CHARITIES WORK HARD TO MAKE AN EVEN
by Sarah Hill, Editor, Beyond 20/20 Magazine
Just about everyone in Jersey has been impacted in one way or another by the long tradition of charitable giving in the Island, according to Angus Spencer-Nairn, a leading Island accountant deeply involved in the charity sector.
“ W
e’re really lucky in Jersey because philanthropy and charity work is so well ingrained in the Island,” Mr Spencer-Nairn said. “There are people who are prepared to contribute towards it
either in cash or, very importantly, in their time and effort for charitable fundraising. That's a really crucial part of the mental approach to our charitable work.”
Mr Spencer-Nairn is a retired senior partner of Rawlinson & Hunter, which specialises in high net worth clients, his experience in the sector has included advising philanthropist, Sir Billy Butlin, and being a trustee for more than a quarter century of the charitable trust set up by Sir James Knott. A former owner of Samarès Manor, Sir James was a shipping magnate who established his charity in the 1920s in memory of two sons killed in the First World War. What would have been their inheritance has helped a large number of people and still generates about £1m a year in Jersey to be distributed partly in the north east of England, where Sir James was born, and the Island where he lived.
The work of this charity clearly illustrates how the sector has evolved over the years, where there has been significant growth in similar large funds as well as many much smaller. Most have been managed with great enthusiasm and professionalism, but recent developments in which Mr Spencer-Nairn has played a key role should help to improve efficiency and produce better results from the Island’s charitable efforts.
There was already an increasing need to assess the impact on individual charities as their numbers grew and more flexibility was required. For example, the original Knott fund concentrated on causes relating to the First World War, such as supporting nurses after the conflict, but now the charitable objectives have been made much wider, while still following the principles that Sir James Knot was interested in pursuing.
Mr Spencer-Nairn said: “We can use our discretion to try and make the maximum impact, and I think ‘impact’ is the really fundamental word in the charitable sector. ”We’re not here to support charities per se. We’re here to support charities that make the most impact. There may be a very laudable charity working in an area where another charity is doing it better, and it makes sense to support the one that is doing it better.”
Assessing the impact individual charities have can be a challenging task and sometimes needs a difficult judgement to be made. That means everything has to be carefully documented, as in this day and age Mr Spencer-Nairn said, “if you have not documented what you have done, you have not done it.”
Lithograph depicting: Samares Manor and colombier c.1860 (from Payn's Armorial) Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive
BIGGER IMPACT IN JERSEY
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Beyond 20/20 - Philanthropy
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