News Aggregator
Summaries from news feeds gathered from a variety of sector news sites. Click on the headline or [link] for the full news item - this will take you away from VoluntaryNews to the originating site.
Sorted by most recent first.
We also have a clickable list of headlines, by organisation/site.
Third Sector Breaking News » NCVO conference ventures north
Umbrella body the NCVO is to hold its autumn conference outside London for the first time this year. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Last chance to enter
The deadline to enter the Third Sector Excellence Awards 2008 has been extended to 31 July. [Link]
New Start » Rural communities may build own homes
Smaller rural communities will be encouraged to secure the development of affordable housing themselves if new proposals designed to tackle a lack of affordability get the go-ahead.
[Link]New Start » Ministers warned over planning on eco-towns
The government could face a legal challenge over plans to bypass the normal planning regime in order to press ahead with proposals for eco-towns.
[Link]New Start » Jobs advisers could access addiction records
Jobcentre staff could be given new powers to access the treatment records of heroin and crack addicts in order to help determine benefit claims.
[Link]New Start » Victory for Black Sisters after Ealing error
Councils have been told to rethink plans to move away from single group funding after a west London community organisation won a High Court battle against funding cuts.
[Link]New Start » MPs demand better services for pensioners
Services for older people are on ‘the brink of collapse’ and must be improved to reassure the public they will be cared for in later life, according to a cross-party inquiry.
[Link]WCVA News » Another WebSpring site created
A well-known voluntary sector project has become the latest to take advantage of WebSpring WCVAs website builder for voluntary organisations. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Commission publishes terrorism strategy
The Charity Commission will encourage trustees to carry out risk assessments on their organisations to protect them from being used by terrorists, the regulator announced yesterday. [Link]
xPRESS Digest » Government Announces BAME Women Councillors Taskforce Pilot Event
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women from across London will take part in the first in a series of Government events today, which aim to encourage them to become councillors in local government - ultimately making councils more representative of the communities they serve and enable more informed decision making. Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, recently launched the Taskforce - a working group of 14 current and former councillors from across Britain, each from different ethnic backgrounds and political parties. The Taskforce is chaired by Baroness Uddin - ...
[Link]Third Sector Breaking News » BME charity claims High Court victory after losing council funding
A London charity that supports victims of domestic violence is celebrating a High Court victory that resulted in its local council reversing a decision to cut its £100,000 funding. [Link]
xPRESS Digest » Oxfam criticises G8 response
The G8 leaders have not done enough to address the world poverty crisis, according to international charity Oxfam. Leaders from the most powerful countries in the world met in Japan but their conference did not do enough to satisfy the demands of the organisation. Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam International Executive Director, cited climate change, food prices and poverty as some of the problems which needed to be tackled. According to the charity, the G8’s climate change policies leave the world with a 50 percent chance “of global meltdown” and did not do ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » School wind turbines plans unveiled at Royal Welsh
AAT Project Manager Dan McCallum will unveil the proposals at the Builth Wells showground when he appears as guest speaker at the Voluntary Sector Marquee hosted by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Wales Association of County Voluntary Councils (WACVC).
Awel Aman Tawe (Welsh for “wind of the Amman and Swansea Valleys”) is a social enterprise working for the regeneration of the South Wales mining valleys through the development of renewable energy, energy efficiency and environmental projects. It has been developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in primary and secondary ...
xPRESS Digest » HIE Review 2008 published online - Scotland
A broad range of transformational projects led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and its partners is described in a new publication, HIE Review 2008. The review, published online on Monday 30 June, summarises HIE’s activities to build sustainable economic growth across the Highlands and Islands during 2007-08. Projects featured in the publication cover every area in the Highlands and Islands. They include UHI, broadband, Moray 2020, the Centre for Health Science, the Argyll marine science park, the European Marine Energy Centre, Stòras Uibhist, the Isle of Eigg electrification, the Highlands and ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » NGOs urged to aid European groups
Capacity-building charity Resource Alliance is asking UK overseas aid agencies to share their fundraising expertise with organisations in countries with less developed voluntary sectors. A study by the alliance of fundraising in central Europe shows that a lack of resources is preventing charities in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary from developing fundraising techniques and donor databases.
23 July 2008
© Hannah Jordan, Third Sector
xPRESS Digest » BME charity claims High Court victory after losing council funding
A London charity that supports victims of domestic violence is celebrating a High Court victory that resulted in its local council reversing a decision to cut its £100,000 funding. Southall Black Sisters , which helps people from black and minority ethnic communities, was told by Ealing Council last July that its £100,000 annual grant would not be renewed. The council wanted to use the money to commission a domestic violence support service for all women in the borough.
