Plan well – don’t be this year’s sad café
Make sure you’ve planned that special church venture properly, advises church and charity expert Daryl Martin.
‘A café set up by one church seemed a good idea at the time with profits used for mission activities,’ recalls Daryl, founder and CEO of CRE 2018 exhibitor Advice for the Voluntary Sector (AFVS). ‘However, as the business lost money year after year, it became deep in debt and the church had to do something about it.’
His first task was to give the trustees a stern talking to for waiting so long to take action.
‘Then I rolled up my sleeves, got alongside them, and looked for a safe way out,’ said Daryl. ‘Fortunately, the example of the café is rare and most problems can be resolved in an easier way.’
On any one day he finds himself talking to a pastor who wants to clarify the relationship with his trustee board; help might be wanted somewhere in the minefield created by the new General Data Protection Regulations; another contact may want help inducting a new trustee; a Parochial Church Council wants him to look at a lease and comment on it. Even the subjects in which he is not trained are not a problem. He has a network of helpers built up over 20 years on whom he can call – all experts in their own field.
A visit to the AFVS stand (S74) might well save your church or charity falling foul of many new regulations. And there are training courses on many invaluable subjects on offer, too.
• AFVS are on stand S74 at CRE 2018
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Dave Hall author
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