RNLI, James Vaughan

“Put simply, our role is to save lives at sea. And we do it a lot – with over 8,000 launches each year and rescuing an average of 21 people every day.

I think that our relationship with the Charity Commission can best be summed up in two words – trusted advisor. Their role as regulator might sound rather dry, but our experience of working with them has been anything but that.

At every step of the way, they’re supportive and keen to provide expert advice. Their open and responsive approach really encourages dialogue and stops them from becoming a last resort! We’ll approach them about any concerns right at the beginning and work with them to resolve issues.

Part of their effectiveness is down to their people. The teams there are always reasonable and approachable – they are also more than willing to go out of their way to help. A recent example is the job swap scheme we ran. One of our senior managers spent a few weeks working on a project within the Commission while, a month later, a senior Commission member came to us. It was a great way of sharing knowledge and building an even better understanding.”