Charity

There are three things that will always remind me of March 2020: Zoom quizzes, banana bread and digital service delivery.  That same month charities had to pivot rapidly, shifting many of their services online as the Covid-19 pandemic struck.  Three years on, few of us want to do a Zoom quiz or eat more banana

The cyclist who died during the British Heart Foundation’s London to Brighton Bike Ride was taking part in the event for the 24th time, his family said. David Cooper, 69, said on his JustGiving page that BHF research probably saved his life when he had major heart surgery in 1998. He had ridden in the

A community charity expects donations to soar and brand awareness to grow “tenfold” after it was chosen to adorn the shirts of a famous football club. A pioneering deal has seen six businesses put forward money to sponsor Rotherham United’s shirts – but to agree to receive no publicity, with a charity taking the cherished

A £13m charity will get almost one quarter of what it normally makes from fundraising in a year, thanks to football legend Graeme Souness’s English Channel swim. The 70-year-old, who completed the gruelling 21-mile swim in just over 12 hours, has raised more than £1.1m so far for DEBRA UK. In the year ending 31

A weeklong celebration of small charities is happening under a cloud, with thousands of organisations “on the brink” of going under, it is claimed today. During Small Charity Week, which began today and is celebrated on the latest Third Sector Podcast episode, voluntary groups come together to mark the difference they make. But, according to

A new report has suggested that social investment is “strongly associated” with decreasing deprivation and better economic productivity The publication examined the impact of a government-backed Futurebuilders England social investment fund, which it described as “ground-breaking” for the time. The Futurebuilders fund invested £142m into 406 charities and social enterprises in England between 2004 and

An animal charity has today been given an official warning by the regulator for failing to file its accounts on time for five consecutive years. On the Charity Commission’s website, the UK German Shepherd Rescue Angels’ page carries a ‘regulatory alert’ label and adds that “charity reporting is overdue by 957 days”. The commission said

A legal expert said today that the issue of childhood sexual abuse in the Scout Association is “not a historical one”, as an investigation revealed the charity settled 166 cases in the past 10 years. The investigation by BBC File on 4 found the Scouts had paid out more than £6m in compensation during the

A charity leader who was made a CBE last year is leaving one chief executive role after 17 years to take up another in the independent sector. Joanna Elson has been named as the new chief executive of £7.5m charity Independent Age, which supports older people facing financial hardship. Elson will leave her current position

A month-long strike by Unite members at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s has been extended indefinitely, Third Sector can reveal. It is understood that volunteers have been told that they will no longer be able to return to their roles on 27 June as had been planned. Meanwhile, some striking workers have been using the

The director and former chief executive of a leading charity specialising in the prevention of pregnancy loss have been made OBEs in the King’s Birthday Honours. Arri Coomarasamy, director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, and Jane Brewin, the charity’s former chief executive, were among those honoured by King Charles III. Both are

A major football club’s charity arm has launched an internal review of its “prevailing culture” amid claims from former members of staff that it is a “toxic” environment. Three former employees of the Leeds United Foundation, speaking to the BBC, described instances of bullying, with one ex-staffer claiming he feared the culture would “lead to

The chief executive of Oxfam GB, one of the UK’s largest charities, today announced he is leaving at the end of the year. Danny Sriskandarajah, who succeeded Mark Goldring in 2018, will take up a new role as chief executive of the New Economics Foundation. When he took over at Oxfam the charity was under

A children’s charity has been ordered to pay a total of £166,000 to 21 staff members after a tribunal heard claims including unfair dismissal, breach of contract and unpaid holiday wages. Parc (Essex), which provided services for children with additional needs and their families, told employees that they no longer had jobs and would not

Thousands of needy people will go without food after arsonists torched a van used by a charity to make deliveries. FareShare UK has cancelled all of its food pantries this week and is trying to divert deliveries from its other bases to Edinburgh to keep homeless people fed. The van was set on fire and

