News & Blogs

The latest stories from Inspiring Scotland and our partner charities.

Finding the right trustees with Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network

Not only does Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) connect charities with professional volunteers to solve challenges, but our team are also on hand to help you recruit and train your Board. Meet Bill Speirs, Board Director at The Jeely Piece Club Bill was a practising solicitor from 1978 until 2021. He helped set up

Mentoring with Morgan Stanley thanks to Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network

Late last year we announced the launch of an exciting Specialist Volunteering Network (SVN) mentorship programme with Morgan Stanley Glasgow’s Women in Tech (WiT) working group. Six months, 12 matches, and nearly 60 mentoring hours later, we came together again at Morgan Stanley’s Waterloo St office to celebrate the graduation of cohort one’s mentees. The

Specialist Volunteer Network at the Tech for Good Summit

Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) team supported the Tech for Good Summit hosted by the Scottish Tech Army (STA) on Thursday 20th April. In this blog Tommy Seymour highlights the important work done by the SVN and STA, as well as his key takeaways from the event. ‘Come ready to listen, leave ready to

Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN)

For a charitable organisation, having access to a broad range of professional skills can be challenging when resources are already stretched. Whether seeking IT or marketing expertise, financial or legal advice, a trusteeship or practical help, Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) can step in. The Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) is one of Inspiring Scotland’s

Insights on the cost-of-living

At Inspiring Scotland, we are very aware of the pressure that the increased cost-of living is having on people and the funded charities we support. Throughout Autumn 2022 our fund teams gathered and shared information from portfolio partners about: How concerned they are about cost-of-living crisis for people they support, their organisations, their staff and

Free training to support rural and island community organisations

Grassroots community organisations play a central role in leading and creating vibrant rural places in Scotland. But we know that new or small-scale organisations can find it overwhelming to raise funds to deliver projects, build relationships with the right people, and strengthen an organisation from within. Great ideas start locally, which is why we’ve launched

Inspiring Volunteers

This National Volunteers Week, Inspiring Scotland CEO Celia Tennant shines a light on and thanks our volunteers, in their many and varied roles. When the pandemic struck, the reaction from people across the country to support others through volunteering was humbling. So many people felt compelled to use their time and skills to help individuals,

SVN support to develop digital communications channels

My name is Angie Alexander, and I am the Chief Operating Officer for Held in Our Hearts, an Edinburgh-based baby loss charity. We provide specialist baby loss counselling and peer support to bereaved families. Our families are the heart of everything that we do, and we offer free, personalised, long-term support including counselling, one

Fixed-fee risk management support for charities

In conversation with charities, our Specialist Volunteer team has uncovered that risk management is a key area that charities request support with. Often times an organisation’s risk register doesn’t solely focus on risk – also incorporating impacts (outcomes) and issues. It’s important to take a step back and really identify what risks your organisation potentially

Training to keep your board on track

Part of Inspiring Scotland’s work as a partner to third sector is supporting charities to develop strong governance, improving their resilience and better positioning the charities to drive impact. Our Specialist Volunteers team is on hand to coordinate free training sessions for charity Boards. We spoke with Elaine who heads the team to get the

Charities and Volunteers join forces to improve youth employability

The third sector forms the backbone of our communities and spends the majority of its money and time delivering essential services. While this is critically important, it means organisations are often left with precious little resources to dedicate to the core business functions that enable them to streamline, scale and innovate. Skills-based volunteering offers charities

Our Specialist Volunteer Network can help bridge knowledge gaps

Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network is a free resource to third sector organisations, providing support wherever it is needed most. A common way to use this service is to cover gaps in an organisation’s knowledge or skills. The specialists provide valuable insights and advice from an external perspective, free of charge, ensuring organisations can access

Legal support a key benefit of Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer offering

Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer network consists of over 500 professionals who provide their expertise free of charge to charities across Scotland. All types of support can be arranged, from HR, finance, and strategic planning to marketing, governance and mentoring. This support – available to charities outside our portfolios as well as portfolio members – allows

Free support to improve your charity’s digital outreach

Has your charity started using digital in new and different ways over the past year? Or perhaps you’re keen to better connect with your target audience through digital, but aren’t sure where to start? You’re not alone – over the past year a number of charities have taken on new digital approaches and one question

Specialist Volunteers support Interfaith Glasgow’s virtual governance training

To mark small charities week 2021, we’re speaking with Philip Mendelsohn, Chair at Interfaith Glasgow about how Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist Volunteer Network has provided support. “Having engaged with Inspiring Scotland through their management of a grant programme, we noted in the very detailed introduction pack that they offered support through the network that seemed to

