Charity

Charitable spending is getting “thinner each year” in the poorest parts of the UK, a think tank has warned. Analysis by NPC found that charitable spending per head had fallen faster in recent years in areas targeted for government help than in wealthier parts of the UK. This is despite government promises to promote civil

A former Conservative special adviser has been named as the next boss of the BBC’s international development charity. Simon Bishop will become chief executive of BBC Media Action next month. He succeeds Caroline Nursey, who is retiring this year after leading the charity for 14 years. Bishop is leaving the charity The Power of Nutrition

The number of sick days taken in the charity sector have increased by 30 per cent in the past year, a new report indicates. The Sick Leave Report 2023, published by the HR systems specialist Access People HR, also found the voluntary sector experienced 56 per cent more days lost in the past year due

The People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund has awarded £5m to two major dementia charities. Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK will use the funds to deliver their joint project, which aims to enable the introduction of a simple blood test in the NHS that will help diagnose dementia.   The award is the biggest in the

A charity worker was awarded £25,000 for wrongful dismissal amid claims she was “set up” by a group of her colleagues. Hastings and Rother Voluntary Association for the Blind, a social care charity, was told to pay enhanced compensation to Tracy Britcher, a former manager, in January. The employment tribunal published further details about the

An urgent appeal to support NHS charities during the Covid-19 pandemic raised £160m, research shows. The umbrella body NHS Charities Together said the appeal, launched during the early days of the pandemic in March 2020, became a focus for the public as people looked for ways to support the NHS during the crisis. The overwhelming

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into an anti-poverty charity after uncovering unexplained payments to private companies linked to some of its trustees.  The regulator said today it started engaging with the Asia Pacific Children’s Fund, which funds an orphanage in Bangladesh, in 2021 because of concerns about international cash couriering.  This led

The Charity Commission has appointed interim managers to a charitable think tank amid concerns about possible unauthorised benefits to trustees.  The regulator said it had opened a statutory inquiry into the Centre for Global Studies in August because of regulatory concerns including potential conflicts of interest and the handling of expenses.  It said it had

Legacy income is set to remain stable at about £3.9bn a year despite ongoing economic challenges, new figures show.  Data from the charity legacy consortium Legacy Foresight shows that legacy giving in the UK reached £3.85bn in 2022 and is expected to remain stable over the next few years. The quarterly analysis, called Legacy Market

The proportion of wills that include a gift to charity has increased by 50 per cent since 2014, new figures show.  The 2022 Savanta Will-Writing Tracking Study, published today, shows 24 per cent of wills written by solicitors and professional will-writers include a charitable gift, up from 16 per cent in 2014.  The study, which

The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to run a Muslim charity after it was issued an official warning. The regulator opened a statutory inquiry into the Islamic Centre of England last year amid serious governance concerns, the commission said. “Due to the trustees’ failure to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities and

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics has appointed Frances Longley as its new chief executive. Longley succeeds Mary Ann Lumsden, who has been leading FIGO since 2020. Lumsden will be retiring this year to focus on academic and personal endeavours. Prior to her appointment, Longley served as ActionAid UK’s first female chief executive as

Tributes have been paid to one of the founders of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance following death at the age of 54. John Bullough was a former army officer and the chairman of SCAA, which he helped launch in 2013. He passed away “suddenly” last Thursday, according to a statement published yesterday by SCAA. On Twitter,

A charity plans to remove a member of its advisory board and report itself to the regulator after learning that the man had previously been investigated over sexual harassment. A 2012 investigation into Daniel Wright, an advisor to the British False Memory Society, found that his behaviour towards women “rises to the level of harassment”,

An employment judge has criticised a faith charity for failing to declare income tax or national insurance payments in the wages and offerings paid to one of its priests. In a long and scathing report at the end of a tribunal, Judge John Crosfill said Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which operates a temple (mandir) in Ilford,

