Charity

The arts and culture grantmaker Arts Council England has been forced to clarify its position on freedom of expression after sector backlash to updates to its guidelines for funded organisations. ACE, which currently funds 985 organisations through its 2023-26 Investment Programme, faced criticism from across the arts and culture voluntary sector after updating its funding

Cockpit Arts, a charity and social enterprise that supports a community of contemporary designers and craft-makers, has announced Jonathan Burton has been appointed as chief executive.  Burton replaces Annie Warburton, who stepped down from the charity in December 2023 to take up the role of clerk and chief executive at the Goldsmiths’ Company.  He joins

Spending at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s increased by six per cent in the past year, largely driven by increased staff, energy and repair costs, its latest accounts show. The charity’s accounts for the year to the end of March 2023, filed with Companies House last week, show that expenditure rose from £118.6m in 2021/22

The transgender support charity Mermaids has appointed its interim head, Lauren Stoner, as its chief executive on a two-year, fixed-term basis. Stoner became the charity’s interim chief executive in December 2022, replacing Susie Green, who had led the organisation for six years. A spokesperson for Mermaids said the decision to give Stoner a two-year contract

Speakers including the comedian and author Deborah Frances White, the wildlife campaigner Chris Packham and the Greek economist and politician Yanis Varoufakis have withdrawn from upcoming events hosted by the RSA amid an ongoing pay dispute.  Staff at the Royal Society of Arts today announced a public boycott of the organisation, asking the public, fellows

The Scottish government has said it is considering making its review of charity regulation independent, in response to calls from the voluntary sector. The government pledged in late 2022 that it would undertake a review of charity regulation in Scotland after the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act passed, which received royal assent last summer.

Time is running out to submit entries for Third Sector’s Business Charity Awards 2024, which celebrate the significant contribution made by companies to UK charities and social enterprises. The deadline for entries in this year’s awards has been extended to 11:59pm on Thursday 15 February 2024.  There are 27 categories available to enter covering innovation,

Barclays has said it will stop directly financing energy firms’ new oil and gas projects, after pressure from organisations including charities.  Oxfam GB last week said it would stop using the lender’s services, while other charities including Christian Aid and the Christian festival Greenbelt have also cut ties with the bank because of its financing

Sector leaders have welcomed the appointment of David Holdsworth as the next chief executive of the Charity Commission, describing him as a “damned good regulator” who “really knows the guts of the commission”.  The Charity Commission announced yesterday that David Holdsworth, who was previously the regulator’s deputy chief executive and most recently held the top

The Hamish Ogston Foundation has changed its name to the Vinehill Trust after a series of allegations were made against its founding chair.  The claims, first reported last October in The Sunday Times newspaper, alleged that the multi-millionaire businessman Hamish Ogston trafficked women and used the foundation to bring women into the country. The claims

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ pilot scheme to find jobs in the charity sector for experienced professionals has placed six people at major charities, the umbrella body has said.  The Charity Interns project, which was launched last year as a six-month pilot scheme, aims to “highlight the positive impact of transferable skills from the private or public

A period poverty charity that supports girls in the UK and overseas has regained access to its bank account four months after was abruptly closed. Girls With Pride and Dignity is a period poverty charity based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. It was set up as a community scheme to support girls in poverty overseas, but

Charitable activity in the UK is failing to reach the areas of greatest need, a new report warns. Research from the think tank Centre for Cities says fewer and smaller donations are being made in the most deprived areas compared with other regions.  The report draws on data from various sources, including responses to the

Akt, the LGBTQ+ youth homelessness charity, has appointed an interim chief executive to replace its former chief, who resigned in November after nearly 17 years in post. Tim Spoor was chief executive of the charity, formerly the Albert Kennedy Trust, since 2007, having worked in LGBTQ+ charities for 25 years in total. Announcing his resignation

The chief executive of the National Aids Trust has resigned from her position after nearly a decade in the role. Deborah Gold, who became chief executive in 2014, will leave the charity in the summer. A spokesperson for the charity told Third Sector that Gold had decided the time was right for her to leave

