Charity

A husband and wife who were jailed for stealing from a poverty relief charity they “intentionally abused for criminal purposes” have been ordered to repay more than £500,000. In an inquiry report published today, the Charity Commission said it first opened an investigation into Afghan Poverty Relief in 2011, following a referral from the Metropolitan

The Fawcett Society and the Young Women’s Trust have called off merger talks. Thewomen’s charities announced in November they were in exploratory talks about a possible merger. But in a statement today, the charities said the talks had not shown that a merger would significantly improve the impact the organisations would have, so they had

TV and broadband company Liberty Global has been named Business of the Year at Third Sector’s Business Charity Awards 2021.  The company was recognised for its work through Lessons for Life, a charity its former chief strategy officer founded, which it backed and subsequently merged with the NGO Street Child, to support the education of

Deliveroo’s support for the NSPCC during the Covid-19 pandemic is among the winners in this year’s Business Charity Awards. The awards, run by Third Sector, recognise the outstanding support given by businesses to UK charities and voluntary organisations. The winners are being announced online over two ceremonies on 18 and 19 May. Deliveroo and the

Senior leaders at Girlguiding have apologised after an audit found examples of racism, Islamophobia and transphobia among staff, volunteers and Girl Guides. The audit, conducted by independent consultants, was conducted as a result of the charity’s new organisational strategy, which was launched in January last year.  The audit included input from a range of stakeholders

A charity that supports LGBTQI+ people through the UK asylum and immigration system has rebranded. The UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group announced it had changed its name to Rainbow Migration in a statement on its website today.  The name change coincides with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The charity said it

The RSPB has promised to review its posters after a birdwatcher claimed its depiction of birds was sexist.  Mya-Rose Craig, who goes under the name @BirdgirlUK on Twitter, brought the issue to the wildlife conservation charity’s attention on Friday after sharing an image from a bird-watching hide of a poster used to identify birds that

Applications are now open to a fund that could allow hundreds of charities to access millions of pounds in funding. The Co-op said it was looking for charities to apply for the next round of its Local Community Fund. The retailer said its members had raised more than £70m for 21,000 local projects across the

Membership bodies have called for charities to be subject to the highest permitted allowances under the regime that will replace EU state aid rules.  In the Queen’s Speech this week, the government set out its policies and proposed legislative programme for the new parliamentary session, including a Subsidy Control Bill. The main benefits of the

The shortlist for the Purpose Awards EMEA 2021 from Third Sector, PRWeek and Campaign has been announced today.  The awards recognise campaigns that use creative ideas successfully to further positive causes and acknowledge the organisations behind them. They are open to agencies, brands, public sector bodies, charities and NGOs throughout Europe, the Middle East and

World Vision UK received the largest single donation in its history last year as its total income rose for the first time since 2016. The Christian charity, which supports vulnerable children in developing countries, received a £1.3m donation from a single donor, accounts for the year to the end of September show. The charity said

The Charity Commission has been urged to update proposed responsible investment guidance to avoid the suggestion that charities must choose between investing ethically or maximising their financial returns. In its response to the Charity Commission’s ongoing consultation about its guidance on responsible investment, the Association of Charitable Foundations says charities should be expected to make

Legislation aimed to unlock almost £900m in funds for good causes has been introduced to parliament.  Baroness Barran, the minister for civil society, introduced the Dormant Assets Bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday evening.  The measure was among the raft of new pieces of legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday, which

A whistleblowing charity has accused the Charity Commission of “politically motivated” bias after complaining about how an investigation into its governance was handled.  Compassion in Care was set up in 2003 to help expose wrongdoing in the care industry.  Its aims include “relieving the emotional distress of those suffering abuse in care homes” and “educating those

Charities are being invited to help deliver a £30m grant programme to support young people.  The government’s Youth Investment Fund Capital seeks to address an increasingly limited supply of youth centres and spaces for young people to go.  The proposed outcomes include improved health and wellbeing, equipping young people with skills for work and life,

