The story in yesterday’s Guardian, which said the charity Variety Club was receiving less than £4.50 per year from each of the shoe recycling banks emblazoned with its name, will have surprised members of the public – many of whom are already wary about the proportion of their charitable donations that make it to the front line.

Looking into the story a little deeper, the details became slightly blurred: the European Recycling Company, the private firm that runs the collection banks, insisted it was not accurate to use a cash-per-bank figure because the firm agreed a yearly donation with the charity that was not directly linked to its profits or its income from donated stock. Read more »

The last time I took a donation to a charity shop, it was a great experience.

I took an unwanted jewellery box, full of costume jewellery, to a Cancer Research UK shop. The volunteer behind the desk could not have been more excited or grateful for my gift. I left with the warm glow you get from doing something good. Read more »

One of the main recommendations in yesterday’s Public Administration Select Committee report on the big society was that the government should appoint a big society minister.

The new appointee, the report says, would have “a cross-cutting brief to help other ministers to drive through this agenda”.

Judging by the initial reactions, the voluntary sector is dubious. Umbrella bodies point out that Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society, is already more or less doing that job. The addition of a new minister, they say, might create even more confusion about an agenda that is already poorly-understood by charities, civil servants and the public. Read more »

Earlier this week I went to the charity tribunal to watch a day-long hearing on a case brought against the Charity Commission by a group of four local residents from the Surrey village of Dunsfold.

Read more »