Archive for February, 2009

Brown pledges UK’s ‘duty’ to green job creation

February 19, 2009 at 7:36 pm · Filed under green jobs

It was a bad day in Parliament for Gordon Brown last week. Brown’s premiership has probably been the most unlucky in the country’s history, with one disaster after another. There have been so many reports of Brown’s ‘blackest’, ‘lowest’ or ‘darkest’ day that reading the news is hardly worth it; we already know what the press is about to say. Last week’s Parliamentary session, however gloomy for the Prime Minister, carried a positive message for green job seekers and those already working in the sector, and perhaps for anyone feeling the pinch of the credit crunch.

Amidst accusations of being a ‘say-anything, do-nothing’ prime minister (Nick Clegg) and the cause of the UK’s two million unemployed, Brown held up reasonably well, sticking, albeit rather sulkily, to his green guns. Despite having the country’s banking system collapsing around him, Brown still had time to give a glimmer of hope to the green sector.

The prime minister promised that the government would not abandon green industries despite the amount that it has on its plate, and that Britain, as a (shaky) world leader had a “duty” to uphold investment in low-carbon technology.

Aside from the responsibility argument, Brown went on to tell MPs that investing in green technology is not a burden, but rather, an opportunity to create jobs in a flailing financial system. Brown told his rowdy peers that the environmental sector currently employs 800,000 people in green jobs. It also generates £100 billion per year, which, in a time where money is tight, is a welcome boon. Brown finished with a slightly non-committal “we will do what we can to support it”, but this, at least, is a start. Here’s hoping the government delivers on green jobs better than it did on banking regulations!

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs -  Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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Boost the third sector: Boost the economy!

February 19, 2009 at 7:31 pm · Filed under volunteering ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Great news this week; Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne announced that the government will grant a massive £42.5 million to charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises to help kickstart the economy, help deliver services to communities, and give those made redundant a positive activity that will help them get back into work. The news follows on from calls for more and better volunteering opportunities, and more funding for charities as more and more people plunge into debt. Not everyone is happy, however, and it’s easy to see why.

Social Enterprise London is optimistic about the grant. CEO Allison Ogden-Newton cheerily said:

“At a time when our economy and our society are facing such challenges, it is deeply encouraging to see social enterprise at the heart of the government’s plans for recovery.

“The time for social enterprise is now, and with this kind of support we can ensure that London continues to lead the world in running business for social purpose.”

The grant, however, is too little and a bit late. Charities alone have been calling for better funding for months, and asked, as expected, for much more than the cut of the £42.5 million they will be getting. Some voluntary organisations are unhappy too. Steven Bubb, CEO of the Association of Chief Executive Officers of Voluntary Organisation, said:

“More is going to be needed as the recession unfolds, and in two or three years, £500m may end up being the total sum. Those smaller charities who support people who have lost their job will be coming back to the government and asking, ‘how can you support us more?’”

Following from last week’s rebellious outburst from Ron Aldridge, of the Aldridge Foundation, £16.5 million of the grant will go towards funding mergers and partnerships between third sector organisations. Aldridge last week called for a streamlining of the sector, through eradicating inefficient charities and merging similar ones to better share back office costs and combine other resources. It would seem that he is about to get his wish. Perhaps, using the funding to streamline the sector, rather than throwing more money at it, will be a more effective way of improving the services it delivers.

Whether the streamlining happens or not, however, the grant is great news. The government has finally latched on to the power of volunteering jobs, to give the unemployed skills, training, experience and a constructive and positive use of their time, all of which can help them get back into work.

Author and resource box
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs – Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers JuicyJobs can help you find the ideal ethical job in London.

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National Student Volunteering Week to take colleges and unis by storm

February 6, 2009 at 1:13 pm · Filed under ethical jobs

This year’s annual Student Volunteering Week will run from 23rd February to 1st March. To mark the event, students across the country will be rolling up their sleeves and getting involved with their local communities.

This year’s theme is in keeping with the financial climate: “Celebrating Success; Overcoming Challenges”. A solid dose of nationwide volunteering will be most welcome given the credit crunch, as student volunteering contributes £42 million to the UK’s GDP every year. Every student, on average, contributes over 80 hours of free work every year, providing services to the community and gaining the skills and experience they need to complement their qualifications.

Students across the country will be involved, through their student unions, in projects to clear up their communities, help out in schools, sports clubs and residential care, and a host of other worthwhile activities.

