Lamont - "I always thought the euro would not work"

 Three weeks before David Cameron delivered his ‘non’ to President Sarkozy’s proposed eurozone rescue package, former UK chancellor of the exchequer Norman Lamont reminded a roomful of Newton Investment Management annual update delegates of Keynes’ maxim that “the inevitable never happens” but the unexpected "always does".

New report reveals extent of local authority cuts

More than 2,000 charities and community groups are facing budget cuts

Putting Big Society into practice

One of the problems with Big Society is the basic assumption that citizens not only understand what it is meant to be, but engage in it.

State of play

The Caritas state of play alert on key regulatory changes on the horizon

Thieves in charity clothing

Charities lose out as doorstep goods collections end up in Eastern Europe

A gift horse in training?

Gift Aid has come a long way in 20 years. Clarissa Dann provides a practical guide to how to operate it and reviews progress on reform

Big Society Bank delayed until 2012

Big Lottery has had to step in and start funding some social enterprise projects as Big Society Bank will not be open for business in July

Complaints - a goldmine of feedback

Negative feedback about any aspect of a charity’s operations is an opportunity to engage with supporters and improve processes as a result.

Fostering a giving culture

Back in 2007, Bill Clinton’s book Giving: How each of us can change the world makes the point that “charitable giving has been democratized as never before, primarily through the Internet, enabling citizens of modest means who share a common concern to amass huge sums of money.” And, predictably for a former head of state, he observes that “regardless of the quality of government, a critical difference is being made by citizens working as individuals, in businesses and through non-governmental nonprofit organisations”.

Governance shake-up for children's charity

Child protection issues, lack of independent trustees and inadequate financial controls first alerted the Charity Commission to take a closer look at the Association for Reaching and Instructing Children in Africa.

Sex offence disclosure breaches human rights

‘H’ and ‘L’, a severely disabled married couple, received weekly payments from their local authority for adult social care which were used to pay for personal care assistants.

Social finance choked at birth by regulatory thickets – Treasury asked to consider a new approach

The seeds of social entrepreneurship and finance are in danger of being scattered to the wind before they have even had a chance to germinate because of an adverse regulatory climate, according a new report coinciding with the government's overhaul of the Financial Services Authority.

State of play

The Caritas state of play alert on key regulatory changes on the horizon

Catholic Care forced to abandon exemption hopes

The Charity Tribunal has ruled that Catholic Care cannot be exempt from anti-discrimination law and does not agree that the charity has no option other than closure.

Comfortably numb

Like many at the O2 Arena that evening (12 May) I found some of the themes and images of The Wall unsettling, but was overwhelmed by the musicianship, performance and nostalgia for another age, when I bought vinyl with my pocket money.

Council set to fine food hand-out volunteers

Joint working on track at Samaritans

Despite an overall reduction of total UK suicide over the years, Samaritans have noted a very gradual increase in suicides on the railways.

Lessons from Wildlife Aid

This was a small charity, but the issues of public perception for the wider sector were important learning points, although the regulator found no evidence of the alleged maladministration and mismanagement.

Paid 'volunteer' not covered by discrimination law

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a tribunal's decision that a paid volunteer instructor of army cadets did not have a “contract personally to do any work” and therefore was not covered by discrimination law.

Social housing crossroads

In his report, Housing Associations in England and the future of Voluntary Organisations, Andrew Purkis examines what happens to the distinctive contribution and character of the voluntary sector, if it takes over the delivery of services previously entrusted to the state.¹