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Charity Times
Negative attitudes of young people in the UK are closing doors to jobs, according to two surveys commissioned by London youth charity Futureversity asking young people about barriers to employment. Young people say that schools are not giving them confidence or skills to succeed, employers have a negative attitude towards them, and the Government simply isnât listening and doesnât care about their plight.
Ian Theodoreson, chair of the Charity Finance Group, opened the umbrella bodyâs 2012 Annual Conference, âInspiring Financial Leadershipâ, by pulling no punches on the Governmentâs policy agenda for the sector. Two years on from the formation of the coalition, charities are facing major challenges. Mixed messages and an unclear policy agenda are not helping.
New figures published by the Office for National Statistics today show a rise in employment, up 105,000 to 29.23m. Employment has now been rising since last autumn. This is complemented by another fall in unemployment, down by 45,000 on the quarter, to 2.63 million.
Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has earmarked support totalling £15.9m for the regeneration of 12 city and town centres stretching from Falkirk to Folkestone. HLFâs investment will come through its Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) programme which fosters effective partnerships between local organisations enabling repairs and other essential works in historic but often run-down areas.
Hot on the heels of elections in France, and in a US election year, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has looked at how asset allocation has changed over the last twelve months. Above all, the US has been the biggest winner, with some investment companies increasing their exposure over the last year, sometimes very significantly in the Global Growth sector.
Thousands of people who have been on sickness benefits for more than 15 years have been found fit to work and will now get support to help them back into a job, new analysis reveals today. Of the first 47,400 Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants to be reassessed and found fit to work, 27 per cent -12,900 - had been on the benefit for more than 10 years. Eight per cent - 3,900 - had been on the benefit for more than 15 years.
Low to middle income households were reliant on borrowing to fund much of their spending for more than a decade before the financial crisis, according to a new report for the think-tank the Resolution Foundation. The report reveals the full extent of the increase in borrowing and deterioration in household savings rates in the run up to the 2008/09 crisis, with the poorest 10% outspending their income by 40% by 2007.
A charity which has provided vital care and support services to vulnerable members of the local community for over 30 years, is the latest winner of the Big Society Award. Working together with local health and social care teams, Rushden based Serveâs 25 strong âRapid Response Teamâ has successfully developed a unique approach to the swift and safe discharge and return of vulnerable older and disabled adult patients from hospital, so they can recover in the comfort of their own homes.
Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced initial support¹ worth £76m for eight major projects in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The sites are: Ditherington Flax Mill Maltings, Shropshire â internationally important conservation area and home to the worldâs oldest iron framed building; V&A at Dundee â an exciting new museum to be located in Scotlandâs fourth largest city as a showcase for design talent, past and present...
NAVCA has turned down an invitation to sign up to the Governmentâs recently launched Procurement Pledge, drawn up by the Cabinet Office. Instead, NAVCA is supporting an alternative Local Government Association (LGA) pledge and is urging other voluntary organisations to follow their lead. The government procurement pledge takes a top down approach that places too much emphasis on multi million pound companies to the detriment of the voluntary sector and local businesses.
Margaret Lynch has been confirmed as the new Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). She will formally take up the post on 1st July 2012. Currently director of the Scottish Mediation Network, Lynchâs CV includes extensive experience of the voluntary sector, including prominent roles at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), War on Want, and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).
New research from the Charity Retail Association has found that the national love affair with charity shops is thriving in Britain, with charity shop income at an all time high of nearly £1 billion, and £30 million more spent in British charity shops in the last year. This represents growth of 3.6 per cent year on year, as charity shops buck the high street trend. Consultants JRA Research found the recession playing a part in this, as nearly 1 million more people from hard-pressed middle class groups are shopping in charity shops since June last year.
A new index to benchmark the number of women in leadership roles in the UKâs largest charities has been launched by the Home Secretary. The index is the first of its kind and complements the work being done in the private sector to boost the number of women on boards, which is measured every year by the Cranfield Female FTSE report. The Women Count: Charity leaders 2012 report shows women are thriving in the voluntary sector, with 32 per cent of directors of the UKâs top 100 charities female when the organisations are ranked by income.