The learning disability charity Mencap has appointed Khaleel Desai as its new executive director of governance.  Desai, who has spent the past three years as head of governance and company secretary at Islamic Relief Worldwide, will take up the new role on 24 May.  Before joining IRW, Desai held roles at Save the Children International

The government has been urged to work with the voluntary sector as it looks to introduce legislation aimed at making it easier for charities to win public sector contracts.  The government announced in the Queen’s Speech yesterday that it intended to publish a new Procurement Bill that would simplify public sector procurement and make it

Structural racism embedded in the international aid system that benefits organisations in the global north has left some in the global south trying to “play” an unequal system, according to a new report. Published by international aid charity Peace Direct, Time to Decolonise Aid: Insights and Lessons from a Global Consultation assesses the colonial legacy

The government has announced it will introduce a new Charities Bill that will bring into force long-awaited reforms designed to reduce the amount of bureaucracy faced by charities. Speaking in Parliament today, the Queen set out the government’s policies and proposed legislative programme for the new parliamentary session, including the bill. The government will also

The Scouts and Girlguiding have been awarded a more than £2m grant for a joint project to streamline their processes for the recruitment of volunteers. The Pears Foundation has given the funding to the two charities, which said they would use it to work together on a project that would digitally transform how they engaged

Islamic Relief Worldwide has appointed Waseem Ahmad as its new chief executive.  Ahmad is director of IRW’s international programmes division, managing the design and delivery of the charity’s global humanitarian and development work.  He succeeds Naser Haghamed, who stepped down at the end of January for health reasons.  Acting chief executive Tufail Hussain will return to

Tributes have been paid to Simone Joyaux, a US fundraiser and founding chair of the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, who has died at the age of 72. Fundraisers on both sides of the Atlantic paid tribute to Joyaux, describing her as a “campaigning fundraiser extraordinaire” and “one of the greatest figures in fundraising”. She died

Fourteen charities are in breach of the fundraising code because they have failed to access requests to stop communication made through the Fundraising Preference Service, the regulator has found. The Fundraising Regulator said today that although more than 2,200 charities had set themselves up on the FPS charity portal, a small group of organisations was

The British Psychological Society has expelled its president-elect amid “persistent bullying” allegations, which he described as “baseless and without merit”. Nigel MacLennan was due to become the president of the BPS later this year at the charity’s annual general meeting, after a period as president-elect. The BPS is the charity that acts as the representative

A group of major social investment organisations are calling on the government to halve the minimum limit for issuing retail charity bonds to £5m. The Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs are consulting on potential changes to the regulations on the taxation ofsecuritisation companies, which are used by organisations looking to raise funds in capital

A support charity unfairly dismissed a former staff member after it failed to recognise an “anxiety state” as a disability, an employment tribunal has ruled. Tribunal documents published this week show that Blenheim CDP, which provides support to people on a range of issues, unfairly dismissed offender recovery worker Miss E Okeke after she struggled

Two charities are going to the High Court to seek clarification of the law relating to responsible investments. An update on the Charity Commission’s website, published yesterday, said the two unidentified charities had been granted permission to bring the case in the middle of last month. It says: “The two charities seek clarification of the

Bond, the membership body for development charities, has lost nearly £1m in funding as government cuts to official development assistance begin to bite across the aid sector. The government announced last November that the UK’s overseas aid budget would be cut from 0.7 per cent of gross national income to 0.5 per cent, slicing more

Charitable donations made by waiving a refund or loan repayment can be considered a donation under Gift Aid rules, HM Revenue & Customs has said. Updated guidance, which is applicable retrospectively, was published by the government yesterday after discussions with the Charity Tax Group. The new policy says: “Donations made via the waiving of a

The Children’s Society unfairly dismissed an employee after it did not do enough to help find him a new role within the charity during a redundancy process, an employment tribunal has ruled. Tribunal documents published this week show that the charity unfairly dismissed Richard Brown after it did not provide “adequate support” to him when