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Diamond Dividend is real civic opportunity of 2012 says social enterprise

Finance | Niki May Young | 23 Jun 2010

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 could be used to drive £4bn in giving if plans suggested by a social enterprise are adopted by Buckingham Palace. 

In a pamphlet designed to spur social action in the South East of England, SCA Group suggested the Queen use her influence to encourage the public to donate 1 per cent of their salaries to charity and generate a ‘diamond dividend’ on the back of celebrations.

Co-author of the pamphlet Francis Davis, who is also an adviser to the government, said the document was originally intended as part of a “private discussion” aimed at aiding the “great many un-met needs of lonely military families on estates in Hampshire”. “We didn’t expect anyone to pick up on it,” he added.

But within the document an appendix entitled The Diamond Divided: Olympics, social change and a royal revolution for 2012 has generated widespread interest, calling for the Queen and the rest of the royal family to act as a powerful civic catalyst to establish “a radically new social norm for charitable giving”.

Davis, who co-wrote the document with colleague Brian Strevens, told Civil Society that in 1977 the Queen’s arrival in Portsmouth for her Silver Jubilee celebrations transformed the military town as “thousands of people organised street parties, hundreds of folk set up village fetes, and millions of people across the region and beyond wanted to get involved”, in turn boosting the economy. He suggests that this same influence could be felt on a larger scale in the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

“The Queen may convene the discussions but all of society, the politicians, the singers, the sportsmen would all be a part of it,” said Davis.

The Diamond Dividend expands: “Just imagine that having gathered they agreed unanimously to endorse a campaign to persuade Britain to give 1 per cent of our gross incomes for the year of the Diamond Jubilee.”

The document also calls on the government to establish a precedent stating that the Chancellor should ensure that the Cabinet and all ministers be the first to sign up to giving 1 per cent of their salaries to charity, as well as committing to a further 5 per cent of tax relief on donations to charities during the Jubilee year and to simplify the paperwork to ensure tax relief on even the smallest of donations.

While Buckingham Palace wouldn’t confirm whether it would act on SCA Group’s suggestions, asked whether there was a precedent for such action a spokesman said: “I can’t say very much but if you were to take the Golden Jubilee where there were six themes and various charitable causes benefitting, you could get an idea from that.”

During the Golden Jubilee celebrations the Queen launched an award for voluntary service to "honour unsung heroes".

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