human
touch
As Humankind and Blenheim merge,
CEO Paul Townsley sets out how the
new organisation is perfectly placed to
meet the challenges ahead
I HAVE WORKED IN COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SOCIAL
CARE PROVISION FOR OVER 30 YEARS NOW, from a
young volunteer to my current role as CEO of
Humankind. In that time, I’ve worked at large, medium
and grassroots organisations, as well as within
statutory provision.
As I approached my 50th birthday, I found my
enthusiasm and sense of purpose is as strong as it has
ever been. Largely because I enjoy working in my
current role so much, and I am able to influence how
my organisation best meets the needs of the
communities we serve and responds to the most
challenging times we have faced in my career.
I believe that Humankind is different from most
organisations for two main reasons. Firstly, it has a
range of health and social care services that address
the needs of most people that need better
opportunities in their lives. We help people maximise
their potential and develop the skills required to live
well and, wherever possible, to stand on their own two
feet. Secondly, we work in partnership with small local
providers and large private and NHS providers. We
recognise that others are sometimes best placed to
deliver services, whether that’s in a locality or based
on their expertise or size. We have always worked in
this way. We only work where we know that our
services will have an impact.
We’re passionate about being the best that we can
be, and we do this by keeping people at the heart of
everything we do. This is one of the many beliefs and
values that we share with Blenheim, and what makes
us such a good fit together.
The merger with Blenheim has received an
exceptionally positive response – from our staff teams,
but also from our partners, stakeholders and the
public. It was unthinkable ten years ago to have
considered merging, but at this stage it makes
complete sense. Why?
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The simple answer is that it means both
organisations can fulfil their almost identical missions
to help vulnerable people have a fairer crack in society.
By merging, we can do this from a much stronger
position together. Furthermore, we have plans to
develop new services to respond to people’s needs,
and to campaign for improvements that we believe
will create a fairer society.
There is also a financial reason why we need to
come together. Cuts to services and funding have
made it increasingly difficult to provide support and
help people reach their potential, at a time when the
need is undeniably greater. As available funds reduce,
commissioners are pushed to commission larger
providers, and providers are pushed to become overly
competitive. At the same time, we must comply with
higher standards of quality and delivery.
Blenheim and Humankind merging is creating an
organisation that will protect our partners in smaller
organisations that know how to deliver in the
communities they serve, and offer models that we
know have an impact. We will do this not by acting in
a predatory competitive way but by working
collaboratively with those who have experience of our
services, as well as funders and our partners.
To survive and thrive in the most difficult of times,
and to deliver exceptional services, we must fight
hard, collaborate with like-minded people, and take
every opportunity to improve what we do. There must
be an emphasis on impact over surplus, but we also
need to ensure that our budgets are realistic but
competitive, and yet allow us the resources to invest in
staff and services.
Our accounts will testify it is not simply about
money but purpose for Humankind. All our
interventions – particularly where we are co-designing
them with service users, their families and carers, local
communities and funders – save the state money, have
‘Blenheim and
Humankind merging is
creating an organisation
that will protect our
partners in smaller
organisations that know
how to deliver in the
communities they serve.’
a hugely beneficial impact and increase people’s quality
of life. Our ethos of putting people first will not change
as a merged organisation; in fact, it’s strengthened.
As a newly merged organisation, we now have a
combined 90 years’ experience in supporting
vulnerable people to reach their potential. As I have
found when reflecting as I approached my 50th
birthday and 30 years in the sector, at Humankind we
are only becoming more energised to face the
challenges ahead of us; to have a greater impact for
our service users and their communities.
Paul Townsley is CEO of Humankind
You can find out more about Humankind on their
website humankindcharity.org.uk
April 2019 | drinkanddrugsnews | 11