Charity

In the latest weekly epsiode of the Third Sector Podcast, editor Emily Burt and features and analysis writer Rebecca Cooney look at what voluntary organisations can do to mitigate the impact of the third lockdown on their workers and volunteers. While we might be relieved to see the back of 2020, realistically there’s still a

Political hostility towards charities appears to be increasing, with 90 per cent of campaigners saying their ability to speak out or protest is under threat, according to a new survey. The latest annual report by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, involving a poll of UK campaigners and activists from charities and voluntary groups, found that 63

The Charity Commission has indicated that it intends to simplify its responsible investment guidance for charities. The regulator said today it would consult on updated guidance following a listening exercise it completed last year. Responsible investment refers to financial investments that align with a charity’s mission and purpose. The regulator said it received 40 written

The Purpose Awards EMEA – the awards scheme from Third Sector and its sister titles PRWeek and Campaign – has begun accepting entries for 2021. 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

Charities are being offered grants of up to £70,000 to develop their digital services as part of £1m of new funding.  The grant-makers, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Comic Relief, are opening the latest round in the Tech for Good programme.  The scheme was first developed in 2016 to help charities use technology to explore

Sexual exploitation and abuse continues to be “a scourge” on the international development sector, MPs have concluded.  The chair of the House of Commons International Development Committee, which has today published its report examining progress made on tackling the sexual exploitation and abuse of people receiving aid, said the sector had “effectively become the last

NGOs are considered to be less ethical and competent than businesses, according to new research. The 2021 Trust Barometer was published today by the PR firm Edelman after what it described as a year of unprecedented disaster and turbulence. In addition to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, there has been a global outcry over

The Children’s Society recorded a £13m deficit last year after making a multimillion-pound payment into its pension scheme. According to the charity’s latest accounts, total income was £37.4m in the year to the end of March 2020, down by almost £12m on the previous year. The previous year’s income had been boosted by the £17m sale

The British Heart Foundation has cancelled this summer’s London to Brighton Bike Ride, which usually takes place in June and raises millions of pounds for the charity, because of the risk of having to call it off at the last minute due to the coronavirus pandemic.  About 15,000 riders usually take part in the 54-mile

The domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid has appointed Farah Nazeer as its next chief executive.  Nazeer, who has spent the past two years as deputy director of advocacy at ActonAid UK, has more than 20 years of executive management experience in the voluntary sector, Women’s Aid said.  She has previously held senior positions at organisations

Profits at the online fundraising platform JustGiving more than doubled in 2019 after it recorded double digit growth in charity sign-ups, latest figures show.  The company’s accounts for 2019 show it recorded a profit of nearly £9.4m, a £5.6m increase on the previous year.  A JustGiving spokesperson said there were a number of key reasons

Comic Relief has appointed a digital and creative expert as its next chief executive.  Samir Patel is head of insights and innovation at the marketing agency Blue State, where he has worked for more than eight years, including a three-year stint as its UK managing director.  Patel, who has dual UK and US citizenship, previously

Total income at the end-of-life care charity Marie Curie was up by more than £9m last year, new figures show. The charity’s accounts for the year to 31 March 2020 show it recorded income of £165.6m compared with £159.3m in the previous year, a record high for the past five years. Spending rose slightly from

Age UK shed more than 400 jobs and closed about a third of its stores last year as it looked to make annual savings of £15m. The older people’s charity said it implemented the measures to help it deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to its latest accounts, for the year to the

A marketing director at a major insurance firm has been appointed to the top fundraising job at the British Heart Foundation. The charity has selected Direct Line’s Claire Sadler to become its executive director of marketing, fundraising and engagement. Sadler has spent more than three years at the insurance company and before that more than

Hosted on The Good Exchange platform, donations will be match-funded up to £250,000 to provide £500,000 for learning equipment across West Berkshire and beyond 8th January 2021 – Greenham Trust has today launched the ‘Laptops for Lockdown Learning’ appeal to give every child a laptop to learn under lockdown. Laptops for Lockdown Website Post Hosted

The Charity Commission plans to meet top brass at Unicef UK to discuss the contents of an independent review of the departures of its executive director and chair in quick succession amid bullying claims.  The charity yesterday published a summary of the review of the events surrounding the resignations of Sacha Deshmukh and Douglas Alexander,

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is facing a £13m fundraising deficit after projecting a 25 per cent income drop this year, according to its latest accounts.  The charity reported a slightly smaller total income of £88.3m for the year to 31 March 2020, the accounts show. Total spending dropped from £98.6m in 2018/19 to £82.2m last

A sight-loss charity is set to receive a possible £500,000 from a legacy almost 45 years after the benefactor died, following the recovery of lost paintings seized by the Nazis in the run-up to the Second World War. The Vision Foundation said Irma Löwenstein Austin, who fled Vienna for London to escape Nazi persecution, left

An independent inquiry has rejected claims of bullying and improper conduct against the former chair of Unicef UK made by the charity’s former executive director.  Third Sector revealed in September that Sacha Deshmukh had resigned from the charity after five months in the role, alleging that he had been subjected to bullying behaviour by Douglas

Income at the charity behind the Which? brand fell by about 10 per cent last year, mainly due to the closure of its mortgage advice service, new figures show. Its latest accounts show the Consumers’ Association’s total income dropped by more than £10m year on year to just over £91m in the year to the

Heritage organisations are being invited to apply for grants of up to £3m in the latest round of funding from the government’s £1.6bn Culture Recovery Fund. Up to £300m is available in the second tranche of funds, which can be used to help organisations recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is open

The Charity Commission has said it is satisfied with governance changes put in place by the RSPCA and closed its long-running scrutiny of the charity.  The regulator began looking into the charity in 2014 after serious concerns were identified, including frequent changes in its leadership and a sustained reliance on trustees acting as interim chief

Income at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s rose by more than £12m last year after it secured millions in new support service contracts. The charity’s latest accounts, for the year to the end of March 2020, show total income was up from £95m in 2018/19 to a record high of £107m. Its annual income has

The chief executives of the NSPCC and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation are among the sector figures to have received top awards in the New Year Honours list.  Peter Wanless was knighted and Caroline Mason was made a dame in the annual awards, which featured gongs for hundreds of voluntary sector workers and volunteers.  Guy Weston,

Membership bodies have welcomed provisions for the establishment of a Civil Society Forum as part of the UK’s Brexit deal with the European Union.  The more than 1,200 page UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, published last week, covers every aspect of the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Two articles under the heading “Institutional Framework” outline

Charity membership bodies have welcomed new plans to overhaul government procurement rules designed to encourage public bodies to support social issues and voluntary sector organisations. The government’s green paper, called Transforming Public Procurement and published this week, sets out plans designed to cut red tape, reduce bureaucracy and help unleash wider social benefits from public

The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust has changed its name because the Lawrence family is no longer associated with the organisation.  The equality charity, which was set up after Lawrence’s murder in 1993, yesterday unveiled its new name: Blueprint for All.  The charity said the new name recognised its growth and communicated its ongoing ambition to

St John Ambulance has strongly rejected claims from two former senior employees that there is a “pervading culture of bullying” and a widespread use of non-disclosure agreements at the organisation.  The claims come as the first aid charity’s annual accounts for 2019 reveal it had spent £1.1m on severance payments in the past two years –

The amount donated to charities on Giving Tuesday was up by almost half this year, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on in-person events, new figures indicate.  The payments company Visa said that £20.2m was donated using its platform on 1 December this year, a 42 per cent increase on the equivalent figures last year.