Charity

The Salvation Army has been the subject of a ransomware attack.  The charity declined to give precise details on the nature and extent of the incident but said it had reported the matter to the Charity Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office, indicating that data might have been stolen.  One data security expert said anyone

The winners of the 2021 Purpose Awards have been announced.  The awards, which are run by Third Sector and sister titles PRWeek and Campaign, recognise campaigns that use creative ideas successfully to further positive causes, and acknowledge the organisations behind them. The Climate Store by Prime Weber Shandwick for Felix won a hattrick of awards,

The National Theatre managed to increase its spending on charitable activities by £10m in 2019/20, despite subsequently having to make 150 redundancies as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. According to its latest accounts for the year to the end of March 2020, the charity completed a restructure in October last year that resulted in

The National Lottery Community Fund has declined to comment on the government commissioning a conflict management firm to examine the grant-maker’s working practices and culture. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has hired CMP Resolutions to conduct an inquiry into the leadership and organisational culture at the grant-giver, Third Sector understands. In March,

The National Trust has asked for a retraction and complained to the press regulator after The Spectator magazine published an article containing what the charity said were “plain ludicrous” allegations. An article headlined “‘Fear and bullying’ at the National Trust” (£), by Charles Moore, was published in the weekly magazine yesterday containing a number of

Youth charities can apply for up to £50,000 from a £1.4m fund to help them reopen and bring their services back to pre-pandemic levels.  The funding is being provided by the Julia & Hans Rausing Trust in partnership with UK Youth. The fund aims to ensure that grassroots youth organisations that have suffered due to

The Metropolitan Police have been accused of acting “unlawfully” after a number of employees were arrested at the arts and architecture charity Antepavilion.  The charity offers studio and art exhibition display spaces, as well as occasional event and performance space, from a mixed-used building in Hackney, north-east London. The building also includes residential units.  Two

A new £50m fund will support black and minoritised community charities and grassroots groups in England to receive funding and support that has previously been difficult for them to access.  The Phoenix Way is being run by the National Lottery Community Fund and the Ubele Initiative, which is an African diaspora-led social enterprise that aims to build

A more frequent revaluation of business rates could be beneficial and provide cost savings to charities in England, membership bodies have said.  The government yesterday unveiled proposals that it said would make the business rates system fairer and more streamlined with more frequent property revaluations. Under the plans, revaluations of non-domestic properties would take place

Lloyds Bank has apologised and compensated a charity that provides grants to medical students in Zimbabwe after poor communication left it without access to tens of thousands of pounds. The UK-based Doctors of Tomorrow in Zimbabwe funds scholarships for underprivileged medical students in Harare and Bulawayo to pursue their medical studies.  The charity said a

Funds raised by FXhome – creators of free video editing software HitFilm Express – during their summer sale will go toward protecting endangered species, and fighting the exploitation of defenseless animals. London, UK (June 29, 2021) – From now until July 6th, 15% of all proceeds from sales at the fxhome.com store will be pledged

The waterways and wellbeing charity the Canal & River Trust has announced it is taking its face-to-face fundraising programme in-house. In a statement, the charity said it was looking to step up its post-lockdown fundraising activity by advertising an initial 24 roles, which would be recruited over the next few months. The charity was not

The Charity Commission recorded a better than average level of sickness absence last year, new figures show.  A request made by Third Sector using freedom of information legislation found that the total number of days lost to sickness was 2,013 for the 2020 calendar year. According to its latest accounts, the regulator employed 421 staff

The Times and the Mail Online have apologised to The British Academy of Film and Television Arts and its chair after making false allegations about his relationship with the actor and filmmaker Noel Clarke.  The arts charity took legal action for defamation against the two publications following their coverage of allegations of misconduct against the

The medical charity Operation Smile UK has promoted Mairéad O’Callaghan to the top role of executive director. O’Callaghan joined the organisation in 2011 as country manager for Operation Smile Ireland before becoming head of individual and legacy giving for the UK and Ireland in 2017. She succeeds Karen Jaques, who has been appointed to the