The Charity Commission has today re-launched its quarterly newsletter to charity trustees, CC News. CC News is the Commissionâs main channel of communication with trustees, and helps trustees run their charities in line with charity law by providing updates on guidance and advice available from the Commission and other sources. From today, CC News is published as an HTML email newsletter, meaning that trustees can read updates straight from their inbox, as well as being able to click through to find further information available online.
Urgent steps should be taken now to fix the social care system for Britainâs neediest old people, think-tank the Centre for Social Justice says in a new report in advance of the Governmentâs response to the Dilnot inquiry. The CSJ breaks with the political consensus by urging Ministers to prioritise the poorest over the competing claims of asset-rich old people who are forced to sell their homes before they qualify for state subsidy.
A survey of 50 local authorities show that in the face of cuts to public spending many councils are coping better than expected with over 90% balancing their budgets in 2010/11 and 86% managing to protect front line services by focussing on back office savings and efficiency measures. A surprising 71% also said that the impact of cuts had been positive or neutral. Commissioned by the RSA and LGIU, the survey found that the number of council CEOs and senior staff that are pessimistic about the impact of the cuts on the most vulnerable is small but growing.
Pennies, the electronic charity box, has seen the number of consumer micro-donations made via it double in six months bringing the total to two million donations raising £500,000 for a number of UK charities. The Pennies scheme, which launched 17 months ago, gives consumers an option to donate a few pence to charity with a single touch of a button when they use a debit or credit card to purchase goods and services.
Dr Penny Woods has been appointed as the new chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, the UK charity working for the millions affected by lung and respiratory disease nationwide. She will take up the appointment from 1 September 2012, following the retirement of Dame Helena Shovelton after ten years in the role. Woods joins the British Lung Foundation following three successful years as Chief Executive of the Picker Institute Europe.
The Governmentâs decision to cap tax relief on charity donations will cost British society up to £1.5billion a year, according to new research. A study by Oxford Economics, the leading economic forecasting consultancy, analysed studies into the value of charitable work to show that a potential £500 million a year cut in charity incomes due to the cap would cost between £1.2 billion and £1.5 billion in lost benefits to society.
The Government must not forget the vital role fundraisers play in growing the UKâs giving culture by making the all important âaskâ when they discuss the issue at a high-level Giving Summit later today. The Institute of Fundraising, which will be attending the Whitehall meeting, will urge Ministers to invest in fundraising training to ensure charities continue to engage effectively with potential donors. IoF chief executive Peter Lewis, said: âWe know that charities would lose billions of pounds of income without the fundraisersâ ask, so itâs vital that Government doesnât forget the key role that fundraisers play.
People will be given the opportunity to make donations to charity at 12,000 cash machines across the UK this summer, Nick Hurd the Minister for Civil Society announced today. Ministers have been looking at new ways to make it easier for people to give small amounts of money to charity and have been working with cash machine operator LINK to ensure that cash points can start offering people the opportunity to donate to charity in time for the 2012 Olympics.
Latest figures from Cancer Research UK reveal that the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK has risen above 40,000. In 2009, around 40,800 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, rising from around 14,000 in 1989. Much of the increase has been linked to greater use of PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing, which measures a chemical produced by the prostate that may be raised when a man has prostate cancer.
Latest analysis shows for the twelve month period to April 2012 the average gift for online giving was up 1% at £58.15. Comparing total monthly income for the month of April gives a monthly revenue change of 1.63%. Although this is slightly lower than the previous month, across the twelve month trend, growth continues for online giving. Perhaps most interesting at this starting point in the reporting is that the analysis over the last two years shows organisations can expect to receive each month between 5% and 7% of their total annual online giving income.
The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) has announced it will be working in partnership with Saffery Champness to deliver a free tax and gift aid advice helpline for the Instituteâs organisational members. The helpline is being launched to assist charities in navigating through the increasingly complex and ever-changing information surrounding VAT, gift aid and tax rules in relation to fundraising activities.
