Customers seeking second-hand sequins and scarves helped Oxfam GB buck the high-street sales slump over Christmas. The charity announced today that its shops achieved their best performance for eight years in the week before Christmas, with sales up by 7 per cent on 2018. Oxfam’s online shop recorded an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in
Charity
The Small Charities Coalition increased its income last year but made a slight deficit because it hired extra staff, according to accounts published this week. The organisation, which has recruited a completely new staff team over the past nine months, generated £350,214 in the year to the end of March 2019, compared with £299,436 in
CANBERRA (January 9, 2020) – A new reality is taking place for Australians as catastrophic bushfires upend the lives of millions. Projections from climate scientists are now becoming the harsh reality and should serve as a wake-up call to other countries around the world to take action. Up to now, the climate crisis has been
Internal auditors should be allowed unrestricted access to charities and the ability to attend and observe board meetings, a new code of practice has said. The new code of practice for internal auditors from the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, which was published today, makes 38 recommendations to improve corporate governance in the private and
Unicef UK has appointed Sacha Deshmukh as its next chief executive. Deshmukh has been chief executive of Smart Energy GB, which helps people in Britain understand smart meters, since 2013. He has also been chair of the international aid and development charity War Child UK since 2014 and is a board member of the Fundraising
Genevieve Edwards has today been named as the new chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK. Edwards, who stepped down last week as executive director of external affairs at the MS Society, will take up the new role early next month. She will replace Deborah Alsina, who left the charity in August after 10 years in charge
Oxfam GB has appointed Kate Sayer to lead a new integrity and ethics team as part of its response to the safeguarding crisis. Sayer, a former Third Sector columnist, was a senior consultant at the charity accountancy firm Sayer Vincent for almost 36 years before taking up the role of director of integrity and ethics
Charities have welcomed reports that the Department for International Development is to remain an independent government department. More than 100 voluntary sector organisations signed a statement last month urging the government to retain DfID as a standalone body amid rumours that it was to be merged into the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The statement warned
Income at the disability charity Scope has fallen by £40m after the charity’s decision to sell its regulated and day services as part of a strategy to focus on its campaigning work. According to its accounts for the year to 31 March 2019, the charity had an income of £54.6m, down from £94.6m the previous
Income at Age UK fell by about £19m last year, the charity’s latest accounts show, partly because of a large fall in trading activities. In its accounts for the year to 31 March 2019, Age UK reported a total income of £127.8m, down from £146.5m in the previous 12 months. The drop included falls in voluntary
Oxfam GB has appointed the former Charity Commission chief executive Andrew Hind to its board. Hind, who was appointed to the Oxfam board last month for an initial term of three years, led the regulator from 2004 to 2010. Latest headlines Since leaving the commission, Hind’s roles have included visiting professor at Cass Business School’s
Total funds raised for good causes by Prudential RideLondon cycling events fell by £1.5m last year, new figures show. Organisers said in a statement today that £11.5m was raised through the 2019 event, down from the record £13m that was reached in the previous year. The 2019 figure is also down on the £12.8m raised
Cast your mind back to three days before Christmas, when the Sunday Times newspaper reported that 6-year-old Florence Widdicombe discovered one of the charity Christmas cards she had bought from Tesco to send her friends had already been used. The card, festooned with a picture of a kitten in a Father Christmas hat, contained a
The Epilepsy Society has reported what is likely to be a record income level after making an almost £8.5m profit on a land sale, new figures show. The charity’s accounts for the year to 31 March 2019 show that income hit £26.4m compared with £17.2m in the previous year. The accounts say that a “small
The 2019 Turner Prize was shared by four artists who persuaded the judges not to choose any one winner. The artists wanted to make a collective statement in a time when there is “already so much that divides and isolates people and communities.” The gesture made me question whether charities locked into a competitive pattern
