Charity

Charities should drop “flaky” measurement systems as they try to show their impact, a think tank boss has said. Dan Corry, chief executive of NPC, told his organisation’s annual conference that a focus on social return on investment, through which charities attach a cash value to the outcomes achieved thanks to investment in their projects,

A third of funders in London have increased the value of their charity grants or plan to do so as the cost of living crisis bites, according to a survey. Foundations in the capital are reacting to a “genuine sense of desperation” among the charities they support, the survey says, as inflation and energy prices

The transgender rights charity Mermaids has defended itself after an MP asked the Prime Minister to support calls for a police investigation into its work. Miriam Cates, the Conservative MP for Penistone and Stockbridge, said in parliament yesterday that Mermaids should face a criminal investigation over a series of safeguarding allegations. Mermaids today dismissed her

Foundations “have no incentive” to take charities’ cost of capital into account, according to new research.  A study conducted by the charity consultancy Giving Evidence shows few foundations monitored the financial burden their application processes placed on charities. Understanding and Reducing the System Costs of Foundations’ Application Processes, published yesterday, also estimates that UK charities spend

Charity leaders work together effectively but are cautious about “yielding control” through formal funding partnerships, according to academic research. The paper from the University of Durham, called Going the Distance, draws on 15 years of research.  It says cooperation between charities has increased over this time and that voluntary organisations make “quite good neighbours to

Charities should campaign “with tolerance and kindness”, the chair of the regulator said today. Orlando Fraser, who took over the role in April, also told the Charity Commission’s annual public meeting that trustees should ensure any political activity is “the prudent thing to do” when charities faced so much financial pressure. The speech coincided with

The investment portfolios of more than one in 10 charities lost value this year, a survey shows. Research by Newton Investment Management, one of the sector’s biggest fund managers, found that 12 per cent of charities reported negative investment returns in the year to March 2022. This is a six-fold increase on the two per

The anti-poverty charity Trussell Trust has set up a hardship fund for its own staff as the inflation crisis bites, it was revealed today. Matthew van Duyvenbode, chief strategy officer, told an event this afternoon that the move was part of work to help staff and volunteers “facing stress both at work and at home”.

The Charity Commission is looking into more allegations against the Islamic Centre of England, just months after it issued the charity with an official warning. The commission confirmed that it was “assessing” a speech made this week by Seyed Moosavi, one of the charity’s trustees, in which he described protesters in Iran as “soldiers of

The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into the salaries paid to senior staff at the global youth charity One Young World. Kate Robertson, chief executive of One Young World, was paid £427,994 in the 18 months to June 2021, including employer’s national insurance payments. This is more than 20 per cent of the

The Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity is aiming to raise £3.5m through a partnership with the London Marathon. Gosh Charity will be the marathon’s charity of the year in 2023, it announced today. The charity has been given 487 starting spots for sponsored runners in the marathon, which takes place in April next year. Louise

The National Lottery Community Fund will increase some of its grants to reflect the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on charities. The news came as the Edinburgh-based Corra Foundation promised a 10 per cent funding “uplift” to help some of its grant recipients cope with soaring inflation. It means dozens of small youth charities in

The National Lottery Community Fund has paused funding for transgender support charity Mermaids while the regulator conducts a compliance case. The funder confirmed today that it will not pay further instalments of a £500,000 grant until the outcome of the Charity Commission’s investigation is known. The NLCF awarded the grant in 2018, with payments to

The company behind the fundraising platform JustGiving recorded an operational profit of just under £19m last year, its annual accounts show. The figures for Giving.com Ltd, which trades as JustGiving, show that its profits in the year ending in December 2021 were slightly lower than in 2020, when the firm made £19.1m.  JustGiving makes its

A fraudulent fundraiser has been jailed after raising at least £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and keeping it for herself. Annette Wilcox collected money from the public at car boot sales and steam rallies across the country. Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that she committed the crimes between July 2015 and June 2016, then from September

