Civil Society - Home

Investigation exposed VAT and cashflow issues at Charity Business

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 12:17:00 GMT

An independent investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Charity Business has revealed that the company raised no fixed-fee invoices for the period May to September 2011 until October, meaning it failed to declare around £50,000 of output VAT in the correct VAT period.

Official Work Programme data to be released in two weeks

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 12:15:00 GMT

Minister for employment Chris Grayling has confirmed that official statistics on the Work Programme, including referrals data, will be published for the first time on 21 February 2012.

Co-operative reaffirms commitment to charity credit cards

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 11:49:00 GMT

The Co-operative Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to provide charity credit cards following last week's announcement by Lloyds Banking Group that it will stop providing them at the end of February.

Wealthy take 36 days to decide on major donations, research finds

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 11:43:00 GMT

High net worth individuals take, on average, 36 days to decide whether to make a major charitable donation and when they do, the gift averages around $14,000.

Charity Business CEO was dismissed in October 2011

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 11:02:00 GMT

Charity Business founder and CEO Mark Freeman was sacked by the board of the parent company in October following an auditors’ investigation into alleged financial irregularities, and has since lodged a claim for unfair dismissal.

16 projects share £9m from Social Action Fund

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:46:00 GMT

Over £9m of an overall £20m has been awarded in the first window of the Social Action Fund to 16 projects in England.

OSCR staff survey reveals rising motivation levels

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 12:58:00 GMT

Staff at the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator are more motivated than they were, have a greater personal attachment to the organisation and are more confident in the board’s vision for the future, according to a new survey.

Cabinet Office announces grants from £30m local infrastructure fund

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 12:42:00 GMT

Ealing Council for Voluntary Service has received the largest grant from the £30m Cabinet Office programme for local civil society support organisations throughout England.

Fundraising self-regulation could expand, says new PFRA chair

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 12:15:00 GMT

Charity sector self-regulation is ripe for expansion, according to the new chairman of the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association.

Youth United gets £1m from government to train adult volunteers

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 11:55:00 GMT

Eric Pickles has announced that his Department for Communities and Local Government will give a coalition of youth volunteering bodies £10m to train 2,700 new adult volunteers.

Charities bear the burden of government cuts on dementia

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:57:00 GMT

Alzheimer’s charities say they should not be expected to subsidise a lack of funding from the government for dementia research, following a study which aims to increase capacity for dementia research in the UK.

UK charities voted amongst best NGOs

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:10:00 GMT

Three UK-based charities are placed amongst the top twenty best NGOs in the world in a report by the Global Journal.

Blears to push Hurd on definition for social enterprise

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Labour MP Hazel Blears plans to write to minister for civil society Nick Hurd urging him to consider a statutory definition for social enterprise, after he recently confirmed that the government had no plans to introduce one.

Time management: execute with excellence

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Allocating time appropriately between strategy and operations is, says John Tate, the key to business success.

Consumer power: the future of social enterprises

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Peter Holbrook explains why he wants to more actively engage consumers with social enterprise.

Shaw Trust examines merger with Work Programme prime contractor

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:47:00 GMT

The Shaw Trust and Careers Development Group, two of the UK’s biggest welfare-to-work charities, are considering a merger.

Hurd: complaints about the Compact should come directly to me

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:45:00 GMT

Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said organisations that feel there are ‘serious grounds for complaint’ in how the Compact is working should take it up directly with him.

Charities' liability concern has increased, says report

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:23:00 GMT

Increasing concern by charities over public liability risks has been documented in a report released this week by sector insurer Ecclesiastical.

Community energy lobby presses government for huge scaling up

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 12:13:00 GMT

The National Trust and the Women’s Institute are among a coalition of civil society groups that are meeting Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne today to press for massive expansion of community energy projects across the UK.

Audit new business wins January 2012: Fresh advice

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:47:00 GMT

Citizens Advice appointed its new auditor following the resignation of Baker Tilly which wanted to include the organisation's pensions deficit in its books. Vibeka Mair runs through this and other audit new business wins that took place in Dec 2011 - Jan 2012.