Two months into the role of national president of the Timber Trades’ Benevolent Society, Richard Bagnall is getting used to juggling his new responsibilities with those of his position as managing director of Robbins Timber.

Mr Bagnall took over the mantle from Barbara Cartwright in May and since then has been carrying on the work of his predecessor. “Barbara did a wonderful job,” he said. “She embraced the need for change and her drive has meant the TTBS has kept pace with change.”

He cites the winter fuel payment, the revamped President’s Newsletter, and columns in TTJ as ways Mrs Cartwright helped to raise the TTBS’s profile.

“Awareness over the past two years has been raised significantly and that’s largely down to Barbara’s enthusiasm,” said Mr Bagnall. “I’ll be proud if I do half the job,” he added.

During her two years in office, Mrs Cartwright travelled the length and breadth of the country, attending as many functions as she could in order to raise awareness – something that Mr Bagnall will continue. At these events – fund-raisers and timber association dinners – Mrs Cartwright appreciated having the opportunity to speak about the TTBS and its work.

“It might only be a short speech but in that 5-10 minutes if you get the message across, and if you gain only a couple of people then it was worth it because they pass that news on,” said Mrs Cartwright.

Fund-raising

Flying the TTBS flag is important because, whereas in the past donations were made by large companies, today the bulk of the society’s income is provided by fund-raising. “The big companies used to make one-off annual donations to us but that has stopped because they’re taken over by people who may not be totally timber oriented. They may be steel, plastic, concrete or chemical associates, which is fine, but they don’t have the same affiliation with the TTBS,” said Mrs Cartwright.

With donations on the decline the society has to be more proactive and continually revisit its strategy on how to raise funds. And, as Mr Bagnall points out, it’s not just fewer donations that pose a challenge for the TTBS – it’s also competition for people’s attention.

“We’re competing with large charities for funds that have large marketing budgets, so we have to push ourselves forward more and more,” he said.

The TTBS has the advantage that its overheads are low as it has only one paid employee – the general manager Malcolm Job, who is helped by his wife Judy.

“When you compare the TTBS to other societies we are incredibly efficient and we have small reserves compared with them,” said Mr Bagnall. And those reserves are managed carefully to ensure the TTBS can sustain its help to those in need.

“The TTBS has just over £2m in a capital fund which generates income. It provides about half our income, the other half comes from fund-raising. If we didn’t have the capital fund we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without eroding our funds,” he said.

During the past five years or so, the society’s reserves have improved as the stock market has strengthened “but we don’t know what it will be doing next year or the year after”, said Mr Bagnall.

Volunteers

The low running costs mean the society relies heavily on the goodwill of all its volunteers, some of whom are retired timber traders. More younger people on the regional committees would be welcomed, but Mr Bagnall acknowledges that it’s not always easy.

“By definition the younger ones are employed and everyone has to justify their time these days. Employers may say ‘yes, it’s nice to support the TTBS’, but you still have to achieve sales targets,” he said.

Another challenge for Mr Bagnall over the next two years is to find more beneficiaries. The TTBS knows there are people who would benefit from the charity but finding them is another matter.

“I think it’s a reflection of the changing trade,” said Mr Bagnall. “Large companies have commercial pressure and once an employee is off the payroll they’re off the radar. One way to keep in contact with potential beneficiaries is to have more contact with the workforce rather than the employers. We have to look at how we can carry on increasing our profile but move further and wider in terms of who we speak to.”

Visiting the beneficiaries is another task for the regional committees and the national president, and something that Barbara Cartwright encouraged. “It’s important that we see the beneficiaries in their home environment,” she said. “We had one lady who was heating her house for just an hour a day. It wasn’t until someone went to visit her that we realised this.” It turned out that she didn’t understand her gas and electricity bills and an estimated bill for a large amount had scared her.

And Mrs Cartwright will continue these visits as she will remain active in the Liverpool TTBS. Meanwhile, Mr Bagnall is employing his best time management skills. “Things that normally get done in the office get done in the evenings or weekends,” he said.