Can you make a positive difference with Cheshire Connect?

Cheshire Connect is a registered charity who work with voluntary organisations to understand their need for business skills to enable them to improve their sustainability. Since 2011, they have been building stronger communities by helping local businesses and charities to work together.

Cheshire Connect is a registered charity who work with voluntary organisations to understand their need for business skills to enable them to improve their sustainability. Since 2011, they have been building stronger communities by helping local businesses and charities to work together.

Cheshire Connect matches the skills and expertise of local businesses and professionals, kindly offered for free, with the needs of the voluntary and community sector. Working together, they are creating more successful and sustainable voluntary organisations. Cheshire Connect is good for businesses, great for charities, and even better for those served by the voluntary sector.

Operating in five areas across Cheshire, the organisation strives to provide support for charities and works closely with several partners, including the Cabinet Office, to encourage volunteering in these communities.

They are constantly looking for business skills in areas such as HR, event organisation, financial management and more, with local businesses and individuals who have the experience and skills to help.

There is never a shortage of charities in need, so Cheshire Connect have plenty of opportunities available, varying from short-term projects to long-term relationships, meaning that you can find a commitment you’re comfortable with. It’s a fantastic way to find organisations to collaborate with where you can apply your skills to benefit a worthwhile cause.

For example, one charity needed a lease renewal reviewed. So, Cheshire Connect matched them with a local chartered surveyor who could ensure that the lease conditions were robust, legally sound and in the best interests of the charity.

There has also been a significant increase in the demand for trustees, chairs or mentors of local charitable organisations, as the media have recently highlighted the importance of the role of a trustee. This could be another excellent way to contribute your experience to a charity in need.

Below are just a handful of the current opportunities with Cheshire Connect:

• Treasurer – charity for disability in young children, Macclesfield
• Management mentors – charity for disability in young adults, Cheadle
• Business coach and mentor – community foundations, Macclesfield
• Treasurer – charity for the community, Gawsworth
• Trustee – charity for adults with learning and physical disabilities, Sutton

To find out more about these or the many more opportunities with Cheshire Connect, or you’re aware of a charity who could benefit from Cheshire Connect’s help, get in touch with Tim Cornes at TimCornes@cheshireconnect.org.

If you’d like to learn more about the brilliant work that the organisation does, take a look at their website: http://www.cheshireconnect.org/.