With the number of young people not in employment, education or training consistently teetering around the one million mark in recent times, it’s encouraging that the coalition government is taking action through its Youth Contract. The plan to spend £1bn to provide work and training placements for up to half a million 18 to 24-year-olds… Read more »
Monthly Archives: November 2011
Royal patronage in action
To Clarence House, home of the HRH the Prince of Wales, for a reception to mark the centenary of Macmillan Cancer Support: there were probably more than 150 people there, ranging from the tough former bankers who now inhabit charity boardrooms to the charity’s staff and major donors. All were slightly a-quiver at the prospect… Read more »
Giving charity donations as Christmas gifts can be harder than you realise
As Christmas approaches, charities across the UK are embarking on festive fundraising campaigns – often their biggest campaigns of the year. As they do, they may wish to bear in mind a story I heard recently. A friend’s grandmother has taken the laudable decision that, instead of buying Christmas presents for her nearest and dearest… Read more »
Lessons for charities when it comes to philanthropy
There was a refreshing, and in some ways quite surprising, degree of honestly among the philanthropists taking part in a panel discussion to launch the Family Foundations Giving Trends 2011 report this week. Perhaps the most notable presence on the panel was Trevor Pears, a co-founder of the Pears Foundation, which has been playing a… Read more »
Scope’s bond issue is just the start
This week, disability charity Scope announced a £20m bond issue, which is the first significant bond issue by an operational charity. It’s unlikely to be the last. Geoff Burnand, co-founder of Investing for Good, a social investment organisation which worked with Scope to develop the bond, has already said he expects to see several other bond issues in short order,… Read more »