One of Northern Ireland’s leading charitable foundations is launching a new mentoring scheme that will pair senior bank colleagues with top charities to help develop the skills of leaders in the third sector.
The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland found that charities need for support is not just financial, but also in areas of leadership and management.
Brenda McMullan, Halifax Foundation for NI Manager said: “There are colleagues in Halifax who have the skills and experience that many charities need to be successful. These include marketing, financial planning, strategy and leadership”
“The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland is delighted to be able to tap into the skills of senior bank staff from Halifax to support 19 charities in this new programme.”
“One of the ways help is being offered is through one-to-one mentoring sessions. These sessions can make a huge difference to the charities who are working so hard to improve the lives of people in Northern Ireland,” she added.
The colleagues have committed to delivering one-to-one mentoring meetings every four to six weeks over a 12 month period.
Each mentor has been assigned to an individual charity based on the type of skills that have been identified as requiring development. The mentors will set a range of goals and will receive feedback from the charities during the mentoring period.
Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland is a grant-making Foundation, whose income is derived from Lloyds Banking Group. It supports registered charities, helping people who are disadvantaged and disabled play a fuller role in their communities. In 2016, 313 charities were supported to the tune of £972,353.
Stephen Hughes from St Peters Immaculata Youth Centre in Divis said: “In addition to the funding support we receive from the Halifax Foundation, the support from a local Halifax colleague through the mentoring programme will be of real value. We will be using their business skills to help us with quality management and governance of our projects, which is key to the future sustainability of the essential service we’re offering to the young people in Divis.
Jim McCooe, Lloyds Banking Group’s Ambassador for Northern Ireland, said:
“This is a unique opportunity to work in partnership with the Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland to build business and leadership skills among the charity sector. If charitable organisations are running more efficiently, this should benefit the people they are helping on a daily basis.
“At the end of the twelve months we will conduct a review of the programme to assess its impact and see if there’s more we are able to do. We believe that this mentoring scheme will go from strength to strength, and will provide a real support aimed at increasing the sustainability of Northern Ireland’s charity and voluntary sector.”