23 July 2008
© Third Sector Online
xPRESS Digest » Reasons to be cheerful: Matthew Taylor’s rural report
CPRE welcomed Matthew Taylor’s much anticipated report to the Prime Minister on rural communities today (Wednesday). ‘It is so refreshing to read a report which puts long term planning, local distinctiveness, and community consent at the heart of its recommendations,’ said Tom Oliver, Head of Rural Policy at CPRE. The report, commissioned by Gordon Brown, suggests practical ways of providing more permanently affordable housing for rural communities. Crucially, it recognises the wisdom of carefully planned and well designed settlements. ‘Matthew Taylor has raised the level of debate about the development of ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » Person-centred support: what service users and practitioners say
This summary tells you about the Standards We Expect project. Disabled people and others have long argued that it does not make sense to spend money on services which limit people’s choices and their opportunities to live ordinary lives. The alternative, personalisation, aims to support people to make choices and to be included. It goes under many different names, including ‘independent living’, ‘person-centred support’ and ‘self-directed support’. They are all based on the same principle: if disabled people are to participate and contribute as equal citizens they must have choice and ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » Announcement of the £75M RDPE Plan for England’s Rural Northwest
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has launched a £75million fund which will support rural areas in England’s Northwest. The funding is being made available through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union, and will be managed by the NWDA. There are four parts to the RDPE programme termed “axes”. Approximately £25million of the funds in Axes 1 and 3 will be directed through this approach. The Forestry Commission and Natural England are responsible for Axis 2. Peter White, Executive Director ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » Launch of the Social Enterprise Loan Fund
The Social Enterprise Loan Fund was officially launched on Tuesday 22 July. The Social Enterprise Loan Fund (TSELF) replaces the Local Investment Fund, which has generated over £2 million of private sector investment and £7 million of loan finance to 150 community enterprises over the last 14 years. TSELF plans to build upon this success by doubling the size of its loan portfolio over the next three years. “We have significant experience in providing loan finance to not-for-profit community enterprises,” says Mike Baker, Chief Executive. “The new Social Enterprise Loan Fund ...
[Link]xPRESS Digest » Global Credit Union Growing
Credit unions worldwide are expanding at a stable pace, with more members being served by more credit unions in 2007 than were served during the previous year, according to findings released this week in World Council of Credit Unions’ (WOCCU) 2007 Statistical Report. Respondents to the annual survey from 96 countries reported that 49,134 credit unions served more than 177 million people worldwide in 2007. In 2006, 46,377 credit unions served slightly more than 172 million members in 97 countries. Credit union assets around the globe grew by 8.2% over the ...
[Link]Third Sector Breaking News » Navca eschews Compact move
Only a third of Navca members think that the Compact should be given statutory force, a poll by the umbrella body has revealed. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Skills department sets tone for ministerial dealings with sector
Government departments have been urged to follow the example of the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills by formally outlining how they interact with the third sector. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Call to tailor code for sub-sectors
The founding group behind the code of practice on good governance should produce tailored advice for different types of charity, according to research by nfpSynergy, on behalf of the Governance Hub. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Lawyers frustrated by delayed incorporation rules
Charity lawyers have reacted with disappointment to a delay to draft rules on the new charitable incorporated organisation legal structure. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Health and faith charities raise biggest slice of fundraising pie
Health and faith-based charities together accounted for more than 40 per cent of fundraised income last year, according to new research from research consultancy Caritas Data and Cass Business School. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » NGOs urged to aid European groups
Capacity-building charity Resource Alliance is asking UK overseas aid agencies to share their fundraising expertise with organisations in countries with less developed voluntary sectors. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » What's new: Your round-up of the latest fundraising campaigns
Escape Artists, the arts and mental health charity, is raising funds for its work with disadvantaged communities in the UK organising what it believes is the world's first official tribute to the late Pink Floyd founder member Syd Barrett. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Charities' holdings drop as stockmarket takes hit
The value of charity investments fell by 8.4 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to the latest figures from the WM Company. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Interview: Humayon Dar Islamic economist developing Sharia-compliant products
In recent years, numerous financial apostles have urged charities to liberate themselves from a dependence on grants and donations and consider other forms of financing, such as loans. But one part of the sector has remained impervious to these appeals - Muslim charities. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Money matters: Mathew Little's round-up of what's happening in the finance world
The Charity Accountants' Conference, the Children's Investment Fund, Acevo and the Charity Finance Directors' Group feature this week. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Community foundations chosen to distribute Grassroots Grants
The Government has appointed 63 local community foundations across the UK to distribute grants and set up endowment funds as part of its £130m Grassroots Grants programme. [Link]
Third Sector Breaking News » Long-Term unemployed could be forced to help charities
Voluntary organisations could benefit from government proposals to force long-term unemployed people to carry out full-time community work. [Link]
WCVA News » School wind turbines plans unveiled at Royal Welsh
Wednesday, 23 July, 2008: 2.30pm
The Voluntary Action Stand,
Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd
Revolutionary plans to make wind turbines a common sight at schools in South West Wales will be outlined by a guest speaker at next weeks Royal Welsh Show.
Renewable energy charity Awel Aman Tawe (AAT) is aiming to develop wind turbines at 20 secondary and primary schools, as well as advising on energy efficiency measures the schools could adopt, in a bid to get young people and their communities involved in the fight against climate change.
xPRESS Digest » Plans for rural housing enablers unveiled
The locations of six new “enablers” to develop affordable housing in rural Wales have been revealed today. At an event with the WLGA and Community Housing Cymru in the Royal Welsh Show, the Deputy Minister for Housing, Jocelyn Davies, announced more details on the extension of the “Rural Enabler” scheme. £400,000 will be available for the Rural Housing Development scheme this year. The Welsh Assembly Government will provide £200,000 and the WLGA and CHC will provide match funding of £200,000. She said the Welsh Assembly Government’s Rural Housing Development Scheme will ...
[Link]