The charity sector can be “defined by collective action, shared interests and values, and distinct from government” but “we remain a best kept secret”, Sense Scotland’s founder said last week.
Gillian Morbey, who founded and ran Sense Scotland for 25 years, was named as this year’s recipient of the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement at this year’s Charity Awards.
The Charity Awards, which are organised by Civil Society Media, took place virtually last Thursday.
Accepting her award Morbey said: “Civil society for me is, in part, defined by collective action, shared interests and values, and distinct from government. Still, we remain a best kept secret.”
Expanding on the values that drive people the sector she explained: “I don't mean in a cheesy way, I don't get up every morning and think ‘oh I'm going to live my values today’. But we do know when something jars against our values.”
Morbey then suggested that it was this values-focused approach that other sectors could learn from.
She said: “It's interesting after the banking crash that the terms of ethical and value based were given extra weight - ethical investment, ethical banking. Perhaps the corporate sector has got something to learn from us.
“We are not perfect. However, we are all disappointed when a rogue charity lets us down.”
Pandemic response
Morbey also praised the response of charities and carers during the last year and a half.
She said the “resilience of unpaid carers was miraculous”. But cautioned: “We must not reward these unpaid carers, by reducing their care packages when services resume.”
She described the small community groups that supported people with supplies and support during the pandemic as an “asset”.
“You should be extremely proud, every day, of being part of our wonderful community,” she added.
Finally, Morbey said that charities “must continue to inform and influence public policy”, to “make lasting and effective change, to be the problem-solving innovators that we are”.
Gillian Morbey's full speech and the whole of the Charity Awards ceremony can be watched on-demand here.
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