Juice Academy launches new fundraising apprenticeship

Looking for a way to kick-start your career in fundraising? The Juice Academy’s new fundraising apprenticeship programme could be just what you need.

The social enterprise apprenticeship provider has launched the apprenticeship to provide additional support to charities as they struggle to cope with the rise in demand for services.

Here’s the lowdown.

About the apprenticeship

The Fundraiser Level 3 Standard apprenticeship will be delivered by Jane Montague. Through her eponymous consultancy, she works with charities across the UK and Channel Islands, helping them formulate policy and deliver training on charity legislation, income generation, and ethics.

The apprenticeship will last 15 months. The practical element is 12 months, followed by a three-month end-point assessment (EPA).

Structure

Apprentices will spend 4 days a week working ‘on the job’ with one of Juice Academy’s charity partners.

Current partners include:

• Forever Manchester

• We are Survivors

• Rossendale Hospice

• Caritas Diocese of Salford

• Advice for Renters

Candidates can state which charity they’d like to work with on the application form.

Every other week, they’ll attend training sessions (some half days and some full days). A mix of face-to-face learning (20%) at The Juice Academy in Manchester, and online delivery (80%), the training will cover:

• How to create a case for support

• Communication and digital marketing

• Storytelling and relationship fundraising

• How to develop resilience

• Pitching and presenting techniques

• Ethical fundraising and branding

• How to align a campaign with the donor journey

• Managing data, budgeting, and analytics

What about the salary?

For the first year, apprentices will be paid a minimum salary* of £13,000. But this will be increased to the National Minimum Wage (based on the age of the apprentice) for the remainder of the programme.

*Salaries are set at the employers’ discretion, so the wage may be higher.

Entry requirements

To be eligible to apply, the minimum requirements are a Grade A-C / 9-4 at GCSE in Maths, English Language or equivalent, e.g., functional skills in Maths, English at Level 2.

Application process

The first step is to fill out an online application.

Successful candidates will then be invited to a second stage, where they’ll complete several assessments, including Maths & English.

If these are successful, applications will be sent to Juice Academy’s partner charities, who will shortlist for interviews.

There’ll be four intakes of up to 20 apprentices over the course of the year (January- April- July- October).

Candidates that don’t make it through the first time will be invited to apply again.

Final Word

Sound good? Get cracking with your application.

An apprenticeship is a great way to learn valuable skills that’ll help you stand out in the job market and make a real impact in the charity sector. And you’ll get paid to do it.

It’s a win-win.

Got any questions about the fundraising sector? Or want some advice to help with your application? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk for a chat.

World Sight Day: Love your eyes at work

Globally, 1.1 billion people have an untreated or preventable visual impairment. That’s an eighth of the world’s population – almost as many people as there are in Europe and the USA combined. Shocking, right?

World Sight Day is an annual event that aims to focus global attention on the importance of eye care.

This year, it falls on Thursday, 12th October 2023. And the theme is "Love Your Eyes at Work." 

As per the World Sight Day website: ‘our focus is on helping people understand the importance of protecting their vision in the workplace and calling on business leaders to prioritise the eye health of workers, everywhere.’

That’s exactly what we’re going to do in this post.

The Rise of Computer Vision Syndrome

The rapid advance of technology over the past two decades has meant that we spend a considerable portion of the day staring at a screen. In fact, a study by Lenstore found that the average Brit spends a whopping 75% of their waking hours glued to screens.

As a result, there’s been a significant rise in Digital Eye Strain, also known as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).

A type of eye strain caused by prolonged screentime, DES encompasses a range of ocular and visual symptoms, including:

• Sore, tired, dry, or itchy eyes

• Blurred or double vision

• Light sensitivity

• Headaches or migraines

• Neck or back pain

• Muscle fatigue

Although DES is temporary, it’s not pleasant. It can also have a negative impact on productivity and focus.

Tips to reduce digital eye strain

As an employer, you have a legal duty to look after your employee's health, safety, and well-being. This includes the health of their eyes.

You can help your people protect their peepers by educating them on the importance of eye care. 

Here are five tips to share with your team.

1.     Remember to blink

Most of us blink 15-20 times a minute. But this drops down to five times a minute when we’re looking at a screen.

Blinking is crucial for eye health as it keeps our eyes lubricated, transfers oxygen to the cornea, and helps prevent infection.

All those missed blinks can quickly add up, leading to dry, irritated, and sore eyes.

Get into the habit of actively blinking whenever you open a new email or are waiting for a page to load. You can also keep your eyes lubricated with artificial tears/eye drops.

2.     Give your eyes space

The closer the computer screen is to your eyes, the harder they have to work to focus.

Studies on computer-related eye strain suggest that a screen should be no closer than 40cm (16in) from your face. 

If you struggle to read the text at that distance, increase the font size, rather than move the screen closer.

3.     Follow the 20-20-20 rule

Maintaining a fixed focus at a close distance for a long period of time puts strain on the ciliary muscles in our eyes, leading to fatigue and discomfort.

To beat the pain of eye strain, follow the 20-20-20 rule: look away from your screen every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at a time and focus on a fixed point 20 feet away.

