Charity

The richest people in the country do not donate enough to good causes and are “not covering themselves with glory”, the chair of the Charity Commission said today. Orlando Fraser told an event that levels of philanthropy by the wealthiest 1 per cent of people “verges on shameful” when compared with the generosity of poorer

The British Council has refused to re-employ a £70,000-a-year senior manager accused of sexual misconduct. The organisation was ordered to re-engage Paul Sellers, the former head of the British Council in Italy, after an employment tribunal found that he had been unfairly dismissed.  But a British Council spokesperson told Third Sector it had appealed the

The Charity Commission has closed a two-year inquiry into Muslim Aid after trustees completed work to improve governance and financial controls. But the regulator criticised the charity for missing earlier deadlines to make those changes, arguing that it could have avoided suspected fraud and serious reputational damage if it had acted sooner. The inquiry report

The Purpose Awards EMEA – the awards scheme from PRWeek, Campaign and Third Sector – is accepting entries for 2023. The awards recognise campaigns that use creative ideas successfully to further positive causes, and acknowledge the organisations behind them. The awards are open to agencies, brands, public sector bodies, charities and NGOs throughout EMEA. With the

A controversial millionaire has overhauled the finances of his charity amid scrutiny from the regulator. Businessman Doug Barrowman last year converted nearly £1.5m in unsecured loans to his foundation into donations. Barrowman, who made his money in corporate finance, established the Barrowman Foundation in 2017 and sits on its board. He made the loans over

The RSPB is planning to spend £1.5m on a reboot and “reimagining” of its brand, along with a new campaign. The conservation charity has partnered with the creative brand consultancy ASHA & Co to redesign its brand identity and messaging, and with the creative group Lovers for a new brand reappraisal campaign.  Work on the

The Charity Commission says it is “actively considering” concerns raised about the conduct of climate-sceptic lobbying group the Global Warming Policy Foundation. A cross-party group of MPs wrote to the regulator last month alleging that the GWPF had breached lobbying and financial rules. Third Sector understands that the charity has also filed a serious incident

The Institute of Economic Affairs has hit back at “infantile” Extinction Rebellion-linked activists who poured fake oil over the front of its London headquarters. The controversial think tank claimed XR’s opposition to its lobbying to deregulate planning had “contributed to making the UK’s low-carbon transition slower and more expensive”. During the demonstration on Monday a

Pressure from a skin cancer charity and patients has led supermarket Waitrose & Partners to edit its Christmas TV advert, which showed two farmers comparing their sun tans. The festive ad shows producers growing and harvesting food for Christmas, including a scene in which the farmers compare their tanned arms from working outside. The retailer

Government funding for Citizens Advice fell by more than £10m last year, even though requests for help in response to Covid-19 and the economic crisis grew. The charity’s total income in the 12 months to the end of March 2022 was £153.6m, down from £162.6m the year before, according to annual accounts published overnight. This

A suicide prevention charity could be forced to ignore urgent calls because it cannot afford Clean Air Zone charges for its vehicles, it fears.  Suicide Prevention Bristol said it faced more than £6,000 in CAZ charges, which come into force in parts of the city on 28 November. The charity’s welfare van is exempt from

Staff at the National Coal Mining Museum have called off further industrial action after being offered a 10.5 per cent pay increase. NCM employees had rejected an initial 4.2 per cent offer and threatened to strike before Christmas, but yesterday agreed a deal arranged with help from the arbitration service Acas. The rise will be

Charities face a “cliff edge” in March if government support with energy bills is not extended, a coalition of voluntary organisations has said. More than a dozen charity umbrella bodies have written to Grant Shapps MP, the business secretary, to warn that the sector is bracing for another spike in costs when the support package

The Motor Neurone Disease Association has announced that Tanya Curry will be its new chief executive. Curry, who is currently the interim chief executive of Impetus, will take up her post in January 2023. She brings two decades of experience in charity leadership to the role. Curry said: “I am hugely excited to be joining

Charities are set to receive hundreds of millions of pounds in legacy gifts after the government announced plans to clear the backlog of probate cases. The probate system was hit by long delays during Covid-19, as a result of higher death rates and the challenges of processing estates during the pandemic. Experts estimate that legacies

