Charity

An investigation into the former chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has concluded there was no wrongdoing in relation to claims he failed to act on sexual harassment complaint against a CIoF member. The investigation into Peter Lewis, conducted by the HR consultancy Tell Jane, was launched after allegations were made on social

The government has “no information” on where more than £100m in emergency Covid-19 support for charities has been spent and has failed to provide a clear rationale for spending millions of pounds on consultants to help in the assessment of applications, a group of MPs has concluded. In a report published today, the House of

Three senior leaders at Amnesty International UK have stepped down with immediate effect because they no longer felt able to continue in their roles. The charity’s leadership has been under fire since the publication of an internal review in April that found incidents of overt racism at its international secretariat, a separate body that is

Employers will no longer be able to “pick on” staff who take part in strike action after a case involving a health and social care charity, according to the union Unison.  The union said employment law previously prevented employers from sacking staff involved in strike action or other workplace disputes but not from disciplining or

More than £28m was given out to dozens of charities and social enterprises as part of a government-backed loan scheme to support the sector during the pandemic.  The Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund was set up in April last year to ensure charities and social enterprises had access to emergency loan funding as part of

Eighteen major charities have today pledged to work together on an initiative intended to share knowledge and skills and make volunteering easier for people. The aim of the Shaping the Future with Volunteering group, which includes the British Red Cross, National Trust and the RNLI, is to capitalise on the ‘revolution’ that has taken place

The British Council has appointed Scott McDonald as its chief executive. He will take up the role at the charity for cultural relations and educational opportunities on 1 September. McDonald joins the British Council from his current positions as chief executive and president of the global management consultancy firm Oliver Wyman Group, and vice-chairman of professional

More than 200 organisations have been given the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the accolade that celebrates exceptional service within communities. A total of 241 charities have been recognised for their work, and for adapting their services during the first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown to support service users. The awarded charities work across a wide range

The government is facing a revolt after 30 Conservative MPs signed an amendment that could force it to reverse cuts to overseas aid spending. The rebellion is being led by the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield and former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, who introduced a new clause into the Advanced Research and Invention Agency

Involve, a charity that supports public participation in democracy and decision-making, has appointed Sarah Castell as its chief executive. She will take up the new role on 6 September, replacing Tim Hughes, currently the director of the organisation. For the past 17 years, Castell has led public participation and deliberation at polling company Ipsos MORI.

George Walker has been appointed interim chair of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. Walker, who also chairs the Scottish Housing Regulator, will hold the position until April next year. OSCR then intends to appoint a permanent successor to Lindsay Montgomery, who resigned in March afte two years in post. Montgomery’s predecessor, Reverend Dr

The Charity Commission received so much correspondence regarding its decision to register the LGB Alliance as a charity it is unable to say how much support or opposition the decision has. The regulator announced that the controversial campaign group had been registered as a charity on 21 April.  A Freedom of Information request made by

Genetic Disorders UK (GDUK) has been renamed Gene People following a rebrand.  The charity umbrella body, which supports people affected by genetic conditions, and the charities and patient groups that support them, was founded in 2012.  The rebrand to Gene People follows a major review of the organisation’s purpose by its trustees.   Gene People will

A crowdfunder set up to appeal the charity watchdog’s decision to register a controversial campaign group as a charity has raised tens of thousands of pounds in a matter of hours. Several LGBT charities announced yesterday that they had joined forces to appeal the Charity Commission’s decision to award charity status to the LGB Alliance.

The boss of an anti-modern slavery charity has left the organisation after serious complaints about his behaviour were upheld following an independent investigation. Hope for Justice said in a statement that the charity’s co-founder Tim Nelson was appointed interim chief executive at the end of last month, following the departure of Ben Cooley. The charity

Household giving could provide charities with a £1.2bn income boost as the sector seeks to recover from the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research has found.   A report from the charity think tank Pro Bono Economics has identified a potential “windfall” for the sector, as constraints on spending opportunities have resulted in an

The Official Receiver’s case against the defunct charity Kids Company has resulted in a legal bill of at least £8m, The Guardian has reported. Disqualification proceedings brought by the OR against the charity’s former chief executive, Camila Batmanghelidjh, and seven former trustees were dismissed by the High Court in February. The conclusion of the 10-week High

Save the Children is having a “very live” conversation about the problematic implications of its name, its executive director of fundraising and marketing has said.  Speaking during a session at Third Sector’s Fundraising Conference last week about the end of the ‘saviour’ narrative within charity, Gemma Sherrington told delegates that it was not a conversation the

An animal welfare organisation that was removed from the charity register eight years ago has been reinstated after a failed attempt to take over land it owned. The Kent-based The National Equine Training Trust was removed from the charity register in 2013 after the Charity Commission concluded it was inactive. The regulator found trustees had

A charity providing horse riding opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people is facing eviction just weeks after raising more than £1.3m to stay in its current location. Park Lane Stables in Teddington, Richmond upon Thames, has been served a notice of eviction from its existing site for the end of this month, when its lease expires.

Richard Leaman is to step down as chief executive of the sail training charity Tall Ships Youth Trust after four years in the role.  Leaman, who joined the charity after six years in the top job at Guide Dogs, said the time was right for him to move on.  Tall Ships Youth Trust said that

The retailer Poundland has launched a charitable foundation today with a pledge to give £825,000 to communities over the next 12 months. The Poundland Foundation will start by providing sports kits for children through cash grants for community groups. Through the foundation, Poundland will also continue to support its existing charity partnerships with Make-A-Wish UK,

Income at Save the Children UK dropped by £18m last year, latest figures show. The charity’s annual report, published today, says that its income was £288.7m in 2020, down from £307.4m in the previous year.  Save the Children said the main reasons for the fall were shop closures and the cancellation of fundraising events as a result

My dear friend and colleague Jane Hatfield died of ovarian cancer on 22 May. She was a leading light in HIV, sexual and reproductive rights, leading the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health until just weeks before her death. Her commitment to social justice was reflected in a life’s work in the voluntary sector. Jane

A group of artists are calling for a Chinese art gallery in Manchester to be defunded because of a “current and historic culture of institutional racism”. Seven artists of Chinese heritage were appointed in September by the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art as part of a “revisioning project” that would address equality and inclusion in

The Covid-19 pandemic has “democratised the fundraising space”, making it easier for small charity brands to attract donations, the Third Sector Fundraising Conference has heard.  Speaking as part of an online session about the lessons of the past year, Eoghan Beecher, country manager for the UK and Ireland at the fundraising software company iRaiser, said

The Scout Association has launched a campaign to recruit more than 5,000 volunteers after numbers fell by 15,000 over the past year. The charity said its number of adult volunteers dropped from almost 156,000 in 2020 to just under 141,000 this year.  The membership has also fallen by more than 117,000 – almost a quarter

The proportion of people who said they made a donation to charity in the past three months has remained at an “unprecedented” low, new research shows. Figures from the consultancy nfpSynergy last year showed that 54 per cent of the 1,000 GB adults it surveyed in August said they had made a charitable donation in

The government’s decision to delay funding from its UK Aid Match scheme until next year is a “betrayal”, according to one charity. In November, the government encouraged charities working in developing countries to apply to take part in its UK Aid Match scheme, a £2m initiative that would match-fund public donations. Run by the Foreign,

Aid recipients do not need more aid, they need a chance to compete in an international system whose post-colonial trading relationships are “unfair by design”, MPs have heard. These relationships make the aid sector complicit in the extension of a colonial system that treats countries and local organisations as “second-class citizens”, according to one expert