It’s been just over a year since the MCF established a new strategic partnership with the Cranfield Trust, which is supporting 60 small charities across the country with the help of a £228,000 grant.

The Cranfield Trust is an independent, registered charity and the leading provider of pro bono management support to UK welfare charities. It provides both short-term practical advice, and longer-term support, enabling smaller charities, like those that the MCF works with, to access essential training and support to grow and expand their services.

This two-year partnership has given each Province across England and Wales the opportunity to nominate one charity to receive intensive support, alongside the 12 charities nominated the MCF’s Charity Grants team. On top of this, the Cranfield Trust is delivering a programme of webinars, learning events and activities to thousands of other charities.

The first year has been incredibly successful and through the collaborative work of this partnership, the Cranfield Trust has:

• Received 44 referrals/enquiries for support (28 referrals via masonic Provinces and 16 self-referrals from charity leaders)
• Started 24 intensive consultancy/mentoring assignments for 20 MCF grant-holders
• Launched a survey to assess training needs among charities
• Supported 63 charity leaders through 10 peer support groups
• Developed and delivered 12 webinars with 2,654 registrations and 1,562 live attendees
• Developed an internal and external communications programme with the MCF
• Collaborated closely with our Impact & Evaluation Manager, the Charity Grants team, and the Communications team to measure the impact of the programme

Those who have benefited from the partnership with the Cranfield Trust have voiced their appreciation for the impactful work being carried out. Additionally, influential voices within the sector, such as the Lloyds Bank Foundation, have recognised the need for this kind of support, stating: “We were really interested to see this [research project], as it resonates with needs that we hear of from charities”

Case study: Playskill

A charity that has received crucial support in the first year of the partnership is Hertfordshire-based children’s charity, Playskill.

Founded in 2006, Playskill provides support to pre-school age children with physical disabilities and their families in Hertfordshire. With free expert support from a Paediatric Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, and Speech and Language Therapist, Playskill offers group play sessions that use play as a tool for development for children aged 1-5.

After being nominated by Martin Francis, Provincial Grand Charity Steward of the Hertfordshire Province, Cranfield Trust’s Regional Manager matched Playskill with Frank Learner, a volunteer consultant.

By working with Cranfield Trust on this project, Playskill ensured that their accounts and financial reports are clear and important information is easily accessible for the board of trustees and funders, allowing them to tidy up their financial reporting and maintain compliance.

“Frank's advice has been hugely helpful for us. His expertise and experience were just what we were looking for, and the team now has a much better understanding. This will adjust... the layout of the report to the Board of Trustees as well as how our annual accounts are presented.” – Playskill staff member

Playskill was also looking for advice on data management and storage. A great fit was Volunteer Consultant, Marc Esmiley who has many years of experience in IT strategy, technical integration, and digital transformation. Marc was able to work with Playskill to fully understand their requirements and advise what sort of system would work for them. It was decided that a cloud-based system would be the most useful. Considering costs and timescales for the charity, Marc was able to further advise and work with Playskill to formulate a list of clear next steps that the charity would need to take in order to move to its new system.

What’s in store for the second year of the partnership?

Year two will see 37 new projects for the recipients of MCF grants, as well as the delivery of a further 12 webinars on ‘management essentials’, and 10 more peer support groups. In autumn 2023, the Cranfield Trust’s feasibility study will be published which will uncover valuable findings from their extensive research into the development of management skills in the voluntary sector.

The final year will also focus on increasing communication activities to capture and share success stories for greater impact. The Cranfield Trust will continue to raise awareness and engagement through regular communication, marketing, and engagement activities, ensuring that the support available to charities is widely promoted, both within Freemasonry community and beyond.

We look forward to another successful year of working with the Cranfield Trust, which will ultimately improve the quality of these 60 organisations’ charity services for those who rely on their support. This is made possible by the incredible generosity of Freemasons and their families.

Read more about the partnership: https://www.cranfieldtrust.org/pages/masonic-charitable-foundation-partnership