Sense and Enable form Piper Group

A partnership between two major charities is set to change the landscape of the third sector in Scotland.

As was revealed by TFN last year, Enable Scotland and Sense Scotland have formally partnered as the Piper Group.

They have a combined income of £60.9 million – and the new set up will save £10m between them.

The charities will retain their distinctive brands and missions but the new group will share resources and oversee back office functions including the IT, HR, learning and development, digital, finance and payroll departments for both charities.

Theresa Shearer, head of Enable, is the new group’s chief executive.

She said: “By joining together, we are giving both organisations elasticity and stretch to focus on what really matters to disabled people and their families.

"We are committed to delivering the best self-directed support available and releasing money wherever possible to the front line."

Andy Kerr, chief executive of Sense Scotland, will be the group’s chief operating officer.

He added: “Together, Enable Scotland and Sense Scotland will extend our reach in local communities.

"This means we will be able to help more people, with the person-centred care they deserve from staff they trust and can rely on."

The partnership took one year to organise and the group estimates it will save £10 million across the two charities.

Last year, Enable Scotland had an income of £39.3m while Sense Scotland has an income of £21.6m.

There will be no compulsory redundancies caused by the partnership, which will be hosted in Enable Scotlands' office in Lanarkshire.

This could be the first of a series of future partnerships as the new Piper Group is open to other organisations who might wish to join.

A spokesperson said: “This venture is the first of its kind in terms of scale and significance of the third sector.

"We are confident in the model and believe it has the potential to impact more widely on the landscape of social care delivery in Scotland.”