“When someone we love has cancer, we are all affected—husbands, wives, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and friends. This is our effort in the fight against cancer.” — Ralph Lauren NEW YORK – For more than two decades, Ralph Lauren has been a leader in the fight against cancer. The Pink Pony Initiative, the Company’s

A Darlington-based food bank has been ordered to pay £5,000 to two former members of staff after failing to pay their wages. A judge found that NQA, a community interest company, owed both employees pay from between December 2021 and March 2022. The CIC made only one payment in this period, covering a single week’s

A prestigious international film festival and two cinemas have shut down after charity trustees called in administrators. The trustees of Centre for the Moving Image, which runs Edinburgh International Film Festival, Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen and Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh, blamed a “perfect storm” of rising energy costs and low post-lockdown audiences. They have appointed

For the second year in a row, Arrow Electronics employees in the United Kingdom raised funds for Martin House Children’s Hospice. A team of 28 completed the Great Yorkshire Cycle, a challenging 150 miles with a 4,000-foot vertical climb, along the county’s breath-taking scenery. “I’m really proud of our team who have gone out of

The mental health charity Mind has named its new chief executive. Sarah Hughes will take over at Mind in early 2023, after five years leading the Centre for Mental Health. Hughes will succeed Paul Farmer, who is moving to become chief executive of Age UK this month.  Mind said that, between October and the new

The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into the running of a mosque that earlier this year received an official warning over a speech that encouraged terrorism. Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre is being investigated amid an ongoing trustees’ dispute that the commission said was “having a detrimental impact on the charity’s governance and

A Conservative MP sparked a lively debate at a party conference fringe event when he called for community help ahead of government handouts to ease poverty. Backbencher Robin Millar said state help should be the “last resort” – preferring instead the “dignity of help” from local people and groups. His views were opposed by fellow

A former minister says he would scrap small medical charities if he were still in government. Guy Opperman told a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference yesterday that he would “intervene in the medical world massively” to reduce the number of charities. Opperman, the Conservative MP for Hexham, was speaking on a panel hosted

Aid charities must “go beyond technocratic solutions” to challenge colonialist, sexist and racist behaviour in international development, according to umbrella body Bond. The organisation made the call in a guide published today, which aims to help aid charities share power and decision-making with local partners. The guide is intended to “incite action” inside organisations, Bond

Most charities “dabble in politics way too much”, a former government minister has said. Guy Opperman, who was a pensions minister for five years until last month’s reshuffle, argued that charities should avoid politics and instead focus on “what they are actually doing”.  Opperman, the Conservative MP for Hexham, was speaking on a panel at

Pension schemes at the country’s 40 largest charities have a combined deficit of nearly £10bn, research shows. The finance firm Hymans Robertson said that a combination of falling reserves and uncertain income was painting a “difficult picture” for the schemes. It analysed defined benefit pension schemes – which are managed by employers and based on

The new charities minister has been urged to “think carefully about his priorities” as it emerged he would also oversee heritage, tourism and growth. Lord Syed Kamall has had his full title confirmed as the minister for civil society, heritage, tourism and growth – the latest combination of responsibilities within the brief. His predecessor Nigel

The sole trustee of a cancer charity has been ordered to pay back £117,000 for misusing funds – including on a planned project to build a 210ft Welsh dragon statue. As a result of legal action by the Charity Commission, the High Court has ruled that money must be recovered and distributed to support cancer

Charities should seize the “perfect moment” and begin to challenge big businesses to address social issues, think tank and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital said. In a briefing put together with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Share Action, NPC said it was time to put the ‘S’ into ESG. Environmental, social and governance is the model businesses use to

Islamic Relief has won Charity of the Year at the Third Sector Awards 2022. The winners were announced at a lunchtime reception in central London, hosted by the writer and performer Ben Bailey Smith. Islamic Relief, which was named Charity of the Year in the large charity bracket, was called a “visionary charity” by judges