Nearly 40,000 volunteering events will take place on Monday to mark King Charles III’s coronation, it has been announced. The events will be held as part of the Big Help Out, a nationwide day of volunteering organised to coincide with the coronation and long bank holiday. Organisers claim that around 6 million people already plan

An employee who was sacked by a charity for giving two paracetamol tablets and a hot water bottle to a woman with dementia has been awarded more than £17,000 for unfair dismissal. Rebecca Tarlow, a house manager for Jewish Blind and Physically Disabled Society, gave the items to the elderly woman who was in pain

A major charity has apologised to some of its supporters after they lost access to online memorials to loved ones. Guide Dogs was among dozens of charities which used the services of The Online Book Company, which produced virtual books of remembrance for supporters and fundraisers.  But the firm faced a formal winding-up order in

One out of every 10 Scottish charities is currently defaulting on its accounts, according to new data from the OSCR. In its latest sector overview report, the regulator says there were 25,427 charities on the Scottish register on 31 March 2023 – with a combined income of £14.8bn. The number of organisations is slightly up

A giant social care charity says it cannot guarantee jobs will not be lost after it decided to withdraw from more than a dozen care homes and retirement communities. MHA, which raised £250m last year and employs more than 6,000 people, said it hoped staff would be able to continue work under new providers but

The Foundation for Social Improvement has closed and formally transferred its assets to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. NCVO said in a statement today that it would take on responsibility for Small Charities Week as well as other “key assets” previously controlled by the FSI. Existing FSI members will be able to join the

Pressure is mounting on Girlguiding UK to reverse its shock decision to end operations for girls living abroad. More than 14,000 people have signed a petition calling for a rethink after the youth charity announced on Twitter yesterday that it would change its relationship with British Girlguiding Overseas and cease all overseas guiding from 1

Dogs Trust has acquired two smaller animal charities as it bids to expand its international work. Worldwide Veterinary Service and Mission Rabies have merged into a single organisation which will operate as a subsidiary of Dogs Trust. The trust has long-term relationships with both charities, including helping to fund their work over several years. The

The regulator is looking into “concerns” about a charity that works with military veterans. The Charity Commission confirmed today that it had opened a compliance case into Forgotten Veterans UK, a Portsmouth-based organisation that supports former military personnel and their families. Three of the charity’s four trustees have quit the board, according to reports today

Charity bosses have warned that Covid-19 had a “profound” impact on volunteering after polling found a sharp fall in the number of people giving their time for free. The proportion of the public taking part in sponsored events, organising charity activities and campaigning for good causes have all halved since 2018, according to polling by

An authoritative survey is today suggesting the UK is in the midst of a “worrying and permanent” decline in people’s engagement with charities, with the fall-off “locked in since lockdown”. Charities Aid Foundation’s long-running UK Giving Report, published today, has found a significant drop compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic – in donation levels, volunteering

Charity finance experts say that government reforms to Gift Aid rules could “future proof” the system and safeguard donations worth billions of pounds a year. The Charity Tax Group welcomed a government announcement to engage with charities as part of its ongoing review of the current Gift Aid system.  CTG said that the Treasury would

The chief executive of the Charity Commission has launched a fierce attack on warring trustees, telling them not to “weaponise” the regulator as a “tactic to win their quarrel”. Helen Stephenson also warned that the approach could backfire, leading to the commission taking action after uncovering other governance shortcomings caused by the dispute. And she

A keynote fund for black and ethnic minority-led charities has been “swamped” in applications, one of its organisers has said. High demand means that fewer than one in 10 of the small charities applying to the £1m fund will be successful, according to Yvonne Field, chief executive of the Ubele Initiative. The Ubele Initiative is

Charities using cryptocurrencies to fundraise should expect those assets to lose value, the regulator has warned. Trustees should be wary of relying on cryptocurrency markets which are “largely unregulated” and where the value of assets is highly volatile, according to new guidance from the Charity Commission. Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies underpinned by blockchain, a technology