Radical social change with Alex Fox OBE, Charity CEO

“Ask what a good life looks like rather than what a good service looks like.”

“How we work is as important as what we do as charities.”

“We could be approaching some really radical changes in the charity sector, which we should be excited about.”

This conversation includes:

• Finding alternatives to traditional social care
• Shared Lives and Homeshare
• Alex’s book, ‘A new health and care system: Escaping the invisible asylum’
• The VCSE review
• Strengths and asset based approaches in health and social care
• The Mayday Trust’s approach
• Human Learning Systems
• Power dynamics in the charity sector
• The potential for some radical changes in the sector.

Alex Fox OBE is CEO of Mayday Trust, which offers strengths-based coaching to people going through tough times like being homeless, and works with organisations and local areas to replace our broken support systems, through the New System Alliance.

Previously, Alex led Shared Lives Plus, the UK network for Shared Lives and Homeshare. Alex sits on the NHS Assembly and was Vice Chair of Think Local, Act Personal, developing the Asset Based Area model. He is a trustee of Alternative Futures Group, Honorary Senior Fellow, Birmingham University, a Human Learning Systems associate and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He chaired the government’s review of health and care charities (2015-18), the Social Care Learning disability & Autism Advisory Group and co-founded the Social Care Innovation Network. Alex is author of A new health and care system: Escaping the invisible asylum, and Meeting as Equals on building asset-based charities. He was awarded an OBE in 2017.

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The Charity Impact podcast is the in-depth podcast for people working in the charity / non-profit sector, or more broadly to achieve social impact and/or social change.

We cover a range of charity sector issues and topics including strategy, funding and philanthropy, social impact, learning and evaluation, income generation and fundraising, governance and more.

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For episode notes with links to resources and organisations mentioned in this episode, please visit https://www.kedaconsulting.co.uk/charity-impact-podcast/ 

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Past guests on the Charity Impact Podcast include:

Ross McCulloch – Founder, Third Sector Lab: digital for charities, harnessing technology for social impact.

Nick Temple – CEO, Social Investment Business: social investment, social enterprise, social value.

Derek Bardowell – CEO, Ten Years’ Time: funding racial justice and social change, systemic challenges, new funders and changemakers.

Emma Beeston – Philanthropy Advisor: philanthropy advice, impact measurement, choosing charities to support, funding trends.

Rhodri Davies – Director, Why Philanthropy Matters: philanthropy, impact and effectiveness, tech trends.

Sufina Ahmad MBE – Director, John Ellerman Foundation: philanthropy, grantmaking, leadership, governance, strategy.

Chris Sherwood – CEO, RSPCA: innovation, service improvement, governance, strategy, professional development.

Paul Irwin – Founder, TryLife: youth work, interactive digital films, gaining 7m Facebook followers, mental health therapies.

Ed Archer – Head of Service Design and Delivery, Toynbee Hall: co-production, shifting power, diversity and inclusion.

Paul Nott – Charity recruitment and retention specialist: staff recruitment and retention, professional development.

Amanda Batten – CEO, Contact: strategy, campaigning, collaboration, leadership.

Dee Brecker – Deputy Director of high value fundraising, Guys and St Thomas’ Charity: fundraising, diversity, inclusion, networking, strategy.

Mark Lever OBE – CEO, Helpforce: leadership, campaigning, service failure, social enterprise.