Welcome to the July edition.
The Annual Conference represents ACO’s keynote event of the year, bringing together such a powerful range of charities across the network to reflect, share and connect. This year’s gathering on 18 September 2025 in London aims to be bigger and better than ever!
Drawing on the theme “Responding to Need: The Evolving Role of Charity Support”, we’ll be exploring how charities are adapting to support people through increasingly complex challenges. Key questions we’ll be addressing include:
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How has the nature of financial and wellbeing support evolved?
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How effectively are we communicating this support to our respective audiences?
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What does success look like – and how do we measure real impact in the lives of those we support?
With registration having opened this week, charity members can benefit from discounted early bird pricing for a limited time – but be quick, as this offer closes on 8 August!
On Wednesday 23 July, ACO colleagues came together for our 78th AGM (!) Kindly hosted by our corporate partner Quilter Cheviot in London, the event provided the perfect backdrop to reflect on what, despite a challenging environment for the wider charity sector, has been a positive year for ACO.
It was an important day for the organisation, as we were seeking approval for changes to our current Articles of Association to ensure they continue to reflect current Charity Law requirements and best practice in governance.
In particular, the Board wanted to explore options for greater flexibility in appointments to, and the composition of, the Board in order to maintain a diverse and effective range of skillsets providing strategic oversight of the organisation.
We’re pleased to report that the revised Articles, produced by our colleagues at Russell Cooke LLP, – were unanimously approved by the floor.
At the same time, we were delighted to confirm the reappointment (for a further three-year term) of Chair Jodie Gill (Jodie Gill Consulting), and Trustees Caroline Gee (Evelyn Partners) and Victoria Crawford (World Business Council for Sustainable Development).
After the heavy lifting of the AGM, guest speaker Debra Allcock Tyler (Chief Executive, Directory of Social Change) closed the event by provided a refreshing tour de force of insights and inspiring perspectives drawn from her forty years in the sector, from leadership and governance to mergers and the sector’s forthcoming covenant with Government – delivered with plenty of warmth and humour!
Donal Watkin
Chief Executive
This month’s edition features:
- Upcoming ACO events
- Jobs board
- Member spotlight on The Insurance Charity
- Guest article from B4B Payments
- Member news
- Policy and sector news
- Publications