The city council is preparing to take back Nottingham Castle after it was closed and the charitable trust in charge went into liquidation. The landmark building, which local legend says hosted the final duel between Robin Hood and the evil sheriff, closed to visitors 18 months after a £33m revamp. The refurbishment was funded in

The Charity Commission will be monitoring Eton College after allegations that some of its pupils jeered at and insulted girls visiting from another school. The commission confirmed that it would contact Eton’s trustees after the school filed a serious incident report with the regulator.  According to the BBC, girls from a nearby state school were

English Heritage has benefited from people’s post-pandemic desire to get out and about, recording a 16 per cent rise in income in the past year. Membership of the conservation charity reached almost 1.2 million, including 422,000 new sign-ups, according to its annual report and accounts for 2021/22. Some of its 400-plus sites posted record visitor numbers,

A scathing report today reveals the details of numerous incidents of racism suffered by staff at Unicef UK – and says the charity has “little understanding” of how to stop it. The charity has apologised after an independent review found more than 20 racist microaggressions faced by employees. They included being mistaken for colleagues from

The Charity Commission has stepped up its investigation into the Islamic Centre of England by opening a statutory inquiry into its governance and administration. Last month, the commission said it was “assessing” a speech made by Seyed Moosavi, one of the charity’s trustees, in which he described protesters in Iran as “soldiers of Satan”. Comments

The prolific philanthropists Julia and Hans Rausing have today launched a £10m grants programme to help charities and food banks to tackle the growing food poverty crisis. Last month, the couple’s charity, The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, handed £3.5m to the Trussell Trust’s emergency food bank appeal. Now, as part of today’s £10m announcement,

Charities are wondering how much more demand they can absorb before the safety net fails, a sector leader said following today’s Autumn Statement. Another leading figure said charities must not be “taken for granted”, amid fears they are “on the verge of buckling” as public services funding falls away. Their comments came as umbrella bodies

The grant-maker The Henry Smith Charity has appointed Anand Shukla as chief executive.  Shukla succeeds Nic Acland, who stepped down in May after 15 years with the charity. Shukla, who has been interim chief executive of the charity since Acland left, previously spent five years as head of the mentoring charity Brightside and before that

An organisation that tests people for drug use at events including music festivals has been granted charity status and appointed its first chief executive. The Loop, which runs pop-up sites, will launch a regular testing site in Bristol in January. Chief executive Katy Porter said: “The recognition and registration as a charity will mean that

Almost half of adults in the UK want charities to become more political to force change in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis, a survey has found. The creative company the Good Agency joined with the pollsters YouGov for part two of its Cost of Giving Monitor, with the aim of giving charity fundraisers insights

Charities have criticised the government for putting off restoring the overseas aid budget to previous levels, saying it has broken a manifesto promise.  The government was roundly condemned two years ago when Rishi Sunak, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced the UK’s overseas aid budget would be cut from 0.7 per cent of gross

UK charities’ real-terms income will fall by £2.2bn by the end of 2023/24, a think tank warned after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement today. Pro Bono Economics, which uses financial expertise to empower the voluntary sector, added that charity demand would soar at a time when its resilience was “seriously weakened”. The charity also urged

The Alzheimer’s Society achieved a record income of £116m last year, boosted by a sharp rise in legacy giving. The charity raised £116.5m in the year ending in March 2022, up about 5 per cent compared with 2020/21. The value of legacies left to the charity rose by almost £11m, from £27.8m to £38.7m. The

The minister for civil society used his first public appearance to promise charities that he will work with them as they tackle the inflation crisis. Stuart Andrew MP, who was named in the role last Monday, told an audience at the Association of Charitable Foundations annual conference that he would “engage constructively” with the sector

The commercial arm of the National Trust cut staff numbers by 20 per cent as it bounced back from Covid-19 to post an £11.7m surplus. The National Trust (Enterprises) Ltd also saw turnover more than double from £26.6m in 2020/21 to £55.4m in the year ending 28 February 2022, according to its annual report and