Charities must speak truth to power but resist the temptation to “simply become a shrill lobbyist for more cash to help it out”, the outgoing chief executive of a think tank has said.
Dan Corry, CEO of New Philanthropy Capital and former head of the Number 10 policy unit, was speaking at the organisation’s summer reception in London yesterday.
He said: “We have a new government, and the early signs are that it is very willing to listen to the sector, even though we don’t have a charities minister appointed yet.
“We should set the expectation that the government will continue to listen, whether it agrees with us or not, and will not spend its time trying to vilify certain charities and to clamp down on the voice of civil society in ways I'm afraid we have seen over the last decade or so.
“I also hope that the charity sector makes the most of whatever opportunities come our way and resists the temptation to simply become a shrill lobbyist for more cash to help it out.”
‘We’re the honest speaker of truth to power’
Paul Farmer, Age UK CEO and the recent 2024 winner of the Daniel Phelan Award, agreed with Corry that “it’s really important as a sector we don't become shrill voices”.
Nonetheless, he said it was “also important that we're the honest speaker of truth to power when that's required”.
“It feels like we’ve been in quite a protective space,” said Farmer, who previously led mental health charity Mind.
“This is an opportunity now to think about opportunity and the changes that we can make.
“There is no doubt that this task is huge, of what has to happen next.
“It's an enormous challenge, and it's one which is something which is not going to be accomplished by government on its own, has to be accompanied by a group of people working collectively, collaboratively to do that.
“So yes, it's all about change, not just a change of government, but a change of mood, building, I think, on the whole huge strengths of our sector.”
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