On Monday 10 June a fairly unusual awards ceremony took place. 10 youth projects, all working across the capital, were awarded up to £5,000, not in r...
In my opinion in these difficult financial times, it is imperative that the voluntary and community sector and councils work even more effectively together. They must strive to find common cause and not fall out.
Social Impact Bonds, or SIBs, have been on the radar for several years now especially since the first one was launched by Social Finance back in 2010....
Having spent three years working for a small charity, running a support and signposting service for young people, I decided the time was right to move on. During my final week, one of our volunteers approached and asked (very sweetly and with the best of intentions) "So, is it time to get a real job then?".
The Help for Heroes charity says it will not accept any funds raised from a sponsored walk by the leader of the English Defence League. Tommy Robin...
The public service landscape is changing and fast - and not always in ways that the voluntary and community sector would wish to see. Some services are simply disappearing and others are being altered beyond recognition.
Story-telling lets us break down one of the other big misconceptions about aid, that it's colonial, a white man's hero mission. In every Save the Children programme that I've visited at least 90% of the staff are from that country and are passionate about what needs to happen to improve life for their fellow citizens.
There is no doubt that many in the voluntary and community sector are struggling to survive, to secure funding, and to honour their missions.
Mr Osborne is so busy shouting "you're wrong!" at his naysayers, he can't actually hear what they're saying.
My strategic advice to the sector, is to seek to find common cause with local government to make the case to central government to stop or at least mitigate the impact of further cuts; to expose the human and financial implications of the Government's welfare 'reforms'; and to argue for greater localism with more devolved responsibility and resources to localities.
A Guardian columnist has agreed to carry out charity work for three years after wrongly naming Lord McAlpine as a paedophile on Twitter. George Mon...
A university spent nearly £22,000 organising a charity flashmob dance which only raised £5,000 in donations, it has emerged. The embarrassing adm...
For some charities it may be too easy to walk into contracts because that is where the money is without considering the implications
Increasing employee ownership and engagement is clearly a good social policy, but what excites hardnosed business brains is its irrefutable impact on a company's bottom line. Employee owned businesses are known to provide higher levels of customer satisfaction, better quality services, lower staff turnover, better levels of innovation, and they are more resilient.
The world's largest food companies have been named and shamed because they fall short of ethical standards. Oxfam said global brands including Nest...
One in five British children live below the poverty line, new research has revealed. The Campaign to End Child Poverty published figures on Wednesd...
Picture this, first year of Uni. Cabin fever in halls. Too many conversations that went "what A-levels did you do?", "where did you go on your gap yah?" I was searching for normal people who woke up before 4pm. For people who didn't smell of stale beer and a garlic kebabs.
Grow Your Charity Online plans to hit the road and travel across the UK during 2013 to meet with charities face-to-face as well as hosting a regular series of online educational events, enabling charities to join advice sessions remotely.
Nine out of 10 teachers, police officers and social workers are regularly coming into contact with children they suspect are suffering from neglect, y...
I have first-hand experience of the impact pain can have both physically and emotionally. Also many members of my charity regularly tell me that chronic pain is dominating their life, affecting not only their social life and family time, but even their ability to hold down a job.
Collaborate will be a hub of new ideas, ground breaking policies and leading-edge practice; a centre of leadership and skills development; and a forum for conversation, debate and problem-solving between the business, social and public sectors.
Charity leaders have told David Cameron his 'Big Society' idea is going nowhere, with many charities facing crippling spending cuts and reforms coming...
The hope and confidence that the government's commitment to the 'Big Society' offered to the VCS in 2010 has ebbed away to be replaced by a cynical dismissal of what now seems to have been little more than rhetoric rather than an substantial set of policies.
The six million people in poverty in working households show that at the moment, work is not the route out of poverty - so something needs to be done to ensure that it is.
The third sector should not simply accept what is happening to it and to its beneficiaries. It has to be strong and resolute in speaking out for social justice, equality and decency - the essence of the sector.
