“You can do the day-to-day financial side of things standing on your head,” says Diane Crighton CA, Charity Manager of ICAS Cares, the charity that supports past and present ICAS members. “The human stories behind the cases, and working out how we can help them get back on track is what’s different about this role.” And it was this opportunity to focus on a new element of chartered accountancy that drew Diane to the position.

Qualifying as a CA in 1991, Diane moved straight into industry where she spent her first 10 years as a financial controller at a hospitality business. From there, Diane worked in the charity sector for the next 20 years. When she saw the charity manager role advertised, she felt it was time for a new challenge and took up the helm in March.

What particularly appealed about the role, she says, was the opportunity to support fellow ICAS members. “I’ve been an ICAS member for 35 years, so to now be that first line of enquiry if [another member] comes to the charity for help is really interesting.” Not to mention a huge step for the person reaching out to ask for help. “I take that seriously because no one does that lightly,” says Diane, and their correspondence, whether via email or phone call, “is totally confidential, and we treat every case as an individual case.”

Widening remit

When the charity was first established as the Scottish Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association in 1919, it was to provide financial support to CAs who had suffered serious injuries while fighting in the First World War, as well as their widows and orphans. Now, says Diane, emotional and practical help is available alongside financial support. “Some of our beneficiaries are quite elderly and in those cases they often need emotional rather than financial support.” At other times the issue presented is unemployment, with people struggling to find work and/or dealing with the impact of redundancy, in which case the charity can offer career counselling as part of its support package.

“It’s about making sure that they’re all looked after and that it’s not just a case of, ‘You’ve got our money or our support and that’s it’”

“We are seeing a lot more people struggling with their mental health, which then has a knock-on effect on their ability to work,” says Diane. The task for ICAS Cares then is to establish “how best to manage [the issue] to ensure that they can get back on track”, which would likely include counselling to aid their emotional wellbeing. While Diane is the first port of call, she works alongside an outreach worker whose key role is to keep up contact with beneficiaries. “She phones them and also tries to visit at least once a year so that beneficiaries can put a face to a name.” This one-to-one contact is part of the charity’s wider aim to make sure anyone who reaches out knows that someone is there for them, and that support will come with “no judgement or shame”.

Chartered accountants may not instantly stand out as a group in need of support. But life doesn’t work like that, says Diane. “Things happen, whether it’s a death, or redundancy, or health issues. And the charity is there to support not just current members and CA students, but also past members, retired members and their families.” Some members’ children, for instance, have been offered financial support while they’re at university. In the seven months Diane has been in the role, the people she has spoken to has varied hugely, she says, “across the age spectrum and the background spectrum”.

Supporting students

The numbers of students reaching out has been a surprise to Diane, in particular over the past couple of months. The support they need varies from case to case, although she says it is usually financial. “Someone came to us not long ago asking for help to buy a laptop that their employer wasn’t going to pay for, but which they couldn’t afford to buy.” The young person in question had health issues that meant they had to have a very specific laptop, “so we helped them purchase it”.

While it is of course concerning that so many young people need support, there is some assurance that ICAS members at least know the charity exists, says Diane. “We’re in a very fortunate position in that we generate a healthy income from members’ donations,” she says. “Now we want to be in a position where we can actually allocate it to those who need it.”

Diane has placed creating even more awareness around the charity as one of her priorities, which has included using social media platforms. She also intends to attend as many events as possible equipped with marketing material. Improving visibility is a key focus over the next year, she says, as is working on the charity’s policies and procedures. “I want the charity to run as efficiently and effectively as possible,” she says.

Primarily though, the focus of her role over the coming year and beyond is the beneficiaries themselves. “It’s about making sure that they’re all looked after and that it’s not just a case of, ‘You’ve got our money or our support and that’s it’.” Follow-up and aftercare is just as important as that initial help. Conversely there are some beneficiaries now whose only support is contact with the outreach officer, because it’s all they need.  

Standing alongside members throughout their struggles is another part of the role that Diane doesn’t take lightly; and not just for their sake. “When you hear the responses you get from people, and to think you’ve actually made a difference is very fulfilling.”

For more information go to ICAS Cares