Charity and Voluntary Sector
AI: One year after the launch of the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal, the extraordinary generosity of the UK public has funded help to 2.3m people in the region. But tough challenges still lie ahead, the DEC is warning. Age International is the only organisation within the DEC network to specifically support older people following emergencies.
Demos: Businesses & retailers must fill the gap left by closed post offices, pubs & libraries and offer ‘social spaces’ for Britain’s lonely older people according to a new report published recently by the think tank Demos. The report warns that the closure of these traditional ‘pensioner stomping grounds’, combined with cuts to local services, are forcing older people out of communities and behind closed doors.
The report Ageing Sociably argues that there is also a business case for more ‘age friendly’ services, highlighting that people over the age of 50 are responsible for nearly 40% of consumer spending each year and own some 80% of wealth in the UK.
CO: Charities should be given more control & freedom over how they are run, Lord Hodgson said in his report on the Charities Act 2006, which was laid before Parliament last week. As part of the recommendations, Lord Hodgson is calling for greater freedom for charities to decide how they are run, but balanced with greater transparency.
BIG: Palliative care provider Sue Ryder will expand its award-winning prisoner volunteer programme to help more former offenders break the cycle of offending through meaningful work in the voluntary sector, with its share of £11.1m from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme awarded to 45 projects recently.
BIG: The Big Lottery Fund has announced funding to 8 more innovative social investment schemes that will help make voluntary, community & social enterprise (VCSE) organisations more financially sustainable and better able to help people most in need.
This means that nearly £2m has now been awarded to 12 organisations through Next Steps: Supporting Social Investment in England, which is exploring the potential of new approaches to raising finance that will help address significant social issues.
