Charity Update - 7 December 2021
Locations
Welcome to this edition of our Charity Update. Please click on the links to find out more about the important topics below. Whatever your involvement with charities, whether as a charity trustee who wants to keep themselves informed or otherwise, we trust you find this interesting and helpful. This is our last update before Christmas, so we would like to take the opportunity of wishing you a very Merry Christmas with best wishes for a positive 2022 ahead.
Neil Palmer
2 December 2021
Preferred candidate for the position/role of the Chair of the Charity Commission is announced
The Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has announced that Martin Thomas is the Government’s preferred candidate for the Chair of the Charity Commission.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
2 December 2021
Former trustees of mental health charity are found responsible for misconduct and mismanagement
The former trustees of Richmond Psychosocial Foundation International are found to have exposed residents to “significant avoidable harm”. A young woman tragically took her own life in whilst under the care of the charity in 2016.
The Charity Commission
30 November 2021
Guidance on volunteering in England is updated due to Omicron variant
The new measures include face coverings, self-isolation and testing after international travel.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
30 November 2021
Social Investment Business report reveals the areas most 'at risk' of closure and job losses due to Covid-19 debt
The report makes plain the scale of unmanageable debt facing SMEs as a result of Covid-19. The data has found that, whilst the concentration of debt is evenly spread across the country, the most at risk constituencies are heavily concentrated in the North West, London and West Midlands.
Social Investment Business
29 November 2021
NCVO publish new research examining the Government's policy response to volunteering during the pandemic
The findings paint a mixed picture, more often swaying into the negative, with confusing and inconsistent public health guidance for frontline organisations, as well as a disconnect between the ‘top down’ response driven nationally and the reality at a local level.
NCVO
29 November 2021
Social Investment Business announced their extended deadline for Recovery Loan Fund applications
At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced that the Recovery Loan Scheme would be extended by 6 months. Social Investment Business is therefore keeping applications open until Friday the 20th May 2022.
Social Investment Business
29 November 2021
The Fundraising Regulator urges you to donate safely over the festive period
The Charity Commission, Fundraising Regulator, National Trading Standards and Action Fraud are raising awareness about fraud attempts over the Christmas period. It is estimated that £1.6 million of the public’s money was lost to online charity fraud over the past year. Read more on how to donate safely.
Fundraising Regulator
25 November 2021
Charity Commission announces a statutory enquiry into Fashion for Relief
The Commission has voiced concerns relating to potential misconduct and mismanagement. This follows a previous compliance investigation into the charity in 2020.
The Charity Commission
22 November 2021
CAF release 2021 UK Giving Report
The number of people donating to charity is decreasing, 65% of the population donating the previous year, with only 62% donating last year. 1.6m fewer people donated to charity last year.
Charities Aid Foundation
22 November 2021
Government to increase the accessibility of volunteering with the Volunteering Futures Fund
The fund will make £7 million available for arts, culture, sports, civil society, youth and heritage sectors. The fund will have a strong focus on young people, those experiencing loneliness, those with disabilities and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport