Charity

Membership bodies have criticised “confusing” and “inconsistent” local authority grant funding after new research found that fewer than half of all councils are willing or able to identify charities when awarding discretionary grants. Research by Third Sector found thousands of small charities in England have accessed more than £17m in local authority grant funding since

In this edition, senior features and analysis writer Rebecca Cooney and editor Emily Burt discuss what’s been going on in the world of charities.  This includes the story about the National Trust saying it is “open to debate'” after a new pressure group attracted thousands of members in an attempt to force the charity to “regain the

Scores of voluntary sector organisations have paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who died this morning aged 99. The royal family has asked people who want to mark his death to make gifts to “charities close to their hearts”. Prince Philip served as a patron or president of more than 750 organisations and carried

Door-to-door, street and private site fundraising will be allowed from Monday as part of the next step in the government’s roadmap out of national lockdown measures, ministers have confirmed.  The easing of Covid-19 restrictions for the sector will allow fundraisers to resume face-to-face interactions with supporters after more than a year of finding new ways

The homelessness charity St Mungo’s had denied it has a “bullying and anti-union culture” after maintenance staff voted to begin indefinite strike action later this month. The walkout by employees in the charity’s property services department follows a claim in March by the union Unite of an anti-union bias by senior management at St Mungo’s.

An employee at a football charity was victimised amid a number of grievances and a foul-mouthed argument with the chairman of a connected lower league football club, an employment tribunal has concluded. The tribunal heard how Robbie Cowling, chairman and owner of the League Two club Colchester United, claimed he had been “headbutted” by Mark

The charity Changing Faces, which supports people who have a scar, mark or condition that makes them visibly different, has appointed Heather Blake as its new chief executive. Blake, director of support and influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, will succeed Becky Hewitt, who announced in November that she planned to step down. Hewitt will remain

Marie Curie has made two appointments to its senior leadership team. The end-of-life charity has brought in Tiffany Willcox in the new role of chief technology officer and appointed Amanda Oakley Smith as chief financial officer. Willcox, who joined last week from the optical retailer Specsavers, where she was head of technology, will lead the

The National Trust said it is open to debate its shared history after a new pressure group attracted thousands of members in an attempt to force the charity to “regain the nation’s trust”. The Restore Trust said it was a grassroots movement of 6,100 current and former members that was set up following a report

The Charity Commission has confirmed it was aware of fresh allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct at Oxfam when it lifted its regulatory oversight of the charity in February.  The charity has suspended two staff members after The Times newspaper reported claims of abuses of power by senior managers in the Democratic Republic of the

Anna Dixon, chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better, is to step down in June. Dixon has led the charitable foundation, which aims to help people enjoy later life, since 2015. She was previously director of strategy and quality at the Department of Health and a visiting fellow at The London School of Economics.

This week, senior features and analysis writer Rebecca Cooney and editor Emily Burt discuss what a return to the office might look like for charities when coronavirus restrictions are lifted later on this year. Many organisations will be contemplating how to return to the office, or indeed if to return to the office, if the

The Prime Minister’s special adviser for civil society and communities is to leave his post in May, the day after an official report downplayed the problem of structural racism in the UK.  Samuel Kasumu, who is also co-founder of Inclusive Boards, an executive search firm specialising in creating more diverse business leadership, has been in

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has added three directors to its senior leadership team.  The social change charity has announced that it had appointed Graeme Cooke as director of evidence and policy, Frank Soodeen as director of communications and public engagement and Sophia Parker, whose directorate is yet to be named but will focus on a

The Charity Commission has opened inquiries into two connected conservation charities amid concerns about their governance and financial management. The regulator said it had opened separate statutory inquiries into the Aspinall Foundation and the Howletts Wild Animal Trust, which share two trustees: Damian Aspinall and his daughter Tansy. The commission said its inquiry into the

