The Social Investment Business revealed some interesting figures about Futurebuilders last week – chiefly, that it has £28m of unspent repayments sitting in its bank accounts, some of which has been there for at least five years. Another revelation was that only another £85m or so is outstanding. For a fund originally billed as having… Read more »
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Is William Shawcross the right person for the commission job?
The proposed appointment of the writer and journalist William Shawcross as chair of the Charity Commission at least bodes well for a relatively short interregnum. John Wood, an existing board member, took over as interim chair of the regulator at the beginning of this month after the departure of Dame Suzi Leather. A starting date… Read more »
Why I’ve been put off donating to one major charity
I have been annoyed by a big-name charity after I gave it what was, by my standards, a pretty generous donation. I made the donation in response to a high-profile campaign, and was quickly thanked by the charity. I thought that would be the end of it, and from my point of view that would… Read more »
We need to maintain the momentum post-London 2012
Few people could deny being gripped and enthralled by the awesome sporting spectacle served up over the past fortnight. Following a seven-year build up, the Games finally came, London delivered and now the athletes and fans have returned home and the blaze of the Olympic flame has been extinguished. Barring some admittedly not inconsiderable last… Read more »
There is a great deal of churn, turmoil and change going on in the sector
It feels as if the sector has taken a real beating in the last couple of weeks. It’s not so much a matter of big individual hits as of death by a thousand cuts. Each day seemed to bring a new closure. The educational charity Red Kite, which works with ex-offenders, was sunk by the… Read more »
Charity regulation is all over the place
Earlier this month, a National Audit Office report for the Public Administration Select Committee laid out the scope of the charity sector in the UK. It revealed, basically, that charity regulation is all over the place. There are almost 350,000 charities in the UK, with a total income of more than £120bn. Less than half… Read more »