Our weekly round-up of outlandish and interesting information collected from the corners of the charity sector.

The walk and woof

Sometimes, the headline tells most of the story, and to be honest, this is one of those times. A man has dressed his Jack Russell terrier in a kilt and a bonnet and plans to take it for a long walk up a big hill to raise money for a charity, the Highland Hospice.

It’s questionable whether the dog is overly impressed with the silly outfit, but then, it was probably already irritated about having the mind of a wolf while stuck in the body of an oversized rodent. And anyway it looks cute, and it probably hadn’t previously done much to earn its Pedigree Chum, so fair enough.

For those interested in these things, the dog is called Cluanie and its owner is called Micky Jones. They’re both from North Kessock, just north of Inverness, and they’re taking part in the Kilts up Ben Macdui event on September 6. You can sponsor them if you want.

We demand a campaigning certificate!

So you can now do a four-month certificate in campaigning, run by NCVO.

This rather tickles Diary’s curiosity. Did NCVO just decide to run this, do you think, or did it come as a reluctant concession, after the building of a unified movement to demand they do so, with a gradual drive to build widespread support among a diverse group of key stakeholders?

NCVO says very sternly that in order to pass the course, you actually have to attend the modules on things like slogan writing, grassroots mobilisation, and how not to fall foul of crazy rules cooked up by William Shawcross and assorted froth-mouthed lunatics on the Tory back benches.

But surely this is the wrong attitude. Surely to get a certificate in campaigning, you shouldn’t have to actually write any essays or attend any classes. You should just have to demand they give it to you, really persuasively, until eventually they crack.

Diary can see the placards now: “What do we want? A certificate of campaigning! When do we want it? In four months time!”

Now officially hated by Londoners

Londoners are famous for complaining about the exorbitant difficulties you have to endure in exchange for living in the capital and making loads more money than everyone else in the UK. If you live here, you will no doubt endure continued raillery at the cost of a black cab, the tediousness of being surrounded by bankers, and the necessity of from time to time going south of the river.

Occasionally Time Out magazine informally codifies this in a list of things that would never be said by the hardened, battle-scarred people of the big smoke. This time, being pestered by face-to-face fundraisers has made the list at number 20: “Yes, person with clipboard and overly sincere grin, I actually have several minutes to talk with you about the crisis facing Polynesian iguanas!”. Whether this entry into the city's consciousness is a success or failure for the sector, we leave up to you to decide.

Getting them off the streets

In fact, Time Out is getting a bit obsessed with street fundraising. It’s even interviewed Andy Hill, formerly of that profession, to uncover the inner secrets of his dark art. Basically it seems to involve being nice to people in the face of flint-eyed hatred and continual rejection.

“It’s a common complaint that chuggers are mercenaries with no emotional investment in the charity they work for,” he writes. “But street fundraising is an insanely tough job. The staff turnover rate among fundraisers makes the job of Chelsea manager look ironclad.”