There are several discussions in progress where it would seem that charities have moved away from the ideals that lead to their foundation (e.g., CiN; Stonewall; Shelter).
The inquiry concludes that if civil society is to respond to the massive social challenges of the next decades it must learn to devolve and share power and control, earning public trust by “speaking up to politicians and corporations”. Accountability should be refocused on the people that charities serve rather than putting the government and funders first. “Too often in civil society, size, turnover and short-term measures of impact are seen as the best measures of success. But we have heard loud and clear that real, long-lasting success comes from the depth and breadth of connections with people and communities, and the opportunity for everyone to have power,” the inquiry concludes.
Shelter,...seeks to reconnect with its founding purposes, which were grounded in community activism: fighting exploitative landlords, helping people resist eviction and speaking up for the voiceless. The aim is to create a national movement using the energy of hundreds of local activists and supporters.
Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, says many big charities – including her own – have become too disconnected from reality, and too centralised and self-limiting in their ambition. “We’ve all talked so much about the ‘housing crisis’ that we’ve stopped believing it can be solved. The phrase has become like wallpaper,” says the strategy. “But this is a national emergency, and one that demands fearless, ambitious action.”
www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/20/charities-risk-becoming-irrelevant-warns-new-report
However, I'm not seeing that some of the charities who are putting together their plans to return to first principles are planning to jettison the trustees and other senior executives who steered them away from their core communities. (I'm thinking of the example of Ruth Hunt who is CEO of Stonewall and a trustee of Shelter. There are other comparable examples.)
I hope I'm being unduly cynical but does anyone have optimism that some of the voluntary organisations and charities that have discounted women and joined the drive to erode our legal status will rediscover that women are part of the community they should be serving? Is there any chance some relevant organisations might resolve to assert their right to appropriate single-sex exemptions?