Charity

The idealisation of charitable organisations can make it easier for staff and volunteers to ignore or downplay unethical behaviour, academics have concluded. Research led by Isabel de Bruin from the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University says self-glorification within charities can lead to unethical behaviour, termed as the “NGO halo effect”.  A survey conducted

A health and social care charity has increased pay for its 1,800 social care workers in a £4.6m investment. Alternative Futures Group provides support for people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. It said today it had increased pay for all its social care workers from £11 an hour to £12 – a 9

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has told more than 100 charities that it plans remove them from the charity register after they failed to submit their accounts on time. The OSCR said 112 charities were at risk of being removed for failing to submit accounts to the regulator, after changes to Scottish charity

Up to 19 jobs are at risk at a Scottish conservation charity that is facing a “serious financial deficit”.  The John Muir Trust, which is based in Pitlochry and employs 64 people, said its operating costs in the past year had been significantly higher than its income in a “particularly challenging financial environment”.  The charity’s

The homelessness charity St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity has appointed Duncan Shrubsole, policy director at the Lloyds Bank Foundation, as its next chief executive. Shrubsole will take up the role on 24 June after 10 years as director of policy, research and communications at the Lloyds Bank Foundation. He succeeds Tim Bissett, who is moving to the top job

The Fire Fighters Charity has appointed Sherine Wheeler as its next chief executive. Wheeler announced last month that she was stepping down as head of the animal welfare and veterinary charity Mayhew to take up an unspecified leadership role. The Fire Fighters Charity said this week that she would join the organisation, which provides specialist

David Crundwell, the first permanent chair of the British Psychological Society, has resigned for personal reasons after just over a year in the role.  The BPS acts as the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK. It is responsible for the promotion of excellence and ethical practice in the science, education and application

The Fundraising Regulator and the Charity Commission are looking into concerns about an end-of-life and burial charity, following allegations that it fundraised for the Clapham chemical attacker’s burial under a false name. The 13 Rivers Trust, which operates the Muslim Burial Fund, will be subject to enquiries after recent media reports sparked complaints to the

A charity backed by the American convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried has announced it is winding down. Effective Ventures Foundation UK, which had an income of more than £140m in 2022, supports “organisations in the effective altruism and long termism communities”, according to its website.  The charity’s latest accounts to the year ending 30 June

Charities must ensure they take extra care around data security when using artificial intelligence tools, the Charity Commission has warned.  In a blog post published today, Paul Latham, director of communications and policy at the regulator, says issues can arise when AI is put to use directly in charity operations and charities might not be

The Charity Commission has rejected calls from a cross-party group of politicians to open an inquiry into a charitable think tank. Earlier this month, the Good Law Project, a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to use the law to protect the interests of the public, sent a letter to the regulator calling for it to open

Scottish Community Alliance, an umbrella body for Scotland’s community sector networks, has appointed Elizabeth Docherty as its next director. Docherty, who has spent the past seven years as director of the Glasgow Social Enterprise Network, succeeds Angus Hardie, who has been the SCA’s director since setting it up in 2010. Hardie is retiring after spending

The charity shopping website Easyfundraising has said it will defend itself from “desperate claims” after the founder of easyJet complained to the Charity Commission in an ongoing naming dispute.  EasyGroup, which owns the easyJet airline, announced plans to sue Easyfundraising in 2022 over the use of the word easy in its name. The business’ case

The Order of St John Care Trust, a charity providing residential and nursing care to older people, has bought a private care home provider for an undisclosed sum. The charity has acquired Elmfield Care, which offers residential dementia and respite care for almost 200 residents in three care homes in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. It comes

The Christian development charity Tearfund is cutting its internal policy work as part of restructuring activity that will mean about 10 per cent of its staff have been made redundant over the past year.  The charity told Third Sector that it expected to make about 40 people redundant in an ongoing restructure prompted by falling

