Child.org’s Charity Apprentice course is free for 2017
Howard Lake | 4 November 2016 | News
International children’s charity Child.org is removing the fee for its Charity Apprentice course for 2017 courtesy of funding from a trust.
The Charity Apprentice course is designed to offer a route into the charity sector, and to attract new talent to the sector. The foundation course is run by charity professionals and can be undertaken by anyone in their spare time.
Until now it has cost £1,100, but following a grant from the Sofronie Foundation, the charity is removing the course fee for students and graduates for a limited time. All other applicants will be asked to pay just £30 as an admin fee to sign up.
The foundation supports work with children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK and overseas.
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The course has been developed to give the experience needed to navigate the sector, specialise according to individual strengths and goals, and even start an enterprise.
Charity Apprentice platform
Students enrolled in the course gain access to the Charity Apprentice online platform, residential boot camps and “real-world marketing and fundraising challenges”. The course offers a combination of practical experience and theoretical understanding of the charity sector.
Thomas Muirhead, Managing Director at Child.org said:
“Now more than ever, the charity sector must innovate and grow, simply to keep up with the challenges we face globally. In order to do that we need good people from all walks of life. Unfortunately, routes into the industry are not open to all – often requiring that people work free of charge, for long periods of time just in order to gain basic skills.
“By opening up this course, we hope to offer more great candidates from a diverse pool of talent a stepping stone towards a future in the charity sector and we are extremely grateful to the Sofronie foundation for enabling us to do that.”
[Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utu1iiO3UQg no longer available].
The course has already attracted hundreds of students ranging from university graduates to those in their 50s and 60s looking for a career change.
Anna Donaldson, a 2016 Charity Apprentice, said:
“Before I even completed my year as a Charity Apprentice, I had my first paid job offer in the charity sector and the opportunity to work for something really worthwhile that I am incredibly proud of… Access to invaluable resources, constant encouragement and support and a fantastic opportunity to work in Kenya has not only clarified what impact I’d like to make in my lifetime, it has opened up the opportunity for me to get paid to do it.”
Social enterprise
Charity Apprentice is a social enterprise developed by Child.org. It’s other enterprising initiatives include Charity Concierge, its multi-charity fundraising service at festivals.
Its Managing Director Thomas Muirhead gave a TEDx talk on why charities need to move beyond giving.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.