Your eyeballs will thank you for it.

4.     Adjust your monitor settings

Computer and laptop screens, flat-screen televisions, smartphones, and tablets all use LED technologies with high amounts of blue light.

Blue light waves are among the shortest, highest-energy wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. The wavelengths flicker more easily than longer, weaker wavelengths.

This flickering creates a glare that can lead to symptoms of CVS.

Long-term damage?

In addition to eye strain, some researchers believe that prolonged exposure to blue light can set off a biochemical chain reaction that permanently destroys cells in the retina.

The death of light sensitive cells in the eye is called macular degeneration. It’s incurable and leads to vision loss in about 2.4% of UK adults.   

To minimise the impact of blue light, shift your screen’s colour levels away from the blue end of the spectrum towards the softer yellow end.

This short video explains how to do it.

5.     Eye Care

If you wear contacts, your eyes have to work harder when staring at a screen. Give them a break by switching to glasses once or twice a week.

If you wear glasses, ask your optician to add an anti-glare coating to your lenses. Many offer this service for free.

Final Word

More than 50% of sight loss is preventable. So, the best way to look after employee’s eyes is to ensure they book their annual eye tests.

Why not put some posters around the office as a handy reminder?

To support the ‘Love Your Eyes at Work’ campaign, IAPB has created a bank of printable resources to educate employers on eye safety in the workplace and reinforce the importance of eye checks. Download them here.  

Need an extra fundraising bod to help you manage your workload? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how.

Bouncing back from awkward interview moments

You’ve just finished an interview. You walk out of the building feeling humiliated and frustrated. Despite putting in hours of research and preparation, you stumbled over your answers, found yourself rambling to fill awkward silences, and lost your train of thought while answering key questions. You’re convinced you’ve blown it.

The good news? It’s probably not gone as badly as you think.

In the words of Kerry Hanon, author of Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness, “we are all our own worst critics. Chances are the little voice in your head is a lot more critical than what the person observed on the other side of the table.”

The truth is awkward moments happen to everyone. The key is knowing how to acknowledge them and move on gracefully. 

Here’s how to deal with four cringe-worthy scenarios.

1.   Your mind goes blank

You’re mid-answer and your mind goes blank. All that preparation you’ve done goes out the door because your brain has decided to stop cooperating, leaving you scrambling to think of what to say next.

What to do: Interviewers know that job interviews are stressful. They’ve probably experienced a mind blank or two in their time.  

There’s no shame in admitting you’ve lost your train of thought. In fact, it may work to your advantage.

Apologise, explain, and ask the recruiter to repeat the question. Chances are, they’ll add more detail to the original question or rephrase it in a way that’s easier to understand.

If you’re still none the wiser, as them to give you an example to help you draw on your own experience.

2.   You badmouth your last employer

Your last job didn’t end on good terms. Maybe the work environment was toxic, you got fired, or you had a fight with your boss.

Whatever the reason, try and resist the urge to badmouth your previous employer. it’ll reflect badly on you, not them.

That said, in the heat of the moment, things slip out. If it happens, don’t beat yourself up.

What to do: As soon as you realise what you’ve said, acknowledge it and put on a positive spin on it. For example: ‘I just realised that sounded very critical, which is not how I intended it. There were some great things about working for that company. I’ve taken away a lot that will help me in my next role.’

3.   You can’t think of an answer

You can do all the preparation in the world and still get thrown by a question.

When your mind goes blank, it can be easy to go into panic mode.

But consider this. The interviewer is probably throwing in a curveball question to see how you react under pressure.

How you respond is much more important than being able to answer, so try and keep your emotions in check.

What to do: Resist the temptation to bluff your way through it or, worse, lie. That’s a recipe for disaster. Instead, take a deep breath, maintain an assertive posture, and allow yourself a moment to think.

There are several tactics you can use to navigate this situation.

1.    Ask the interviewer to rephrase the question. It’ll buy you some time to formulate an answer.

2.    Try the “reframing” tactic. This is something politicians do when asked a tough question. To reframe, think about the original question, focus on the part of it you can answer, and express your thoughts on that aspect of the question.  

3.    Try thinking out loud. Sometimes interviewers ask tough questions to get an idea of how you work through problems. After you’ve taken some time to reflect on the question, explain your thought process to the interviewer and go from there. For example, if you’re asked about any processes you follow to complete projects, but you don’t have an actual process, think through how you would approach the project and the steps you’d take to complete it.

This will show the interviewer how you think and work through unexpected obstacles without losing your cool.

4.   You fail to give the interviewer what they want

If you’ve answered a question to your full capability but the interviewer is waiting for more, ask for further clarification.

There’s nothing wrong with asking, ‘does that answer your question? Is there anything else I can share?’

Counter questions project confidence and show you can think on your feet. It may also transition the interview into a different topic you may have more insight on.

Final Word

Next time you’re in the waiting room shaking, remember this. Your interviewer is human.

They may have a fancy title, but chances are, they’ll have experienced their fair share of awkward interview moments.

