Charity

Communications skills are less valued by charities now than during the pandemic, research shows. One in 10 charity comms professionals said they believed their roles had become less important to colleagues during the past year, double the proportion who said so in 2021. The data is included in a survey of nearly 800 communications experts

The entry deadline for the Business Charity Awards is just one week away.  The awards, which are run by Third Sector, recognise the outstanding work done by the people and teams behind corporate and charity partnerships. There are 24 categories, spanning sector partnerships and teams. One of those category winners will be selected to win

A growing number of charities are joining a campaign to postpone a planned increase in the energy price guarantee (EPG), which they say will plunge millions more people into fuel poverty. Martin Lewis, founder of the MoneySavingExpert website, urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to keep the state-subsidised unit cost at a level where a British household

Youth charities in England have 10 days to apply for funding from a government-backed scheme helping young people access outdoor pursuits. Projects funded through the Adventure Away from Home programme must then be delivered by the middle of April. The fund, worth £470,000 in total, was launched yesterday.  The network body UK Youth, which is

The regulator has rejected an application to register as a charity an organisation supporting people “injured and bereaved by the Covid-19 vaccinations”.  John Bowe, a British actor known for his role in Emmerdale, tried to register the Charity Organisation for the Vaccine InjureD (C.O.V.I.D.) with the regulator after opening a support line for people who

Latvian police have raided a bank owned by a former trustee at a charity founded by King Charles III. Valery Belokon was a trustee at the Prince’s Foundation for Community Building, where the then-Prince Charles was president, between 2010 and 2013.  During the same period Belokon was also a director of PF Urban, a private

The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into a charity after one of its backers filed for bankruptcy. Effective Ventures Foundation filed a serious incident report with the commission last December following the collapse of FTX, a US cryptocurrency exchange whose philanthropic arm had funded the UK charity in the past. The Charity Commission said

The Canal & River Trust, one of the largest charities in the UK, has named its new fundraising director. Maggie Gardner will start in the role next month. She previously worked as managing director of strategic partnerships, development and communication at the US non-profit organisation The Freedom Fund and as marketing, communications and fundraising director

A new report has called for greater collaboration between the public, private and social sectors to “fuel” the UK’s recovery and growth. The final report of the Law Family Commission on Civil Society (LFCCS), chaired by former cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell and published today, highlights the “crucial role” the charity sector plays in the

A manager at a social care charity has been awarded about £25,000 after an employment tribunal found she had been unfairly dismissed. The judge increased the compensation due to Tracy Britcher because Hastings and Rother Voluntary Association for the Blind “unreasonably failed to comply” with best practice settling grievances. Britcher’s claims for both unfair dismissal

The boss of the National Trust says the decision to lay off hundreds of staff during the Covid-19 crisis was the worst moment of her career. Director-general Hilary McGrady said that losing so many colleagues during the pandemic had been a “terrible time” for the charity, but argued the decision was necessary to protect its

A charity has hit out at “bewildering” government funding decisions as it appealed for help to finance the last phase of a multimillion-pound project to reopen an outdoor swimming pool. The Broomhill Pool Trust, which was founded in 2004, said it was still about £2m short of the total it needed to restore and reopen

A coalition of major charities has officially launched a massive volunteering drive that will take place on the weekend of the King’s coronation.  The Big Help Out will be held on 8 May, the Bank Holiday Monday immediately following the King’s coronation weekend.  Organisers said they are hoping for an “unprecedented community mobilisation” that will

The number of gifts to charity left in wills hit a record high last year, latest figures show. The legacy information company Smee and Ford said the number of individual bequests within charitable estates granted probate in England and Wales in 2022 was the highest recorded at 123,298. The company said the total value of

Stuart Andrew has pledged his “personal commitment” to facilitating collaboration between civil society organisations and the public and private sectors. Speaking at the launch of the Law Family Commission on Civil Society, launched today by the think tank Pro Bono Economics, the civil society minister said: “The power and importance of collaboration across sectors is