Seventy per cent of students plan to volunteer this summer, new research suggests.  The survey, published by the volunteering charity Royal Voluntary Service, showed that almost half (47 per cent) said volunteering over the summer would give them useful and valuable experience. The research, conducted earlier this month by the polling company Censuswide with 1,000 students

Aid charities must do more to tackle exploitation and abuse, the Charity Commission has warned. The warning comes after an analysis of recent serious incident reports submitted to it identified areas of weaknesses and risk around safeguarding, the regulator said.  In an alert to 5,000 charities working outside the UK, the commission urges charities to

The retailer Tesco has been accused of increasing the asking price for a refugee charity’s headquarters by almost £50,000 before deciding not to sell.  The charity Saheliya, which supports black, minority ethnic, asylum seeker and refugee women and girls, originally asked the supermarket for an extension on its 10-year lease on the property at St

The government has been accused of an “arrogant” pattern of behaviour after it changed the way it presents its proposed spending plans on international aid. Sarah Champion, chair of the House of Commons International Development Committee chair and the Labour MP for Rotherham, said the government should show more respect for her committee by providing

MND Scotland has appointed Rachel Maitland as its chief executive. Maitland, who has been head of supply and operations for the Edinburgh-based energy company Flexitricity since 2018, will join the motor neurone disease charity in July. She was also a board member for the non-profit Paws for Progress between 2019 and 2020 and director of

Macmillan Cancer Support has set out a new four-year strategy with measures to tackle the “problem with the diversity of its workforce”.  Lynda Thomas, chief executive of the charity, says in a blog post that the charity’s new strategy will prioritise equity, diversity and inclusion and hold everyone accountable for it.  She says the charity

George Osborne has been named as the next chair of the British Museum. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who earlier this year stepped down as editor of the Evening Standard newspaper, is a partner at the investment bank Robey Warshaw and chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. He will join the museum’s board on

The National Autistic Society has apologised and paid a £70,000 settlement to the family of a former service user who accused the charity of neglect.   The family of Martin Hussey, who lived in NAS-provided supported living from 2015 to 2020 in Croydon, south London, said the charity had failed to protect him from physical abuse

The Royal Academy of Arts has apologised to an artist for removing her work from its shop after concluding it “had no right to judge her views” on the charity’s social media channels.  The charity removed from sale work by Jess de Wahls after she was accused of transphobia on social media following comments she

Comic Relief is offering £2m to domestic abuse and sexual violence charities.  The grant-maker said the funding, which has been provided by the government, would be broken down into 25 grants and would be given alongside digital coaching to small specialist organisations to support activities that improve their digital and remote capacity to deliver services.

Ben Sundell has been appointed as the Scout Association’s first head of policy and public affairs, after leaving a similar role at the Teenage Cancer Trust. He starts his new role this week and will report directly to Chloe Kembery, director of communications and marketing. Sundell has been tasked with developing high profile campaigns and

More than £50m was raised for charities by replacement events set up by London Marathon organisers, new figures show. London Marathon Events, which organises the Virgin Money London Marathon each April and other major mass-participation events such as the annual Prudential RideLondon cycling festival, said most of the funds had been raised through virtual events

Islamic Relief Worldwide has apologised after about 30 of its staff and volunteers were pictured breaking Covid-19 rules at its clothes recycling headquarters in Birmingham last month. Dozens of staff and volunteers, including the international aid charity’s chief executive, Waseem Ahmad, had gathered indoors for a post-Eid celebration meal. Ahmad had not long been promoted

The Charity Commission has spent nearly £1.5m on consultants and agency staff since the start of this year, latest figures show. The bulk of this went towards the implementation of a new case management system, the regulator said. Transparency data on the commisson’s spending is released on a monthly basis. The regulator was allocated £27.3m

An administrative error in the accounts of the National Theatre led to a compulsory strike-off notice being issued by Companies House, Third Sector has learned. Companies House records show a notice was issued under a header that stated: “First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off.” The charity said an administrative error automatically triggered the strike-off notice