At Lambeth Palace on Wednesday afternoon, multi-faith leaders came together to share a vision with the Global Poverty Project: a vision of a world without extreme poverty within our lifetimes. The Global Poverty Project’s presentation, 1.4 Billion Reasons, launched at a high-level UN summit in 2008, was co-delivered by Elisha London, expert in International Development and UK country manager of the Global Poverty Project and senior development education coordinator for Islamic Relief, Samia Ahmed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, gave an introduction where he said: "All great faiths share the idea that human dignity is inalienable, and human dignity requires that people have control over the circumstances in which they live so that they can shape meaningful lives with constructive relationships.

Barnardo’s has announced that Jane Stacey will be taking over from Chris Hanvey as the new director of Operations and deputy chief executive. Stacey will be taking on this role within the charity from April 1, 2010, leaving her current position as Barnardo’s director south west. She has worked for Barnardo’s for 13 years, as director for Cymru overseeing a major transition in Wales when the country achieved National Assembly status and creating a clear Barnardo’s Cymru identity.
Later as director south west, Stacey was responsible for significantly expanding the number of Barnardo’s services to meet the needs of disadvantaged children and families throughout the region.

Funding Central, a free website highlighting thousands of funding and finance opportunities for third sector organisations, has generated £1.5m in grants and contract funding in its first six months. Thousands of voluntary organisations and social enterprises have benefited from the new website, which also provides valuable advice and information on developing skills to draft winning tenders and successfully apply for grants or loan finance. So far, 100 charities have received funds of between £800 and £85,000 with many more applications pending. A survey of site users shows more than 70 per cent rate the “search” options as good or very good and 63 per cent think the advice section is good or very good.

Community groups across the UK will be offered support to develop their links with communities in some of the world’s poorest countries, thanks to a programme launched yesterday. The new fund, the Global Community Links programme will offer workshops and grants of up to £10,000 for not-for-profit organisations involved in a link with a community in the developing world. Funding will enable participating community groups to use their links to increase understanding of global poverty in the UK and encourage their local community to act to reduce it.

O2 today unveiled Think Big, a £5million pound scheme designed to back young people making a difference in their communities. Research has shown that 46 per cent of adults believe there is a negative view of young people in society, and to counter this perception, this programme aims to inspire young people by putting £300 directly in their hands. In addition to the cash, young people will receive training, support and mentoring in partnership with some of the UK’s leading youth charities to help tackle the issues that really matter to them. Research commissioned by O2 from New Philanthropy Capital demonstrates that a little investment can make a big difference in the hands of a passionate, skilled and engaged young person.

The Charity Commission’s new best practice recommendation on environmental responsibility and sustainability is highlighted today in the joint Ministerial and Third Sector Task force report on climate change, the environment and sustainable development. The Commission’s Board recently approved the addition to both its publications Hallmarks of an Effective Charity, and The Essential Trustee, which now say that trustees should have regard to the impact of their charity’s activities on the environment. The recommendation goes on to say that trustees should consider ways in which their charity can take an environmentally responsible and sustainable approach to its work, which is consistent with its purposes even when its purposes are not specifically related to the environment.

The recession has had a dramatic and adverse effect on ethnic minority charities, depriving already disadvantaged communities of essential services, says a report released today by the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO). CEMVO's Report on the Impact of the Economic Downturn on Black and Minority Ethnic Third Sector Organisations reveals 45% of all Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) third sector organisations have had funding cut by local authorities and other funders since the beginning of the recession in 2008, despite a 77% increase in demand for their services over the same period.

Karen Edwards has been appointed chief executive of Bolton Lads and Girls Club after starting her career there as an unpaid volunteer more than 15 years ago. Karen takes over the role from Jerry Glover, who will now lead the OnSide North West project to replicate BLGC in new youth clubs across the region. Karen began volunteering at the club in 1995 on Thursday and Friday evenings after deciding she wanted to work with young people.
Within six months, she had embarked on a part-time youth work qualification and spent her spare time planning activities for young club members to enjoy, admitting she “got hooked” on the positive atmosphere and opportunities the club brought.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) can boost charity investment portfolios, rather than be to their detriment, according to investment managers at Newton Investment, revealed a London roundtable today. Criticising the view that there is a trade–off between lower investment returns and SRI, Amanda Young SRI officer at Newton said the reverse was true – SRI could produce better returns in the long run. Young said: “SRI and sustainability are long-term horizons, there are usually five-year time frames and beyond, so rather than seeing negative returns they can be seen as the other way around, with SRI offering better returns on long-term level.”

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Dow Jones Indexes signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the creation of a series of indexes that could be licensed as the basis for investible products. It is envisioned that the flagship of this index series would be a blue-chip index to be called the Dow Jones Global Fund 50 Index. The announcement was made at the international conference on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development organised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and the French development agency in Paris. Both, The Global Fund and Dow Jones Indexes, hope to benefit from this collaboration.

The Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG) has launched its election manifesto, A level playing field, asking for proportionate, effective regulation; the opportunity to deliver innovative public services; a tax system that recognises how charities operate and does not unduly penalise them; and the development of a social investment wholesale bank. David Membrey, CFDG’s acting chief executive, said: “The issues we raise focus on reforming processes and regulations in order to effectively help charities do what they do best: focus on fulfilling their missions.” CFDG is asking that the Government focuses on better assessing the impact of regulation on charities, and that they allow both primary and non-primary purpose trading to be undertaken within charities (thus dispensing with the need for trading subsidiaries)

The Charity Commission has today published a guide for trustees of charities who have learning disabilities to assist them in understanding their role. Being a trustee has been produced in Easy Read format by the Commission in partnership with the learning disability charity Mencap and in response to calls from the sector to produce such a guide. The Easy Read guide covers many of the key aspects of the Commission’s existing CC3 Essential Trustee guidance and is intended to be used by trustees with learning disabilities. Easy Read format is becoming more widely used by organisations to support and include people with learning disabilities. The guide follows the format of Easy Read with communicative images, easy words and larger text, and highlights where trustees may need further assistance with more complex aspects of being a trustee.

The Charity Commission has today published a report on its statutory inquiry into the charity Viva Palestina highlighting concerns over the running of the charity. The Commission opened an investigation in early March 2009 following various public fundraising events regarding the Lifeline for Gaza appeal, also known as Viva Palestina. The charity’s initial activity was to launch an appeal for, and to facilitate, a convoy of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in February 2009. The charity’s website claimed that the appeal had raised £1 million. The Commission appreciated that the charity was established and operating quickly, in response to an immediate need in Gaza. However the Commission had a number of regulatory concerns.

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