The Charity Commission has published a report on its inquiry into the charity Sivayogam finding against its chair and having connections with terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The charity runs two Hindu temples in London which provide religious facilities to the local Hindu, and in particular Tamil, communities. In addition, the Charity collects donations and sends these to educational or welfare organisations in Sri Lanka. The Commission opened a statutory inquiry after a number of concerns were raised with the regulator about the application of the Charity’s funds in Sri Lanka and the Charity’s governance arrangements.
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is today allocating up to £11.25 million in Lottery good cause money for a landmark social investment initiative - the Social Impact Bond (SIB). The funding from BIG will be used by the social investment organisation Social Finance to pilot the first ever SIB and also develop SIBs as a tool for preventing social problems across the UK. The SIB model has been developed by Social Finance and presents a new way to tackle social problems and lessen their impact on society and ultimately the public purse.
Autistica, the UK’s largest autism medical research charity, has announced the appointment of Christine Swabey as its new chief executive with effect from October 1. Swabey will succeed Hilary Gilfoy, who has held the post for five years, and is reducing her workload for health reasons. Christine Swabey has enjoyed a highly successful career in both the private and public sectors. After leaving university she held director-level roles in the financial sector before taking on a portfolio of non-executive posts in the public sector.
In order to improve the accessibility and relevance of its best practice guidance, The Institute of Fundraising has launched checklists for each of its Codes of Practice. Each Code now has a checklist at the front that pulls out pertinent issues from the code in a series of questions, making information easier to find and providing a structure for going through the information. The checklists were developed in consultation with members of the Codes working parties, who are fundraising practitioners with specialist knowledge in each of the areas.
The Charity Commission has decided that it will not give consent to the charity Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only. The regulator of charities in England and Wales has considered the evidence and the relevant law and concluded that it would not be justified in the circumstances for the charity to discriminate in this way. The Commission’s decision follows a High Court judgment in March 2010 to allow an appeal by the charity against a decision of the Charity Tribunal made in June 2009, which had upheld the Commission’s decision not to agree to a change of the charity’s objects.
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts will lead a new cutting red-tape taskforce to flush out burdens on the voluntary sector Nick Hurd, minister for Civil Society, and Mark Prisk, minister for Business and Enterprise have announced. The Government says it is committed to making it easier to run charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises.
Reducing bureaucratic burdens will free-up time and resources for these organisations to make a difference in their communities and help mobilise the Big Society. Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, said: "This is a tough time for small civil society organisations and we want to make life easier for them. So I have asked for specific ideas on how we can thin the thicket of bureaucracy and regulation that too often gets in the way.
The Charity Commission has today published a report of the regulator’s assessment of concerns raised about the contribution of the charity Tomorrow’s People Trust to a general election manifesto, calling the charity's independence into question. The charity is ‘an independent employment charity which works nationally with the long-term unemployed, helping people overcome personal barriers so that they can move into long-term, sustainable jobs’. The charity’s contribution to the manifesto of a political party issued at the time of the General Election raised concerns that the charity may have or may have been seen as endorsing the political party.
The holy month of Ramadhan is a time when many community organisations and Mosques benefit from the generosity of Muslim people. Many charities are also raising desperately-needed funds to help the people affected by floods in Pakistan at this time. The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of Charities in England and Wales, is encouraging people who want to give to charity to check if the charity is registered with the Charity Commission.
Support charity CAN is collaborating with the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) on a research project to support the development of a Financial Services Authority-regulated global social stock exchange that will allow investors to trade exclusively in companies with social and environmental goals. The exchange, when it becomes operational, will be designed for companies, both large and small, that specialise in providing goods and services explicitly for a social purpose who need to raise significant amounts of capital for growth and expansion.
Clinks has announced the appointment of Dame Anne Owers as its new chair. She will take up the post in January 2011. Dame Anne Owers is prominent across the Criminal Justice System of England & Wales for her role as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2001-2010) and as a committed human rights campaigner. Clinks is a charity which supports, promotes and represents the Voluntary and Community Sector working with offenders in England and Wales and has an income of £910,000. It aims to ensure the sector and all those with whom it works, are informed and engaged in order to transform the lives of offenders and their communities.
The Big Lottery Fund is today expanding its response to growing pressure on community advice caused by the economic crunch. New grants from BIG’s Reaching Communities funding stream sees 33 awards totalling close to £8 million targeted on support for communities and people most in need. Sanjay Dighe, chair of the Big Lottery Fund England said: “BIG continues to see the impact of the economic recession with many more applications for advice projects.
The UK’s largest children’s charity Barnardo’s reveals in new data that children are being damaged due to unprecedented delay in the courts in England and Wales. A five year long pattern of deterioration has led to family courts taking up to 65 weeks to rule if it is safe for children to stay with their parents. Vulnerable children are waiting on average more than a year (57 weeks) in unstable family homes or emergency foster placements before a county court decides if they will be taken into care. In the family proceedings (magistrates) court the average time is 45 weeks – more than 10 months.
FEATURES
Andrew Holt dissects the Coalition Government and what it means for the Third Sector
The sector as a whole would prefer a Labour victory, but it can easily live with a Conservative Government. Peter Davy studies the differences, but more importantly, the similarities of how the sector fits into the ideology of each party, and finds not much to mark them out
Peter Davy looks at how charity fundraising has fared in the recession, and finds the sector buoyant in the face of adversity. Though he finds concern over the longevity of the downturn. While Lindsay Boswell argues fundraising is not about the money, but about beneficiaries and connecting donors
With commodities in demand and prices continuing to move upwards despite hitting decade-high rises in 2009, investment by charities in this market would seem an obvious move. Rob Kingsbury reports. And Guy Davies looks at how ETFS can be successfully used by charities to access the commodities universe
No bigger challenge faces charities than climate change. Andrew Holt investigates the various ways the sector can raise its game and shape the debate going forward for the benefit of the sector and society
Love or loath them, corporate partnerships are a crucial part of the charity world, sometimes generating huge funds. David Adams dissects what makes a good partnership