More than $2.2bn worth of arms and ammunition have been imported since 2000 to countries operating under arms embargoes, according to new figures released today by international humanitarian agency Oxfam. The figures are contained in a new report, called The Devil is in the Detail, showing the extent to which states have been flagrantly flouting the 26 UN, regional or multilateral arms embargoes in force during this period.
Volunteer Centres continue to excel in supporting volunteers and tackling pressing social issues despite a sharp decline in funding from local government, says a new report. The Annual Return for Volunteer Centres, conducted by the Institute for Volunteering Research at Volunteering England, found that funding from local government across the network declined on average by 12 per cent between 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Third Sector
Removal of VAT relief on listed buildings is a 'tax on community initiative', Heritage Alliance says
Friday, 12:38 pm
Heritage organisations including the National Trust respond to HM Revenue & Customs consultation
Friday, 12:14 pm
Pesh Framjee, of Crowe Clark Whitehill, warns that if changes are not made, the rules are likely to be subject to official protests
Friday, 12:20 pm
Carers UK and three other organisations will take part in scheme to develop digital applications
Friday, 1:01 am
Stephen Peck tells Charity Finance Group conference that charities should have fixed terms for volunteers
Thursday, 12:14 pm
The charity has 11 offices and is part of the Groundwork UK federation, which will not say why it is closing
Thursday, 12:17 pm
The youth volunteering scheme was a hit with young people but there are concerns about its future, the report shows
Thursday, 1:00 am
The chair of the Charity Finance Group says much of what the government does makes little difference to the sector
Thursday, 1:09 am
It has received a 'negligible' number of referrals from prime contractors, chief executive Stephen Remington tells MPs
Wednesday, 1:38 pm
Recommendation comes in the submission to the review of the Charities Act 2006 of the umbrella body's charity law advisory group, chaired by by Baroness Howe
Wednesday, 12:20 pm
Chief executive Peter Lewis says the new posts, mainly in policy and research, are being created in response to demand from members
Wednesday, 12:13 pm
Advertising regulator upholds complaint about advert that showed someone painting on the side of a power station chimney
Wednesday, 1:53 am
The technology giant bans the use of apps that allow direct donations to charities
Tuesday, 1:10 pm
The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health has been shut down after its finance director was jailed for stealing from the organisation
Tuesday, 12:50 pm
Michael O'Neill, chief executive of the Christian charity, says many smaller-value donations could cease if the measure is introduced
Tuesday, 12:15 pm
Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the CIPD, says the findings should be treated with caution
Tuesday, 11:04 am
Entry for the awards closes on Thursday
Tuesday, 1:01 am
Glen Urquhart Childcare Centre switches to the new legal form after it became available for existing organisations in January
Tuesday, 1:00 am
Newsreader Huw Edwards hosts black-tie ceremony for winners, including Employee of the Year, Kate Neville of Capital Group Companies; Barclays wins three categories
Tuesday, 1:00 am
The charity relies on public funding, but chief executive Javed Khan says it has very good reasons to speak out
Monday, 1:13 pm
Andrew Flanagan, chief executive of the children's charity, says children giving evidence in court might not get sufficient support
Creating the complete Insurance picture
Sydney Packett & Sons Ltd is one of the UK's leading Independent Insurance Brokers, specialising in insurance for a wide range of commercial organisations, charities (Third Sector), Training organisations and SMEs.
From our Bradford-base, we've been delivering the highest standards in customer service and independent advice for ninety years. What's more we're still very much a family business; now managed by the grandsons of the original founder. Whilst we might have started with a local focus, our client-base now extends nationwide. Sydney Packett and Sons provide insurance for a number of high profile commercial clients and our Charity Portfolio includes National organisations such as St John Ambulance, Guide Dogs for the Blind and a number of Medical Royal Colleges.
Using our links with leading Insurers we are able to design Insurance solutions; cover that's been crafted to meet any particular situation. It's that kind of attention to detail that ensures we enjoy exceptionally long-term relationships.
Working in partnership with Packetts you will receive:
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We have dealt with Packetts for over 20 years and during that time they have dealt with a multitude of issues of every size and complexity in a timely and efficient manner, they really understand our business.
Ivor O'Hehir, Insurance Manager
St John Ambulance
01274 206500
01274 206506
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