The impact of specialist support on small charities

“We were drawn to the Specialist Volunteer Network because of the wide range of skills and expertise provided by Volunteers and the excellent fit with help we were looking for as a charity.” Small charities often lack the infrastructure that larger charities have for HR, IT, Finance and Business Development. On top of this, accessing

Supporting charity communications

Sam Marriott-Dowding is Managing Director of Marriott Communications and a Specialist Volunteer with Inspiring Scotland. He has brought his expertise in communications to several projects supporting charities across Scotland. As a Specialist Volunteer, I work predominantly within communications – so anything from: PR, media management, crisis communications, digital marketing, content creation, social media management, to

Contract Dispute Support for Youth Scotland

Youth Scotland had run into issues with a company delivering a significant IT project and it was clear we were at risk of the situation becoming a stand-off which could cost us a lot of money. We knew that we needed to obtain advice to understand what our options were but also that obtaining this

Inspiring Scotland-backed Get On Board programme wins national award

An Inspiring Scotland-backed project has been named a winner of a prestigious national award recognising and celebrating the role of teamwork in higher education. Get On Board, a Edinburgh Napier University initiative designed to help students get on to the boards of third sector organisations was one of 15 projects from across the UK

How your professional expertise can make a difference

Did you know that Inspiring Scotland’s specialist volunteer opportunities enable you to use your skills and expertise for the greater good? Specialist Volunteer Executive Elaine Crichton explains how you can make a difference. Traditional volunteering roles aren’t for everyone – whilst many of us want to share our time and skills with charities and other

People are at the heart of sustainable charities

All charities have the people they serve at the heart of everything they do, writes Performance Advisor Kirsty Gilchrist. It is a core principle of our sector. But people are also at the heart of how they do it. Without the energy, compassion and expertise of staff, charities could not do the extraordinary work they

Strategic support for Macrobert Arts Centre

Kathryn Welsh, Operations Director at the Macrobert Arts Centre We approached Inspiring Scotland in the hope of finding some pro bono support to help our senior team to navigate a challenging time in our organisational development. Following a funding cut in the new year, we’d been reflecting on our priorities for the year ahead and

The Journey to Charity Director

By Christopher Graham, Vice Chair of Stepping Stones for Families & CEO of The Marketing Department I write this at a time of change for the Stepping Stones for Families (SSfF) board. We are preparing for our AGM in a few weeks, the final one for our outgoing chair. And my fellow board members will

Engaged HR support for Move On

Move On, a charity in Inspiring Scotland’s 14:19 and intandem funds, has been working with pro bono volunteer and HR expert Lynn Reid over an extended period of time to look at some ongoing staffing and organisational challenges. Lynn has been able to commit time to the project thanks to the flexible working approach and corporate

Technology for Social Good – working with JPMorgan

Inspiring Scotland’s Pro Bono team has been working with J.P. Morgan over the last two years. Through its Force for Good program, J.P. Morgan provides, on a pro bono basis, expertise in innovative technology to local charitable organisations. The bank’s Force for Good initiative leverages the power of technology and people to inspire change, foster

Catherine Alexander talks about her experience as a Specialist Volunteer

Specialist Volunteer Catherine Alexander, has over thirty-five years’ experience in banking and financial services, having worked with private clients, institutional clients, insured defined contribution pension scheme clients and insurance company clients. Most recently Catherine worked with Aegon Asset Management / Kames Capital where she was she was Head of Client Service before joining Inspiring Scotland as

It’s Volunteers’ Week and we want to say Thank you

From board rooms to community halls, volunteers are the backbone of our thriving third sector. National Volunteers Week (1 -8th June) is shining a spotlight on the extraordinary commitment of the 12 million volunteers who give their time and experience to charities across the country every week. It is an opportunity for those of us

Free global pro bono legal service comes to Scotland- TrustLaw

A free global pro bono legal service is expanding to Scotland through the collaboration with Legal firm CMS and Inspiring Scotland. TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal programme which connects high-impact NGOs and social enterprises with the best law firms and corporate legal teams to provide them with free legal assistance.

Callander Youth Hostel leader named Social Enterprise Champion

Chris Martin, Managing Director of Inspiring Scotland-supported charity Callander Youth Project Trust (CYPT), has been named Social Enterprise Champion by Social Enterprise Scotland. CYPT runs the Callander Youth Hostel and Bridgend café in Callander as a social enterprise offering training and employment for young people in the hospitality industry. Chris, pictured above with Angela Constance MSP,

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