Michael Brophy, former chief executive of Charities Aid Foundation and the architect of several sector institutions, was honoured with the outstanding leadership award at the 2009 Charity Awards last night.
Accepting the award in front of around 800 of his peers at the tenth anniversary of the Awards, Brophy sent ripples of laughter through the audience when he said: “I am reminded of the difference between MBEs and OBEs – MBEs are My Bloody Effort and OBEs are Other Buggers’ Efforts.
“And if I deserve this at all it is because of other buggers’ efforts. Some of those other buggers are here tonight and I acknowledge them and hand this award, at least in part, to them.”
Brophy then went on to recite the nursery rhyme of Humpty Dumpty, and likened it to “what is happening in Whitehall at the moment”.
He said: “Until recently, I thought the 80s and 90s were the great expansion years...but now there is a crack, an opportunity. The Whitehall machine is no longer all-powerful, we can return to a society where the public domain can be regained.
“I rather regret not being young enough to take part in the new challenge, having taken part in the challenge of the 80s and 90s. The people in this room should realise that they are going to try and put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but we mustn’t allow them to do so. We must regain the initiative. We should make sure that institutions at local level are governed by local people and grabbed back from awful government targets etc. This is the challenge for you.
“I wish you well. It is incredibly important you do so. The future of this country depends upon many people in this room.”
Brophy was presented with the award by newsreader and journalist Nicholas Owen, and Paul Winter, chief executive of joint overall sponsor the Leadership Trust Foundation at the end of an evening that had seen ten charities win awards for excellence in charity management and leadership. He had been selected as the recipient of the 2009 outstanding leadership award by a panel of leading sector figures.
