Cherubs UK aims to support the families of children with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), a birth defect that prevents lung growth. The charity relies upon Community Network for regular committee meetings – and whilst the phrase ‘conference calling’ might conjure up images of besuited executives and formal boardrooms, nothing could be further from the truth in this instance.
“It’s run from my broom cupboard!” laughs Brenda Lane, who set up the independent British charity in 2004, having previously been the UK representative for the original American Cherubs organisation. In fact, Cherubs UK is a tiny set-up, run solely by volunteers - although they are still closely linked with the US ‘parent’.
“We’re a support network for families affected by CDH,” Brenda explains. “We do various things to try to help – obviously, our website is the first port of call for many people, then we have a freephone support line, a get-together, a newsletter, and a ‘home-to-hospital’ scheme for families who need to travel some distance because their local hospital doesn’t have the facilities for them.”
"GEOGRAPHY - THIS IS WHY WE USE COMMUNITY NETWORK"
“At present, we’re putting some people through bereavement courses. And if people wish, we can try to connect them with other families in their region, or put them in touch with other relevant groups.”
Alongside all her colleagues, Brenda has a day job to balance with her charity commitments, and running the organisation would surely be challenge enough without one extra factor – geography.
“I’m in Norfolk, and of our committee, one’s in Scotland, one’s in the North East, one’s down South...” she says. “One of our many governing issues is geography, and this is why we use Community Network. Cherubs UK couldn’t work if we had to meet face-to-face all the time – before we found Community Network, we had to rely on good old-fashioned letter writing!”
Interestingly, the charity considered internet chatroom technology as an additional enabler for meetings – but were advised that the security aspects were not up to scratch.
"ABLE TO WORK TOGETHER WITH PEOPLE BASED HUNDREDS OF MILES APART"
Being able to work together with people based hundreds of miles apart cements one of the charity’s key strengths, Brenda feels. That is, that people across the UK whose lives have been profoundly affected by the condition are able to channel their passion and determination to do something positive by volunteering for the charity.
Cherubs UK’s committee meetings are regular, generally involving the same people each time. Therefore they’ve become second-nature to the participants over the years – although Brenda freely admits that this wasn’t always the case.
“The first one or two times it was... odd!” she recalls. “It felt quite strange, meeting on the telephone. And I guess, still, we very occasionally have to identify each other on the phone when we chip in with a point – but we hold our meetings, we take votes – we are now able to do quite complex things.”
"MEETINGS ARE VERY EASY TO BOOK"
Being organised is one of Brenda’s ingredients for success. “We send the paperwork round two weeks in advance of the meeting – the agenda, and anything to support the topics that we’ll be discussing. If anything crops up, then I’ll email beforehand – if I receive a letter, for example, there’s no point in me spending time reading it out loud over the phone. Face-to-face, you might be able to pass things round,” she says.
“The meetings are very easy to book,” she continues. “I send some proposed dates round to the team, and then they tell me when they’re available. I then email them the number to phone in on, and we take it in turns to do the minutes. It’s all very straightforward.”
"THE ONGOING SERVICE FROM COMMUNITY NETWORK IS VERY GOOD"
“The ongoing service from Community Network is very good. We’re very pleased with it – we do think that it’s a reasonable cost, and it’s important to us that we can book teleconferences for later in the day, when everybody’s finished work,” she says. “Also, in the past we have occasionally wanted to invite guests to the meeting - and because Community Network allows us to have as many lines as we need, this is really easy to organise.”
CDH is thankfully a rare condition, affecting one in 2500 babies. Nevertheless, roughly 50% of sufferers do not survive, and - of the remainder - many will have ongoing health issues, and a few will have major lasting health problems. Cherubs UK’s mailing list has grown and their newsletter now goes to 170 families across the country, bringing them support and practical assistance.
"COMMUNITY NETWORK MAKES THINGS REALLY EASY FOR SMALLER CHARITIES"
“Community Network makes things really easy for smaller charities like us,” Brenda concludes. “So thank you for that. And thank you too to all our volunteers and supporters – without them, we wouldn’t be able to use Community Network - or do anything!”