The homelessness charity St Mungo’s is facing a fresh strike ballot after the union Unite accused the charity’s chief executive of trying to discourage employees from joining it. Unite said in a statement that Howard Sinclair, who will step down later this year after six years running St Mungo’s, had misdirected an email to a
Voluntary sector leaders have joined representatives from business, faith communities, sport and politics to call for the 2020s to be a “decade of reconnection” that will help to heal the UK’s divides. An open letter, signed by leaders from organisations including the CBI, the British Olympic Association, the Glastonbury Festival, various religious groups and the
MANILLA (December 29, 2019) – CARE activated its emergency protocols immediately on Christmas Eve right after Typhoon Phanfone (locally known as Typhoon Ursula) made its first landfall. CARE staff, along with local partners, are assessing the situation on the ground, to provide initial relief in areas that were greatly affected by the typhoon. “The affected
Save the Children UK has made good progress in improving its culture since a review found that more than a quarter of staff had experienced either discrimination or harassment in the workplace, a new evaluation has concluded. Last year, the ethics expert Dr Suzanne Shale was commissioned by the charity to conduct an independent review
Age UK experienced a massive hike in enquiries about volunteering after one of its volunteers appeared on television to talk about his experiences. Terrence (left) went on BBC Breakfast last Wednesday and spoke about spending 20 Christmas days on his own after the death of his mother. But the 78-year-old said that, after years of
The Gambling Commission has launched a consultation on long-awaited measures to increase the limits on society lotteries. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport said in the summer that it planned to increase the maximum annual sales limit for society lotteries from £10m to £50m. It also said it would increase the maximum draw
Voluntary sector figures have criticised an opinion piece published on the Third Sector website earlier this week. The article, written by Craig Dearden-Phillips, executive chair of The Social Group, argued the sector should “embrace those with a less ‘woke’ view of the world” and called on the sector to do more to connect with white working-class
The Charity Commission has criticised the board of Marie Stopes International for failing to properly record discussions that led to the charity awarding its chief executive a £434,500 pay package. In a statement today, the regulator said documentation around the decision to give chief executive Simon Cooke a bonus that doubled his salary was “inadequate”.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has criticised new guidance from the Charity Commission about reporting serious incidents because it “does nothing to provide further clarification” and could lead to the regulator continuing to be “inundated” by such reports. The regulator said the guidance was clear and it was meeting its target to respond to
“Russia and China’s double veto today of the Security Council resolution to reauthorize cross-border humanitarian assistance reaching 4 million Syrians in need is reprehensible. After nearly nine years of conflict, as millions of Syrians are struggling to cope, they should at least be assured that they can continue to rely on the United Nations and
The board of Comic Relief has banned investments in fossil fuels as part of a new ethical investment policy, the charity’s 2018/19 accounts show. The latest accounts, to the end of July 2019, show the board decided in September this year to adopt the new policy, which is worded: “Trustees of Comic Relief will not
IFCO Delivers on its Social Responsibility & Engagement Commitment Globally in 2019 Navigation Menu RealWire Limited Delivering Relevance, Releasing Influence Press Release Donated RPCs, employee volunteers and charitable contributions help those in need, make the world a better place Munich, Germany, December 19, 2019: IFCO, the world’s leading provider of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) for fresh food,
The Wellcome Trust paid its highest earner almost £3.3m in 2018/19, its latest accounts show. The grant-maker’s accounts for the year to 30 September 2019 show the charity’s highest earner – a member of its internal investment team – took home almost £3.3m, with a second employee earning between £3.25m and £3.259m. Both figures outstrip
The following statement was signed by Members of InterAction, the largest alliance of international NGOs and partners in the United States, with over 180 Members who work across the development and humanitarian landscape. “The U.N.’s cross-border mechanism enables life-saving assistance to reach over four million people who continue to be in need of humanitarian assistance
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity saw its income fall by almost £16m last year. The charity’s accounts to 31 March 2019 show that its income fell from to £87.5m, down from £103.2m in the previous year. But spending increased only from £68.9m to £71.3m, meaning the charity still finished the year with a significant