Charity Next

Charity Next is an initiative of The Prince’s Charities Foundation which exists to build strong, sustainable foundations for more effective cross-sector working between the public and community and voluntary sector.

It takes bright and talented future leaders from the public sector and gives them the opportunity to contribute their skills and enthusiasm to key posts in the voluntary and community sector, in order to build greater mutual understanding and encourage closer working.

The first Charity Next cohort was launched in Autumn 2008 and over the following two years we have placed fifteen Civil Service Fast Streamers on secondment to a range of charities including ARK, Barnardo’s, Blenheim CDP, the British Heart Foundation, Centrepoint, Mind, the National Osteoporosis Society, Notting Hill Housing Trust, The Prince’s Trust, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. In 2010-11 we are continuing to build on the strong foundations built since the initiative’s inception.

The Charity Next Learning Network meets regularly. The meetings offer the opportunity for participants to share their experiences, reflect on how skills they have gained from their secondments can drive and support their future career development and help them to champion effective cross-sector working as they progress in the Civil Service. The Learning Network also organises regular host-speaker events with leading figures from different sectors whom are able to share their career experiences and provide insight into the contemporary issues surrounding their area of work.

Charity Next participants gain an unparalleled insight into the pressures that voluntary and community sector organisations face today, as well as the opportunity to make an impact in an area outside of their previous professional experience. Participating charities benefit by hosting a future public sector leader whose skills, experience and vantage point they might not otherwise have been able to access.

If you would like to find out more about getting involved in Charity Next, please email Tracy Bunn, Charity Next Project Director.

For details of Charity Next's latest secondment opportunities, please visit the recuitment page of the website.