After a brief break, the Finance Network Meetings return on Wednesday 25th May with the topic ‘Forecasting in a time of even greater uncertainty’. Find out how to book your place below.
Following a break in April in recognition of financial year-end work and Easter, we can now announce that the next Finance Network Meeting will take place on Wednesday 25th May from 11:00 to 12:30. Stuart Walker, Volunteer Consultant at Cranfield Trust, will present on the topic ‘Forecasting in a time of even greater uncertainty’, an update on his earlier presentation. Following this, Steve Chu, CEO of Age UK Sheffield, will give us an update on CASEwork Services. Find out full details of the event below, including how to book your place.
Many of you will remember Stuart Walker’s presentation to us in February 2021, when he spoke about ‘Forecasting in a time of uncertainty’, (we were still in the grip of the pandemic and lockdowns), making the point that when times are uncertain, it is even more important to forecast and just because it’s difficult, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
Forecasting in a time of even greater uncertainty
Stuart is a volunteer consultant with the Cranfield Trust, and we are delighted that he’s agreed to help us once again by updating his previous presentation in light of the current challenging financial environment. Stuart’s updated presentation ‘Forecasting in a time of even greater uncertainty’ will concentrate on the following challenges which we now face:
- the aftershock of the pandemic.
- the impact of inflationary pressures on charity reserves and funds held and existing service delivery contracts,
- National Minimum Wage increases and wages / salaries in general and the associated recruitment and retention issues
- the increasing cost of living which will impact on all organisations through increased overheads (utility bills, etc)
- the likelihood that clients will have less disposable income to pay for and engage with services, coupled with the challenge of needing to increase prices to cover increasing costs
- Potentially lower levels of donations and the impact on fundraising activities.
- Some reluctance of clients to return to services and services having to be delivered in different ways.
Against this backdrop, careful, prudent business planning and forecasting, including the proper calculation of full cost recovery for every service and activity, will be essential. We know that Stuart will not disappoint in his take on how we should prepare for the next 18 to 24 months.
CASEwork Services
Following this presentation, Steve Chu, CEO of Age UK Sheffield, will give us an update on CASEwork Services CIC Ltd. This organisation is jointly owned by 5 Age UK Brand Partners – Doncaster, North Yorkshire and Darlington, Sheffield, Wakefield District and York. It was established in September 2021 and is providing finance services to all five Brand Partners using the TES finance system used by other Brand Partners.
This will be an opportunity for Steve to share learning where Partners have looked to collaborate / work in partnership together and thus work more efficiently and effectively – an ideal opportunity to learn more about this company and how it might be helpful for your organisation too.
To book your place:
To register your attendance, and / or to subsequently receive a copy of the recording of the event and the slides, please simply send an email to John.Fox@ageuk.org.uk with your name and role title, the name of the Brand Partner you are representing and the email address to which the follow-up material should be sent. We would be grateful if you could confirm in your email whether you will be attending on the day or just requesting access to the meeting recording and supporting slides – thank you.
The session is open to all relevant management, staff and trustees in Local Age UKs and Cymru Partners. So please share this information with colleagues in your organisation who you feel would be interested in attending.