A charity in name only.

I read the article A rotten apple by Ralph Freeman on Narrowboat World and I was immediately struck by one phrase - 'A charity in name only.' I think there is a lot of truth in that statement because the trust is currently what I would call a 'sticking plaster' organisation.

I know from previous articles published on NarrowBoat World that there are over 150,000 charities in the UK. England and Wales has a Charities Commission whose role is to regulate and monitor charitable activities. Charities are run as a business and in some cases could legitimately be described as being - a very big business. The Canal and River Trust with its assets is a multi Billion pound, third sector business operation. 

Charities are brought about in the main for altruistic reasons. Many charities start life in someone's back room. Often created by individuals who have suffered a personal loss.  That loss has provided people with the momentum to build a charity from the ground up. 

Sam Younger The outgoing chief executive of the Charity Commission said: "One of the great strengths of our society is the charitable instinct of its people. People identify a new need or a new way of addressing an existing need, and they use the vehicle of charity do to something about it. That has created the vibrant, diverse and dynamic charitable sector that touches the lives of all of us every day."

Sam Younger said:

"One of the great strengths of our society is the charitable instinct of its people. People identify a new need or a new way of addressing an existing need, and they use the vehicle of charity do to something about it. That has created the vibrant, diverse and dynamic charitable sector that touches the lives of all of us every day.

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/news/not-all-of-the-charities-we-register-make-an-impact/#sthash.VM1RTKrE.dpuf

Sam Younger said:

"One of the great strengths of our society is the charitable instinct of its people. People identify a new need or a new way of addressing an existing need, and they use the vehicle of charity do to something about it. That has created the vibrant, diverse and dynamic charitable sector that touches the lives of all of us every day.

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/news/not-all-of-the-charities-we-register-make-an-impact/#sthash.VM1RTKrE.dpuf

Sam Younger said:

"One of the great strengths of our society is the charitable instinct of its people. People identify a new need or a new way of addressing an existing need, and they use the vehicle of charity do to something about it. That has created the vibrant, diverse and dynamic charitable sector that touches the lives of all of us every day.

- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/news/not-all-of-the-charities-we-register-make-an-impact/#sthash.VM1RTKrE.dpuf

Following the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the coalition announced plans to curb public spending through the abolition of a large number of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (quangos). The Canal and River Trust was brought about during this political purge by the government. A purge which was given the name in the press 'The Bonfire of the Quangos'. Which itself was a play on the book 'The Bonfire of the Vanities'. The Trust was little more than a sticking plaster to enable the government cuts.

A large business organisation needs to have the right people in place. The trust came into being with a poor management team. Who could not get the right government funding support package into place. Even after a second go the trust was still underfunded by tens of millions of pounds and the spin doctors turned disaster into a crowing victory. Another vanity from the bonfire!

Charities have to rely almost totally for their existence on the good will of the public, through giving, either financially or through volunteering. Most charities start out small and then develop and grow over a significant period in time. The employees and volunteers build the brand name and through plaudits and good deeds build a public reputation. The Canal and River Trust did not start out with anything like a reputation. Though it gave fair warning of how the funding would be used when it dumped the internationally recognised 'British Waterways' brand.  Creating a new vanity logo of an angry swan - only to then spend money on stickers plasters as a way of changing all the notices.

The Canal and River Trust was created overnight. It did not have a wealth of people with the expert third sector knowledge that was sorely needed. There was little knowledge of running a charitable operation during the transition from quango to charity. So CaRT had a need to parachute people into the business with suitable experience to plug the gaps.

We all have our own personal perception about charities in general. But we don't expect to have to read and digest the fine print each time we choose to make a donation. Because we all have an expectation that our money will be used to only 'do good'. I believe that a charity should have a level of expert knowledge based upon their charitable aims. The charity should also provide a service to the public who donate cash and time. A charity should also be open and accountable.

The crash and burn policy of chugging the streets proved to be another disaster in the making. At a time when local councils were debating the public's opposition to being confronted on the street. The debate was expanded to include whether to allow chugging at all. We were not to be disappointed as the chuggers quickly ran out of steam. Yet another poorly managed vanity project.   

Public Relations comes in two flavours bad and worse. One is peopled by 'spin doctors' who will put a 'positive spin' as a sticking plaster to divert attention from even the most dire news. The other flavour of public relations is much worse. I believe that any business that needs to 'manipulate the news' through a public relations department is a business with a bad operational plan or no plan at all. 

The Canal and River Trust has not had an exemplary start to life. In the main due to what I believe is a continuation from the bad old BW days, of a poor level of performance and a perception created by singing from a large number of different hymn sheets.  Add into this a structural reorganisation. If the reorganisation is limited to internal applicants the choice is always going to be second best. The restructure only seems to have provided the cut with a new mantra.  'Its nothing to do with us.'  Sorry its nothing to do with us - its a moorings issue.  Sorry its nothing to do with us - its an operations issue.

The poor maintenance record will dog the heels of the trust for a long time to come. Ask even the most carefree unconcerned boater what their opinion of the trust is and many will say their opinion is not very good. Ask what the problem is and they will almost always highlight the condition of various locks. Stating things like leakage, heavy and long term broken paddles. The almost universal complaint of the weight of opening and closing poorly balanced gates.  But the trust only compounds the issue by demonstrating a thorough and total lack of any understanding by carving poetry into balance beams. This single act alone screams that the trust is out of touch with the rest of the world.