By Kate Parker, CAN Deputy Chief Executive

It took me nearly 25 years to find a cause that I could support as much as Shelter’s to end homelessness. I am motivated by purpose and a desire to understand the ‘why’ behind what I am doing.  

Any fears I had about losing this sense of purpose when leaving Shelter quickly dissipated. I love the work that CAN does and see the power of supporting the groups that help us all thrive. 

Before joining, someone said to me that ‘all the staff at CAN are lovely’. That has been my experience throughout. There is definitely a CAN-do attitude. The team are always ready to help and answer my questions, but most importantly, they take care of each other. If we have committed to delivering something, it will happen, with colleagues stepping in seamlessly and graciously. If there is an opportunity to deliver a new piece of work or try something different, they meet the challenge with enthusiasm, optimism and multi-skilled ability. That is the passion of CAN. 

What has taken more adjustment, however, is recognising that the resources I had come to rely on; my specialist knowledge, organisational history and long-established relationships, were no longer immediately available to me. At Shelter, I knew where to turn, who to ask and how to make sense of complex issues because I had built that understanding over many years. Without this experience-safety net, I’ve had to embrace feeling uncomfortable at times but have enjoyed making new connections and exploring the answers.  It is important to me to feel knowledgeable and confident in the context I am working in. There is a significant hill to climb as I build my understanding of CAN, the wider voluntary and community sector, and the local system in which we operate. Rather than rushing to fill the gaps, I have approached this with openness and patience. I have focused on listening to colleagues, partners, community groups and residents so that I can understand not only the issues themselves, but also the history, relationships and perspectives that shape them. That listening has been invaluable. It has helped me see that while I may not yet have all the answers, I am beginning to develop knowledge rooted in curiosity and a growing appreciation of the role CAN plays across the community. 

I was struck by the range of CAN’s work. Around me, I saw people undertaking research in the community, amplifying community voice, organisational health checks, working with ethnically diverse communities to enable community organisations to flourish, convening networks, sharing information on local groups in community venues, assisting safe discharge from hospital, online directories and exploring how AI can be used to connect people to services. We connect with young people’s services, older people’s services, ethnically diverse communities, mental health services and more. We connect across the VCFS, public, statutory and private sectors.  

As an infrastructure organisation, CAN is a step removed from the direct client work that I was used to. But CAN is firmly connected to its work and doesn’t support just one cause but hundreds.  

CAN is everywhere. One week, wherever I went (from a BCP Council building to a community cafe to a library), a colleague was going about CAN business. We are with the community all the time, supporting groups and community services to be compliant in their operations, fulfil their stated purpose and to grow. 

It is CAN’s year of leadership, and in my first 100 days, I had a great opportunity to attend a Liberating Leadership course with my colleagues. It allowed me to learn more about them, my leadership style and most importantly, how we apply CAN’s values. It is easy to underestimate the worth of having a business plan that purports to ‘have a heart’, and I was confused initially as to the point of this. But if we are kind in everything we do, with each other and our wider connections, we will have a lasting impact. As Maya Angelou said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’  

I am looking forward to feeling part of CAN at our AGM and meeting more people from our wider membership. CAN is not just the organisation or those who work within it, but also the people and communities we collaborate with. This collective strength is what makes CAN greater than the sum of its parts. 

100 days have flown by, and I already feel settled at CAN as if I have been here much longer. This is just the start of the journey; I am excited by what we have planned for the year and cautiously optimistic that I am ready for whatever comes our way, even the unexpected.