does the Association contribute to it?
The Third Sector, charities and not- for-profit organisations, is essential to any community, but particularly so to an island community such as Jersey. We are very aware of the generosity of local people, which is quite remarkable when it comes to community service and all types of charitable giving. Jersey has a long heritage of giving time, effort and money, from the Honorary Policy system to the many health service providing charities. Charity presence in island life should not be underestimated. Our society cannot do without charities and charities cannot do without input from individuals and businesses.
There are currently 272 charities registered with the Association of Jersey Charities, which was established in 1971. The Association is the representative body of charitable organisations operating in the island.
The Association’s objectives are: • To encourage and facilitate charitable and community work in Jersey.
between members and prospective members, as well as to encourage discussion and exchange of ideas regarding services offered to the community.
• To administer the distribution of funds to members, which are principally made available to the Association from the Jersey share of the Channel Islands’ lottery profits.
• To develop and administer a programme of education and information to benefit members.
• To assist and represent its members, both individually and as a whole.
Our members represent a wide and diverse section of island life and range from large organisations providing essential services, such as health and care services, to smaller organisations representing the needs and concerns of particular groups within Jersey; branches of national charities to small local charities; clubs, societies and support groups. There are also many non member organisations in Jersey which also work tirelessly for the benefit of others.
It is a key objective of ours that our members deliver their services to the community with the highest possible standards of governance, efficiency and transparency. We aim to achieve this through training, information exchange, advice and representation.
Our activities include: • Training courses on subjects such as accounting, fund raising, trustee responsibilities, relevant laws such as those governing data protections and good governance issues.
• Distributing funds available to us to members who apply for grants, on the basis of need.
• Addressing organisations and schools on the importance to the community of the Third, charitable, Sector.
• Providing an information exchange service to members; passing on advice, notice of goods and services available.
• Our website details our members, activities, volunteering opportunities and volunteer resources available.