Slightly more than half of charities say their fundraising income at least held up over the past year, research has found.  A survey of decision-makers from 202 charities shows 55 per cent of charities maintained or increased their fundraising income over the past year. The 2024 Charity Pulse report, published by the fundraising technology provider

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a spiritualist charity because of “disputing trustees” and a failure to file its accounts on time.  The commission said it was investigating the charity behind the London Spiritual Mission, which runs spiritualist services from its venue in Notting Hill, because “disputing trustees have been unwilling or

A Catholic priest who has chaired a sports body for the past 32 years has been appointed its chief executive.  The National Association of Karate and Martial Arts Schools, an independent, not-for-profit organisation based in Kent that governs traditional and modern martial arts, said the Reverend Joe Ellis had become its chief executive on a

A charity committed to ending gender-based violence has gone into liquidation following a “period of operational and financial difficulty”, Third Sector has learned. Against Violence & Abuse, which was registered as a charity in 2010, offers training, resources and consultancy work to improve UK services for survivors of violence against women and girls. The charity

The incoming chief executive of Unlock has withdrawn from the role before taking it up.  The charity, which supports people with criminal convictions, announced on 18 January that Andrew Henley would join it as chief executive on 1 February.  But Unlock said in a statement yesterday that Henley would no longer be taking up the

Unite says it is taking a housing charity to arbitration after it refused to recognise the union in pay negotiations. The union said the Leeds-based housing support charity Gipsil had said it would recognise union members but would not sign an agreement that allows collective bargaining over pay. The union said it would take the

Jo Elvin is to step down as chief executive of Children with Cancer UK after almost two years in the role.  The former editor of Glamour magazine, who joined the charity in April 2022, said she would leave at the end of February “to pursue fresh challenges”.  The charity said Elvin would “remain on hand

Oxfam GB will stop using financial services provided by Barclays because of the bank’s “continued financing of fossil fuels”, the charity has said.  Oxfam, which has used services provided by the bank for about 15 years, said it wrote to Barclays in December to say it would stop using its foreign exchange services with immediate

A Norfolk-based charity that supports unpaid carers has announced plans to close due to funding challenges after a loss of council funding. West Norfolk Carers, which had an income of slightly more than £200,000 in 2021/22, will close at the end of March, making all of its nine staff redundant. The charity also has about

Voluntary sector organisations that support people who are struggling with their energy costs are being invited to apply for a share of £20m in grant funding. The money is being offered by the Energy Saving Trust and comes from the Energy Redress Scheme, which is funded through voluntary payments from companies that have breached rules

The Actors’ Benevolent Fund has reported “serious concerns” about online voting in its council election to the police and the Charity Commission, after 166 proxy votes were found to be invalid.  The results of the election were due to be announced at its annual general meeting on 17 January, but this was delayed after concerns

People who give higher amounts to charity are more likely to be in favour of the use of artificial intelligence by voluntary organisations, new figures indicate.  Researchers asked more than 6,100 people in 10 countries about whether they thought the opportunities presented by AI for charities outweighed the risks, or vice versa.  The figures show

The disability charity Designability has appointed Jim Bowes as its chief executive. Bowes succeeds Catharine Brown, who stepped down in September after four years in the role. The charity, which supports disabled people to live more independently and creates products and services with and for disabled people, said Bowes has more than 20 years of

Christian Aid’s income rose by more than £12m last year, mainly because of funds donated to support people affected by the war in Ukraine, figures show.  The charity’s accounts for the year to the end of March, filed this week with Companies House, show total income reached £90.6m, up from £78.m in the previous year.

The amount of “shock tactic” imagery in charities’ news media adverts has decreased in the past decade, new research has found. Only 11 per cent of images from a sample of charity, NGO and INGO adverts found in UK national newspapers were classed as “pitiful” or used “shock tactics”, the study found. This is a