The trustee of a UK charity will appear in court in Malta on 3 February as one of the first people in the world to be charged with promoting ‘gay conversion therapy’. Matthew Grech, 33, is a trustee of the County Down charity Core Issues Trust and lives in Malta. He was charged in the

Running costs will remain high, recruitment will be difficult and the political landscape will continue to change, according to a new report looking at 2023. The Road Ahead 2023, published on Wednesday by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, outlined five key insights for charities over the next year. The report said that due to

Guide Dogs UK has moved out of a London office-share with the Royal National Institute of Blind People after the RNIB ended the lease on its building. Last month, Guide Dogs moved its London office from RNIB’s building on Judd Street to the British Medical Association’s premises in Tavistock Square. A Guide Dogs spokesperson told

St Giles Trust has appointed Tracey Burley (pictured) as its new chief executive as Rob Owen steps down from the role. Burley previously worked as interim chief executive of the youth charity Redthread and as chief operating officer of the LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall. Rob Owen, who led St Giles Trust for 15 years, told

A charity shop has made almost £10,000 after finding a mint condition Cartier watch in a bag of donations. The British Heart Foundation sold the sought-after timepiece on eBay for £9,766 after it was discovered in the bag in the shop at Hounslow, London. The Cartier Tank Francaise 18ct gold watch was sent to the

A coalition of 30 charities will hold a “festival of volunteering” later this year to mark the coronation of King Charles III, it has been announced. The Big Help Out will take place on 8 May, the final day of the coronation long weekend, with hundreds of events planned across the UK to highlight the

The early-bird deadline for reduced-rate entry to the Business Charity Awards is just one week away.  The awards, which are run by Third Sector, recognise the outstanding work done by the people and teams behind corporate and charity partnerships. There are 24 categories, spanning sector partnerships and teams. One of those category winners will be

Some “great charities” could go bust before the inflation crisis is over, the chair of the regulator has warned. Orlando Fraser, chair of the Charity Commission, told an online event this morning that, while experts expected cost-of-living pressures to ease in the next 18 months, “tremendous damage” could be done to the sector in the

The Black Equity Organisation, which was launched last year, has named Wanda Wyporska as its chief executive. Wyporska, who takes up the role in March, will lead the national civil rights charity, set up to tackle systemic racism in the UK.  She joins the BEO from the Society of Genealogists, where she is chief executive.

Ten charities are collaborating as part of a project to open a ‘pop-up’ second-hand clothes store in north London. The shop, Charity Super.Mkt, will open next week in Brent Cross for one month. Traid, Age UK, All Aboard, Barnardo’s, Cancer Research UK, Emmaus, Havens Hospice, Save the Children, Marie Curie and Shelter are all donating

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into a disability charity after identifying potential “wrongdoing and abuse” by a senior employee. The regulator said it would examine concerns about the Organisation of Blind Africans and Caribbeans, including whether trustees “exercised sufficient oversight” over the charity’s executive team. The commission said it was worried about

Charities must protect themselves from the potentially “devastating” consequences of cyber crime, a government agency has warned. This could include cyber criminals posing as volunteers to infiltrate charities or even being targeted by foreign states, according to the National Cyber Security Centre. About 30 per cent of charities suffered cyber attacks in 2021, the most

Amazon has announced plans to close its main donations tool, which has raised nearly £20m for UK charities in the past decade. The firm said that AmazonSmile, which is used by thousands of charities, will close in a month. In a statement online, Amazon said the programme “had not grown to create the impact that

Voluntary sector leaders should sacrifice their own ambitions to help charities improve society, they were told yesterday. Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said social change was more likely to happen “when leaders don’t care who takes the credit”. He was speaking at an online event hosted by the Good Agency, a campaigns

Voluntary sector leaders should sacrifice their own ambitions to help charities improve society, they were told yesterday. Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said social change was more likely to happen “when leaders don’t care who takes the credit”. He was speaking at an online event hosted by the Good Agency, a campaigns