely costly and out of reach for most small charities.  The Rank Foundation believes that filling capacity needs in small charities allows them to focus on strategic improvements that can enhance their impact.

The Rank Foundation is awarding over £9 million to organisations in Northern Ireland

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The Start Here programme was launched this year to create new jobs in the Sports, Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) sectors in Northern Ireland. The programme will support not-for-profit organisations over the next three years by funding the salaries of new entry-level job roles. Each post will receive the Real Living Wage and there is additional funding for training and upskilling existing employees, to continue to develop their career and assist the charity sector to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Demand for funding was extremely high with outstanding quality applications, demonstrating the need to invest in new roles and training across the community, voluntary and sports sectors.  The Start Here programme will support 100 organisations with funding in excess of £9 million.

Kai Wooder, Director of Programmes at The Rank Foundation confirmed her delight at working across the N.I. social sector, “the Start Here Programme provides a great opportunity to bring about needs-driven changes in the sector.  The Rank Foundation is delighted to be working at both a strategic and grassroots level over the next three years, investing in new roles in voluntary, community and sports organisations”.

The Turnaround Project

“Staff and volunteers at The Turnaround Project are so excited about being a recipient of the Start Here grants programme. To be able to offer an entry level route into the voluntary sector will go some way to be able to recognise the untapped talent there is amongst the young people living in our communities. The three-year entry-level post funded by Start Here will allow the person we recruit to develop their leadership and technical skills through the associated programme of development and support, whilst our organisation will benefit from developing its own financial and social data management capabilities. We feel very privileged to be able to play a role in a programme that has the foresight to recruit and develop the future leaders of the voluntary sector in NI”

WOMEN’STEC

“WOMEN’STEC are delighted to be awarded funding from the Start Here programme. This comes at a time when we are dealing with increasing demand for our services and so to be able to offer a project officer role to someone at the beginning of their career journey who is seeking to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience in the third sector, whilst increasing our capacity to deliver, is a great opportunity for everyone involved. It is also fantastic to be able to offer a three- year post rather than a one-year post. This gives the person time to grow and develop personally and professionally with the support of our team and the programme, whilst also giving us security of a role that is important for our delivery over the next three years. We are grateful to The Rank Foundation for this opportunity and to be involved with the programme.”

Bytes

“Bytes are absolutely delighted that we have been selected to be partner with The Rank Foundation to deliver Start Here. This programme will enable an individual to spend the next three years working to improve digital inclusion within Bytes and across our members and colleagues in the VCSE sector. At Bytes we will support this individual to develop their networks and leadership across the sector ensuring they experience the challenges and satisfaction of working in this fantastic sector. This investment from The Rank Foundation will ensure Bytes continues to be a source of innovation as we support organisations that work with young people to improve their digital ecosystems.”

Congratulations to all the organisations The Rank Foundation is very excited for the journey ahead over the next three years.

Start Here Programme

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Photography credit: Pacemaker

On the 31st January 2022, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey launched a £10m Employment & Skills Initiative, which will see grants awarded to organisations to cover salary costs for three years in sectors hard hit by the Covid pandemic namely the arts, heritage, creative industries, sports and voluntary and community sectors. The £10m funding can be used to attract new entrants and upskill existing staff in an effort to retain talent.

The Minister is pictured at CS Lewis Square, Belfast with some of the partners who will be delivering and supporting delivery of the scheme (L-R): Karly Greene, Director of Strategic Development & Partnerships, Arts Council; Professor Paul Moore, Director Future Screens NI, supporting the Arts Sector; Minister Deirdre Hargey; Geraldine Cooper, Lead Facilitator, The Rank Foundation, supporting both the Sports and the Voluntary & Community sectors; Dr Paul Mullan, Director NI The Heritage Fund, supporting the Heritage Sector and Antoinette McKeown, CEO, Sport NI.

Start Here is a grants programme offering not-for-profit organisations in Northern Ireland the opportunity to apply for funding for a new 3-year entry level position. This grants programme is specifically targeted at the Sport and Voluntary & Community sectors.

The Department for Communities is providing funding to the Arts, Creative Industries, Heritage, Sports and Voluntary and Community sectors to address employment and skills deficits which have arisen, as a result of, or been exacerbated by, the COVID19 pandemic. Through key roles impacted upon by the pandemic, the aim is to enhance an individual’s job prospects and skill sets and in doing so, strengthen the organisations and sectors to aid recovery and sustainability. This is in recognition of the wider benefits these sectors bring to Northern Ireland citizens. The Department for Communities has appointed the Rank Foundation to deliver this programme to organisations specifically within the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and the sports sector, in the form of the Start Here programme

Voluntary & Community sectors

We invite you to apply for the Start Here programme if your organisation fits the following criteria:
• Are you a not-for-profit VCSE organisation that is based within Northern Ireland?
• Can you support the employability and skills of an individual who wishes to enter into, or progress within, the VCSE sector?
• Has the type of role this individual would fulfil been affected by the pandemic?
• Will your support for this role strengthen the VCSE sector?

Applications are now closed.

Sports sector

We invite you to apply for the Start Here programme if your organisation fits the following criteria:
• Are you a not-for-profit Sports governing body that is based within Northern Ireland?
• Can you support the employability and skills of an individual who wishes to enter into, or progress within, the sports sector?
• Has the type of role this individual would fulfil been affected by the pandemic?
• Will your support for this role support Sport in Northern Ireland?
• Is your organisation recognised by Sports NI? Check here.

Applications are now closed.