They’re far more likely to show you empathy than the door.

Need some help preparing for an interview? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.

Undercover reporter reveals unethical door-to-door fundraising practices

Two major UK charities have launched investigations after an undercover reporter from WalesOnline released footage of face-to-face fundraisers breaking the Code of Fundraising Practice.

The Welsh newspaper revealed that workers at direct sales firm Vantage and Solution Cardiff employed pressure selling tactics to solicit donations from elderly people for SOS Children’s Villages UK and the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS).

Reporter Conor Gogarty, who conducted the investigation, undertook training with the agency. During the session, he was told to “trick” people “into saying yes” and “expand greed” in them but he didn’t receive any training on fundraising regulations or identifying vulnerable individuals.

He was then taken out on door-to-door calls with other fundraisers, during which he recorded secret footage of conversations with people on their doorsteps. 

On the walkabout, Gogarty said he “witnessed a series of lies told on doorsteps to get elderly people to sign up to direct debits to charities”. He went on to say that “one pensioner had to say no four times before the sales rep stopped persisting. There was also an attempt to sign up a woman who was clearly confused. When the sales rep asked her if she banked in the UK, she answered, 'I'm 70-odd.’ Despite her confusion, the sales rep persisted - only walking away when the lady failed to give him a phone number.”

Response

Sarah Bradford, director of communications and brand at SOS Children's Villages UK, said of the footage, “this kind of behaviour, this working culture and these types of practices absolutely do not align with our values or the way we work. We demand extremely high standards from the agencies we work with to fundraise and are deeply concerned to hear of any experience where our required safeguards and quality controls are not being met.”

Bradford went on to say that, since seeing Gogarty’s footage, the charity has been in touch with the relevant regulatory bodies and “begun a thorough investigation into how this could have occurred”.

This includes checking all the paperwork, processes, training records and materials for fundraisers working on the campaign.

Due diligence

It remains to be seen how the reputation of the two charities will fare following the release of the footage. After all, unethical fundraising practices don’t make for great PR.

The footage also highlights the importance of due diligence.

Working with a fundraising agency can bring many benefits. They employ skilled and experienced fundraisers who are equipped to provide advice and expertise on how to carry out a great fundraising campaign.

But there are responsibilities that come with working with agencies.

Charities must undertake due diligence to ensure all fundraising carried out in their name is compliant and ethical.

Want to know more? The following resources will tell you everything you need to know.

•  Read The Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice section on Working with Third Parties

• Review the rules around Solicitation Statements

• Take a look at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s guidance on working with third parties.

Final Word

Need an eagle-eyed fundraiser to manage your fundraising compliance? We can help. Call us on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.

Introducing Microsoft Disability Answer Desk

Microsoft needs little introduction. The world’s largest software maker, over 1.4 billion people and businesses use Microsoft products and services globally.

The brand is best known for its Windows operating systems software, Office applications suite and the Internet Explorer web browser, but it’s also a leading provider of cloud computing services, video games, computer, and gaming hardware.

Over the years, Microsoft has been building inclusion into its products and services. Three years after launching the first version of Windows in 1985, the company introduced ‘Access Utility for Windows 2.0’ – a programme that improved the accessibility of Windows for users with hearing impairments and/or limited dexterity.

Since then, the brand has released a slew of accessible programmes, tools and products to support a wide range of needs and disabilities - the most recent being the Xbox Adaptive controller. And the latest incarnation of Windows (Windows 11) is being marketed as the ‘most accessible version of Windows yet’. 

Microsoft Disability Answer Desk

If you have a disability, you may be well-versed in Microsoft’s vast array of accessible products and tools, but did you know about their Disability Answer Desk?

If not, here’s the lowdown.

Launched in 2013 as part of the brand’s commitment to ‘bridge the disability divide’, the Answer Desk is a free resource disabled customers can use to:

• Troubleshoot issues with Windows products, tools, and accessories.

• Learn how to use Microsoft’s accessibility features.

• Ask questions about assistive technologies. 

Available 24/7, the support line is manned by a team of assistive technology experts, who undergo mandatory disability awareness, etiquette, and sensitivity training.

Fielding around 150,000 enquiries a year, they help customers with products such as Office 365, Xbox, Windows, and Skype, as well as third-party assistive technologies, such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech recognition software.  

Accessibility Help and Learning Centre

In addition to the helpline, Microsoft’s Accessibility help and learning centre lists all the accessibility tools available in Windows (grouped by disability). There are also a series of simple how-to guides, explaining how to access and use each tool.

In addition to mobility, vision, hearing, and neurodiversity tools, there are guides on how to use Microsoft’s learning tools to improve your writing and reading, and their mental health tools, that can help you improve your mental focus and minimize distractions.

Final Word

If you’re confused by live captions, flummoxed by colour filters, or stumped by keyboard shortcuts, the Disability Answer Desk can help.

There are a number of ways to contact them. You can call on 0800 026 0584, or speak to them on live chat.

If you’re visually impaired, you can get support through Be My Eyes - a free app that connects blind and low-vision users with volunteers for visual assistance via a live video call.