What is it with the 2020s? First, 2020 gave us the heartbreak and disruption of Covid-19. Then, 2021 kept the pandemic coming – leaving charities to deal with falling income and rising demands. Would 2022 provide relief?
Sadly not. Russia invaded Ukraine, unleashing death and displacement. The war also contributed to the highest inflation in the UK for more than 40 years and a cost-of-living crisis that is threatening the future of many voluntary organisations.
It has been a year of tribulation – and also remarkable resilience. Here, we reveal the 10 most-read Third Sector stories of the year.
10. Does the voluntary sector have a class problem?
It started with a networking break at a charity sector event, but it really took off with a tweet.
For when Stuart Pearson, head of business delivery at Citizens Advice Oldham, Rochdale, Trafford and Stockport, posted: “Does the charity sector have a class problem?” on Twitter, the response was extraordinary.
Pearson added: “As someone who grew up on a council estate, single parent family, free school meals, I rarely meet senior charity people with similar stories. I always find the small talk really alien.”
The tweet received 148 replies, 159 retweets and more than 2,000 likes. It sparked a debate that looks unlikely to go away.
9. Big rise in UK charity mergers as 1,300 Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations become one
Almost 1,300 became one on the same day as Jehovah’s Witnesses completed a nationwide consolidation of its branches.
The large-scale operation was the key factor behind a six-fold increase in the number of charity mergers.
Data from the Charity Commission, published earlier this month, shows there were 1,620 charity mergers between September 2021 and September 2022.
This compares with 276 mergers in 2020/21 and 261 in the year before that.
8. Investigation upheld complaints of harassment and race discrimination against former NCVO chief and deputy
Karl Wilding and Susan Cordingley were the subjects of upheld complaints of harassment, victimisation and race discrimination.
Both were allowed to leave the NCVO before the investigation into the complaints was conducted.
In September, the organisation announced that some “specific complaints” had been upheld, relating to allegations of harassment, victimisation, race discrimination and safety issues.
7. St Mungo’s chief executive dies aged 57
Tributes were paid to Steve Douglas, chief executive of the homelessness charity St Mungo’s, who died at the age of 57.
Douglas died suddenly at his home, the charity said in a statement.
A former chief executive of the Housing Corporation, Douglas, who was survived by his partner and four children, had worked in the housing sector for more than 25 years.
6. Macmillan apologises after report uncovers ‘racist and ableist’ culture
Macmillan Cancer Support made the wrong sort of headlines when an internal report identified racism and bullying at the charity.
Staff described incidents including the use of a racial slur during an online meeting, which went unchallenged, and Muslim fundraisers visiting the charity being treated as a security risk.
The Social Justice Collective report said employees described “an organisational culture at Macmillan that is systemically racist and ableist”.
The charity apologised and promised to “urgently address” the issues raised.
5. Parkrun charity reports itself to regulator after uncovering former chief’s secret payments from supplier
In a story that ran and ran, Third Sector revealed Parkrun Global referred itself to the Charity Commission after discovering that its former chief executive received secret payments from a supplier.
It said Nick Pearson struck “an undisclosed and unapproved agreement” in 2018 to receive commissions from a supplier linked to the sport clothing company Contra, a trading subsidiary of Parkrun Global.
The charity opened an investigation after the new chief executive, Russ Jefferys, identified irregularities.
4. Royal charity set for major windfall thanks to Prince Harry donation and ‘significant’ legacy
Sentebale, a charity created by Prince Harry, now the Duke of Sussex, was counting the blessings of its royal connection.
Its latest accounts, published with Companies House, revealed that the duke was donating £1.2m and a separate, “significant” legacy gift before the end of August.
Sentebale was founded in 2006 and works in Lesotho and Botswana.
3. Raleigh International closes with immediate effect
Covid-19 and cuts combined to cause the sudden closure of the volunteering and development charity Raleigh International Trust.
The trust went into voluntary liquidation with the loss of almost 50 jobs, saying the pandemic and government foreign aid budget cuts “had an irreversible impact” on its finances.
Raleigh’s income fell by more than half between 2016/17 and 2019/20, from £8.6m to £3.9m.
2. Cats Protection interim chief steps down after raising concerns about 18 cats kept by chair
Never mind 8 out of 10 Cats, this was 8 + 10 cats – and it was far from a laughing matter.
Charles Darley, the interim chief executive of Cats Protection, stepped down three months into a 12-month contract because he had welfare concerns about the charity’s chair keeping 18 cats in a three-bedroom house.
Darley reported relations with Linda Upson and vice-chair Angela Swarbrick had broken down over the issue.
And the most-read story of 2022 is:
1. Amnesty International UK admits losing donors since controversial Ukraine report
Amnesty International UK reportedly lost more than 1,000 regular donors after it published a controversial report into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Oksana Pokalchuk, the head of Amnesty’s office in Ukraine, resigned in protest at the report, which claimed the Ukrainian military had “turned civilian objects into military targets” by operating from civilian areas when trying to repel Russian troops.
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