Charity employees could be among the leading beneficiaries as nationwide pressure builds to switch to a four-day working week, experts say. A joint manifesto has been launched today, setting out a series of demands to make the transition from the current maximum working weekly hours of 48 to 32 by 2030 The manifesto, launched by

Charities should work more collaboratively with each other to enable volunteers to move more easily between different organisations, a new report urges. The British Heart Foundation paper, From Goodwill to Great Impact: Maximising the Benefits of Volunteering, calls for the government and wider charity sector to break down barriers around volunteering. It says people are

Campaigners fighting to save five Girlguiding activity centres from the axe have drawn up detailed proposals that include the sale of the charity’s headquarters opposite Buckingham Palace. The group of Girlguiding volunteer leaders have posted an online open letter calling for the London base to be offloaded and the money to be used to refurbish

A £296m charity could “teach others a thing or two about purpose”, according to its outgoing chairman, as its annual accounts showed income up by £32.5m to a new record high. Sir Ken Olisa made the comment in the foreword to The Shaw Trust’s accounts, which show that it made £295.9m in the year ending

A 200-year-old charity has been warned that it risks failing to meet its responsibilities after handing out an average of £62 a year to needy residents since 2016/17. According to Edinburgh Live, Audit Scotland has issued the warning to East Lothian Council, which oversees the Dr Bruce Fund and appoints ward councillors as trustees. The

The Scottish regulator has banned a charity from operating and ordered its bank not to sell any of its property amid “serious concerns” that its assets are at risk. Two weeks after opening an inquiry into Pollokshields Development Agency, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has taken the unusual decision to impose the restrictions.

A £7m environmental charity has rebranded after 36 years as it seeks to boost its public profile. The Scottish organisation Changeworks, which has the purpose of decarbonising homes, said it decided to rebrand to help it to “accelerate” its work. Chief executive Josiah Lockhart said: “Our new, bold brand really reflects what Changeworks stands for.

The mental health charity Calm and the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan were the big voluntary sector winners at this year’s Purpose Awards.  Calm won the Best Advocacy Campaign, Best Health Cause Campaign and the Best Public Awareness Cause Campaign for its work with the agency Hope&Glory on their campaign called ‘The Last Photo’, which

A charity that has been supporting people since the time of Queen Victoria has appointed a new chief executive. Sue Freeth has been chosen to lead VSA, the social care charity that operates in Aberdeen and North East Scotland.  Freeth has a 40-year career serving in UK social care charities and held both executive and

An under-pressure military veterans’ charity that is being looked into by the regulator has received another blow – a demand from the MoD to return a £25,000 grant. British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association is the subject of a Charity Commission compliance case after trustees terminated the contract of chief executive Ceri McDade. She has challenged

The lawyer chosen as interim manager of the Islamic Centre of England has hit back at critics of her appointment. Campaigners said last week that Emma Moody was not a suitable choice because she “is not from that faith community” but Moody stressed that she brought experience and expertise to the role. She is head

One of the UK’s largest charities has today won a Supreme Court case that experts believe could be of benefit to the entire voluntary sector. Nuffield Health, which made almost £1bn in 2021 and employs 16,400 people, claimed victory over Merton Council – for the third time during a seven-year legal battle. Judges ruled unanimously

A charity in memory of the victims of the Glasgow helicopter disaster is embroiled in legal action against an energy company over almost £300,000 it says it lost in “hidden fees”. The Clutha Trust, set up after 10 people died when a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha pub in 2013, is taking the French

A small hospice charity has been saved after its larger neighbour stepped in to agree a merger. The 31-year-old Bedford Daycare Hospice said it had found it “challenging” to sustain the charity in recent years. But, following negotiations, the organisation has today revealed its merger with Keech Hospice Care, whose staff levels are 10 times

Health and wellbeing charity Westminster Drug Project has changed its name after 30 years. The charity said the original name “no longer spoke” to its identity and services, which have grown to include mental and sexual health programmes alongside drugs and alcohol services. The decision to adopt Via as its new name came from an