[WiLT] The Association of Charity Officers

[WiL Admin]

ACO is the premier body in the UK for charity professionals who
specialise
in looking after the needs of individuals and families and exists to
put
charities in touch with people in need and people in need in touch
with
charities.

We have Local Authority's who have our details on their websites i.e.
Watford Borough Council, Dacorum Council, Durham Council, Doncaster
Council,
Manchester City Council, Birmingham City Council, Hertsmere, etc., as
well
as Citizens Advice Bureaus and other charities i.e. Stoke Association,
Housing Corporation, Brain Tumour UK., Help The Aged, Macmillan Cancer
Support, RNID, Contact a Family, One Parent Families / Gingerbread,
and many
more.

Please see our website for more information.
Our Helpline is open Mon to Fri 10 - 4 - 01707 651777
Email: info at aco.uk.net
Helping Charities, Helping People.


My name is Karen Bedford and I am Membership Services Manager for The
Association of Charity Officers. I would like to tell you of the
services
that the ACO offers.

We are the only professional network of and umbrella body for
benevolent
funds in the UK. We provide a range of services for our members
including
advice and support about good/best practice in grant giving and we now
have
a special project promoting benevolence in order that those in need of
help
can easily find the fund that is relevant for them. We are adamant
that
we/benevolent funds should be supporting people in addition to what is
required to be provided from rates and taxes.

I enclose full details about membership and/or sponsorship and hope
you will
consider joining us. In recent years ACO has been playing an
increasingly
active part in the charitable field, particularly in relation to
professional and trade benevolent funds and all charities helping
people in
need. The enclosed leaflets give information about the benefits of
membership and list the current membership. From a modest start of
some 20
charities the Association now comprises well over 200 organisations
and is
still growing.

One of our special groups of members, OBFA - the Occupational
Benevolent
Funds Alliance, is keen to promote occupational benevolence.
Occupational
funds are particularly helpful for older people who have a long
working life
behind them, but they assist people of all ages. These funds, along
with all
members, can be searched on our website: www.aco.uk.net.

We have a new campaign coalition which is contacting other charities
to
develop channels for wider cooperation across the charity sector.
Called
Benevolence Today, this campaign will be/is contacting major umbrella
organisations as well as hundreds of other charities that provide
services
to individuals in the UK. This is following the launch of the new
website:
http://www.benevolencetoday.org/

ACO membership is open to all charities, registered or exempt,
providing
help and support to people who do not qualify for such help by a
contribution to the fund in the past. I very much hope that your
organisation will decide to join us. ACO is unique as the umbrella
body for
benevolent funds and charities helping individuals. The basic annual
subscription is currently £475 which runs from October to
September(concessions can be considered for smaller charities).

Cheques should be made payable to the Association of Charity Officers
or
ACO. We shall look forward to receiving this whereupon we shall send
you
other papers and your password for the members' section of our
website: -
http://www.aco.uk.net/

We are regularly in touch with the Charity Commission about matters of
interest to our members and regularly respond to requests from
Government
Departments and statutory bodies for comments and evidence when
changes are
proposed in procedures or legislation affecting the work of charities
in the
welfare field. We pursue with the Departments of Health and Work &
Pensions
issues on which the Association's members have expressed concern. At
the
moment we are considering current proposals about welfare reform. We
recently met with the Charity Commission and discussed our growing
concern
that benevolent funds are being asked to step in and replace the
state. We
fear for the long term future of "charity" if this goes unchecked and
that
donors will cease to be generous. We hold regular meetings for members
and
an annual conference - this year in early September. Another important
aspect of our work is the liaison that is possible between Member
Funds.

The Association maintains an internal Directory of all its members to
serve
as a reference guide. It gives brief details of individual member
organisations, their aims and activities. Thus we can help enquirers
to
locate more easily possible sources of charitable help. We ourselves
have no
funds available for grant aid but our Helpline receives between  3,000
and
5,000 enquiries each year which we signpost to relevant charities. I
am sure
some would benefit from contact with yourselves. We provide regular
information to our members and issue a newsletter approximately ten
times
per annum.

The Association runs a number of special interest groups, all of which
are
open to any member. Currently there is the Occupational Benevolent
Funds
Alliance, a Fund Raising group, a Grant Making Forum concerned with
good/best practice in grant making to individuals in need, a
Residential
Care Forum and an Under 5s Group supporting those running very small
funds.
ACO has produced a Common Application Form including guidance notes
and some
aspects of data protection, has a number of extant publications and
also
runs training sessions. Recent topics offered have included debt
management
from the perspective of benevolent funds, the Social Fund and the
Independent Review Service, Tax and Pension Credits and the new SORP.
We
also a have a series of seminars for members' trustees on a wide range
of
Topics which start in November 2007 (please find attached information
on
these Seminars for your information) These have proved popular. All
these
groups are set up in response to members' own wishes. You will be very
welcome to join in any that you feel are appropriate.

I hope this is of help and interest. I look forward to hearing from
you and
would be very grateful for any comments to help us improve to offer
better
services.

Regards,

Yours sincerely,

Karen Bedford
Membership Services Manager
The Association of Charity Officers
Five Ways, 57-59 Hatfield Road,
Potters Bar, Herts, EN6 1HS
Tel: 01707 651777
Fax: 01707 660477
Website: http://www.aco.uk.net

Please support us by using this link:
http://www.everyclick.com/uk/associationofcharityofficers
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