A major educational charity has been the victim of an ongoing ransomware cyber attack that has paralysed its email, devices and telephone system. The Harris Federation, which runs 50 primary and secondary academies in London and Essex, said the attack was discovered on Saturday and had left about 37,000 pupils unable to access emails or

An organisation set up to build a museum dedicated to Britain leaving the European Union has been granted charitable status and launched a £1m fundraising drive.  The Museum of Brexit was granted charitable status in January, according to the Charity Commission’s online register.  The museum is yet to be built, but is expected to be located

More than a quarter of charities have suffered cyber security breaches or attacks in the past 12 months, new figures show.  The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021, published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, found that 26 per cent of the almost 500 voluntary sector organisations surveyed had reported such activity over

Charities are unlikely to receive much of the funding earmarked through the government’s “levelling up”agenda because there are fewer charities in areas where the fund is targeted, new research indicates. The not-for-profit think tank NPC found there were 28 per cent fewer local charities per 1,000 people in areas prioritised for the government’s £4.8bn Levelling

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK for the past two decades, has announced plans to retire later this year.  She had intended to step down last year, but decided to stay on to help the organisation maintain stability during the pandemic, according to an Amnesty statement. Allen has been director of the organisation since

Volunteering committees should help spearhead and permanently embed volunteering management and practice in the health and social care system in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. New research published today argues that the volunteer resources made available during the pandemic must become ingrained in the NHS and social care to help deliver on proposed healthcare

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s response to the claims it failed to act on sexual harassment allegations has been “reactive and defensive”, according to a group of influential fundraisers. A tweet from Lucy Caldicott, founder of the social justice consultancy ChangeOut and a fellow of the CIoF, said she and a small group of fellows

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual harassment and assault. In this month’s bumper special episode, features and analysis writer Rebecca Cooney and editor Emily Burt look at sexual harassment and assault in fundraising. A week ago, allegations were made that the Chartered Institute of Fundraising had ignored allegations of sexual assault occuring at one of

Tech for Good initiative launched in North of England is tackling longstanding issues of digital inclusion exacerbated by the pandemic SHEFFIELD and LONDON – March 24, 2021 – Blancco Technology Group (LSE: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics, today announced it has partnered with WANdisco (LSE: WAND), the live data

The Official Receiver will not appeal the High Court’s decision to dismiss the disqualification proceedings brought against former senior leaders of the collapsed charity Kids Company. The charges brought against the charity’s founder and former chief executive, Camila Batmanghelidjh, and a group of former trustees of the defunct charity were rejected at the High Court

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising has pledged to set up a new panel with an independent chair to oversee its complaints and disciplinary process as part of an overhaul of how it handles serious allegations against members.  The membership body has been under public pressure over the past couple of weeks from high-profile fundraisers after

A veterans charity that lost almost £700,000 through mismanagement or unauthorised payments to trustees has been wound up by the Charity Commission. The regulator has published the findings of its long-running inquiry into Afghan Heroes, which found former trustees failed to take reasonable care in managing its finances and gained significant unauthorised private benefit from

Press Release At the request of their close friend and colleague, Michael Farquhar, contractor management specialists Orange Genie Group will be making a donation of £5,000 to the Boys Brigade Charity Project Stedfast, to go towards their ongoing work to build and support a school in Kenya. Orange Genie Group and Boys Brigade Charity The

A London-based grant-giving charity has pledged an additional £22m in support for children and young people over the next six years to help tackle the impact of Covid-19. The John Lyon’s Charity, which gives grants to organisations operating in nine boroughs in the capital, has ring-fenced the multimillion-pound funding from its endowment with a new

Barclays, Marks & Spencer and Deliveroo are among the companies shortlisted for this year’s Business Charity Awards. The awards, run by Third Sector, recognise the outstanding support given by businesses to UK charities and voluntary organisations. More than 80 companies have made this year’s list across 25 categories. Barclays has been shortlisted in the Long-term