About 40 nature projects in Scotland are set to benefit from a new partnership programme to help them attract private investments. The Community of Practice programme, delivered in partnership by the investment company Social Investment Scotland, the government agency NatureScot and the grantmaker the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aims to unlock investment opportunities for nature-based

Girlguiding has announced that it will continue activities in British Overseas Territories, after the closure of its overseas units in September.  The charity said it will integrate guiding within the British Overseas Territories – specifically Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Saint Helena and Ascension Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

An equality charity has appointed one of the senior leaders at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations as its next chief. Farrow will join the Kaleidoscope Trust in June after seven years at the NCVO, the past almost two years as director of influencing and engagement. He succeeds Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, who left in November to

The number of new legacies being received by charities has “increased dramatically” this year, according to a membership body. A report by the Institute of Legacy Management finds the probate backlog had been reduced by “at least 10,000” over the past six months. The legacy consortium Legacy Foresight said in November that an estimated £900m

Charities approach appeal videos as though they are “PowerPoint presentations”, which is why “none of them get any views”, the executive director of the YouTube channel Beast Philanthropy has said in a podcast published today.  Speaking in the latest episode of Third Sector’s documentary podcast series The End of Charity, Darren Margolias discusses the philanthropic

The Global Fund for Children has appointed co-chief executives, aiming to diversify gender as part of a new shared leadership structure. Hayley Roffey has joined current chief John Hecklinger as co-chief executive of the grantmaker, which invests in community-based programmes that engage with vulnerable children and young people. Roffey has spent the past three years

The National Trust has said it will continue to take advice from “accountable, regulated institutions” after its democratic process was criticised by a think tank. A report, called National Distrust: The End of Democracy in the National Trust and published by the Legatum Institute, criticised the charity’s voting system, restriction on attendances at annual general

The confectioner Tony’s Chocolonely, Amazon UK and the Yorkshire Building Society are among the companies shortlisted for the 2024 Business Charity Awards. The awards, run by Third Sector, recognise the outstanding support given by businesses to UK charities and voluntary organisations. The shortlist features 27 categories covering innovation, charity partnerships and talent.  Partnerships shortlisted for

A homelessness charity at risk of losing £2m in council funding has said it “will not be able to operate services” without additional support. Two Saints receives £2m a year from Hampshire County Council for its social inclusion services. But the local authority has proposed funding cuts to homelessness support services in March next year.

The British Youth Council, a major youth voice charity, is closing after more than 75 years due to “ongoing financial challenges”. BYC is a youth-led charity that encourages young people under the age of 25 to get involved in their communities and democracy locally, nationally and internationally.  It was set up by the Foreign Office

The Charity Finance Group broke even last year after three successive deficits, latest figures show. The membership body’s accounts for the year to the end of March 2023 show it had recorded income and spending of £1.5m.  The CFG had recorded deficits in each of the three previous years, totalling more than £400,000 over the

A former charity director is facing 25 charges relating to an alleged £1m Gift Aid fraud involving a youth support charity. Wendy Macbean, 60, and of St Johnston, Lifford, is accused of committing the alleged offences in the name of Foyle Youth and Community Association, which is based in Derry, Northern Ireland. Macbean was due

The number of complaints received by the Fundraising Regulator rose by 8 per cent last year, new figures show.  The regulator’s latest annual report, published today, says 1,137 complaints were made to it in the year to the end of August 2023, up from 1,056 in the previous year.  The regulator said 509 of the

The next UK government should remove restrictions on civil society campaigning, according to the NGO umbrella body Bond.  Bond’s 2024 manifesto, called A Global System for People and Planet and published today, sets out the steps it believes the next government should take to “help secure a global system for people and planet, the delivery

The government has commissioned a review of Arts Council England.  The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it had appointed Dame Mary Archer, chancellor of the University of Buckingham and a former chair of the Science Museum Group, to lead the exercise, supported by a panel of 14 arts and cultural sector experts.  The