Volunteering Week fits well into this year’s emphasis on volunteering. Last week, the news broke that volunteering can be extremely beneficial to mental health, and green and ethical volunteering programmes for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders are running around the UK. Meanwhile, volunteering schemes that provide nationally recognised qualifications are beginning to recruit for the London Olympics, and local authorities everywhere are putting aside budgets to support volunteers within their public services.

Volunteering can be a great way to boost your CV, and the more you do whilst you are still studying, the quicker and easier applying for a job or further education will be. If you are unemployed, volunteering can provide the training, experience and contacts you need to get back into work, or help you change to a more ethical career. As if that wasn’t enough, volunteering boosts the economy, which, in the long run, will mean a wider and more welcoming job market. For great volunteering jobs, check the listings on JuicyJobs.biz.

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Global ‘Green New Deal’ may create green jobs

February 5, 2009 at 2:35 pm · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The World Economic Forum in early February held good tidings for green job seekers and those working in environmental careers. The meeting, held in Switzerland, included an urgent address from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to governments and businesses to invest in green technology.

Mr Moon said that by business heads and governments working together a worldwide initiative could be created to invest in and develop renewable energy and green technology.

This, Mr Moon went on, would create millions of green jobs, helping to reverse the effects of the global financial downturn.

The address fits in with Mr Moon’s previous attempts to convince world and business leaders to push the green agenda. He said:

“We live in a new era. Its challenges can be solved by cooperation; and only by cooperation.

“By tackling climate change head-on, we can solve many of our current troubles, including the threat of global recession.”

This latest display of support for green technology as a tool to beat the recession comes after various similar initiatives around the world. In Northern Ireland in January, a conference bringing together scientists, environmentalists and government delegates was held, where the creation of green jobs to tackle rising industrial unemployment was discussed. The UK central government has recently approved the FIT scheme, to begin in April 2010, which will pay people for producing renewable energy.

The news will be welcomed by green job seekers in the UK. Whilst local authorities are implementing green volunteering schemes, central government’s implementation of green job policies has come under fire lately due to the early closure of its low carbon building programme. International pressure from bodies such as the UN, coupled with that of the credit crunch, could be just what is needed to open up the environmental sector to thousands of job seekers. Keep checking JuicyJobs.biz for great green job opportunities.

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Charities must change to survive the recession

February 5, 2009 at 2:10 pm · Filed under Charity news ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ron Aldridge, CEO of the Aldridge Foundation, gave an interesting interview on ThirdSector.co.uk this week. The former chair of Capita is something of a charity maverick. Bringing his experience as one of the best contract winners in the private sector, Aldridge claims that charities are ‘at a crossroads’, where the ineffectual and inefficient will be rooted out by the rise in demand for services combined with the decrease in resources. If he is right, what will that mean for the charity job sector?

Aldridge’s claims that many charities and not-for-profit organisations waste money on administrative expenditure and bureaucracy, are unaccountable, and more cut-throat than the private sector, have been made before, but often by those outside of the sector. His view that there are too many charities for the same causes, leading to consumer confusion over who to donate to, are in part justified; there are 200,000 charities and 600,000 not-for-profit organisations in the UK, all vying for the same funding. Only once money is won, Aldridge says, is a plan for how to spend it properly made.

Aldridge goes on to say that the recession will solve many of these problems, but the transition might be uncomfortable, even painful for some. With a general tightening of belts all around, some charities, and particularly those that lack efficiency, will go under. On the other hand, some charities will adapt to the change. Aldridge says that a great deal of time and money can be saved within charities by outsourcing some work such as IT and human resources to private companies. He also recommends mergers, such as that between Help the Aged and Age Concern, to end the competition of similar charities for the same funding, and to pool the resources of charities to deliver better services.

Another problem with the charity sector is the lack of performance monitoring that demonstrates to funders exactly how charities operate. It has often been said that if private sector performance monitoring was applied to charities that the latter simply wouldn’t meet the standards.

For people looking to start or further a charity career, Aldridge’s predictions for the sector might seem gloomy. Mergers between charities will mean job losses for some. The potential application of stricter performance monitoring, and the lack of funding, will mean some charities simply will not survive. There is, however, a silver lining. Aldridge’s remarks voice a charity fatigue felt by many in the UK. Streamlining the sector, whilst boosting efficiency and, in the end, better serving their causes, will create more respect for charities and those working for them. More competition for charity jobs, though tougher on the job-seeker, means better experience for those who do end up working in the sector, and more respect from other employers for charity employees.

Article by Rachel Charman – JuicyJobs

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