Category Archives: Charities

UK cost of living crisis putting strain on domestic abuse refuges, says charity

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Rising prices have created greater demand for sanctuary and made it more difficult for people to leave

Refuges providing sanctuary to victims of domestic violence are facing severe strains as a result of the cost of living crisis, a charity has warned.

Rising prices are creating a greater demand for refuge spaces, as increased financial pressure acts as a trigger for abusive partners, while making it more costly for those already in refuge to leave, according to Hestia, a charity providing support to those fleeing domestic abuse in London and south-east England.

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Prince Charles’s charities are no stranger to controversy

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Analysis: Reports that prince accepted €3m from a former Qatari prime minister again throws spotlight on donations

• Charles given €3m by Qatari politician, according to report

Claims by the Sunday Times of alleged cash donations given to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund by a former Qatari prime minister are the latest to throw a spotlight on fundraising for the heir to the throne’s charities.

The billionaire Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who was Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister between 2007 and 2013, is a contentious figure.

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Prince Charles given €3m in cash in bags by Qatari politician, according to report

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Money was passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities, says Clarence House

The Prince of Wales accepted bags containing millions of euros in cash during meetings with a senior Qatari politician, according to a report.

Prince Charles was said to have been given a total of €3m (£2.6m) during meetings with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar.

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Four in 10 pandemic-era mutual aid groups still active, UK data suggests

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Groups set up to help out neighbours in 2020 are now helping people cope with cost of living, say campaigners

Four in 10 of the mutual aid groups that were set up at the start of the pandemic to make it easier for neighbours to help each other are still active and many have become established charities helping local people cope with the cost of living crisis, analysis suggests.

When the pandemic began, an estimated 4,000 mutual aid groups sprang up to offer assistance to those in need with a range of essential activities, from food shopping to collecting prescriptions and providing Covid information.

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Unscrupulous ivory traders can evade new UK ban, charity says

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Sellers could pass off elephant products as derivatives from unprotected mammals, Born Free Foundation says

Ivory peddlers may continue to sell elephant tusks after a new ban by disguising their products as walrus or narwhal derivatives, campaigners have warned.

From Monday, trade in elephant teeth and tusks is illegal in the UK, punishable by fines of up to £250,000 or up to five years in prison under the Ivory Act. Pre-1975 musical instruments and antique items of “outstanding importance” are exempted from the act, as well as ivory from non-elephant species.

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‘Do we want music to be a pursuit only of the wealthy?’ Anger grows at PRS Foundation cuts

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Royalties company PRS for Music has announced a major funding cut for its charitable arm. Artists such as Black Country, New Road explain why it could damage the UK music scene

One of the UK’s biggest funders of new and emerging music, responsible for fostering the careers of artists including Sam Fender, Little Simz and 2021 Mercury prize winner Arlo Parks, has this week seen its budget slashed by 60%.

The PRS Foundation, which funds hundreds of aspiring artists and music organisations across the country – including a number of artists from groups underrepresented in the music industry – announced on Wednesday that its income would be cut from £2.75m to £1m from 2024 onwards, citing financial necessity. The decision was taken by its parent company and primary funder PRS for Music, which collects royalties for musicians when their music is streamed or played in public.

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Labour should focus on policy instead of ‘tough on crime’ messaging, charity says

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Head of Howard League urges party to abandon ‘cheap politics’ and develop evidence-based position

The Labour party is indulging in “cheap politics” by accusing the Conservatives repeatedly of being soft on crime, the head of a leading prison reform charity has claimed.

Andrea Coomber QC, the chief executive of the Howard League, said the opposition is trying to outflank Boris Johnson’s government on law and order instead of developing evidence-based policies to solve a crisis within the criminal justice system.

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Nadine Dorries hands top charity role to candidate rejected by MPs

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Orlando Fraser to chair Charity Commission despite select committee calling him ‘slapdash and unimaginative choice’

The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has pressed ahead with the appointment of former Tory parliamentary candidate Orlando Fraser to chair the Charity Commission, despite his rejection by an MPs’ scrutiny committee.

The news that Dorries had ignored the cross-party group of MPs to appoint Fraser was slipped out in a brief statement by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) early on Friday evening.

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MPs reject government’s ‘unimaginative’ choice for Charity Commission chair

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Committee says it has reservations over selection process and lack of diversity in shortlist

A committee of MPs has rejected the government’s choice for the next chair of the Charity Commission, blaming ministers for a “slapdash and unimaginative choice” in selecting the one-time Conservative parliamentary candidate Orlando Fraser.

While the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) committee said it had no grounds for concern about Fraser as an individual, it had serious reservations about the selection process, including the lack of diversity in the shortlist.

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Boris Johnson did prioritise animal charity for Afghan evacuation, MPs told

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Second whistleblower suggests to committee that top civil servants lied to cover up episode

A second whistleblower has gone public to say it was “widespread knowledge” in government that Boris Johnson ordered the prioritisation of an animal charity based in Afghanistan for evacuation during the Taliban takeover last summer.

Josie Stewart, who worked in the Foreign Office for seven years, including a stint in the Kabul embassy, suggested senior civil servants in the department had lied to cover up the embarrassing episode.

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Tories criticised for choosing ex-party candidate to chair Charity Commission

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Labour said seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser ignored due process and showed Tories ‘looking after their own’

The government has been accused of “looking after their own” after choosing a former Tory party candidate with links to a rightwing thinktank as its preferred candidate for the chair of the charities’ watchdog.

Labour said by seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser, a founding fellow of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), to the chair of the Charity Commission, ministers had ignored due process in favour of another Conservative supporter.

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Website of Queen’s charity promotes Prince Harry’s US coaching firm

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Queen’s Commonwealth Trust site contains glowing review of California-based BetterUp, which the prince joined last year

A leading Commonwealth charity which has the Queen as its patron is promoting the online coaching business that employs Prince Harry as its chief impact officer.

The coaching, by BetterUp, is described as “truly phenomenal” in testimony by one user on the website of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (QCT). Prince Harry was previously president of the trust.

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Met investigating cash-for-honours claims linked to Prince’s Foundation

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Metropolitan police have launched investigation into allegations linked to Prince Charles charity

Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into cash-for-honours allegations linked to the Prince of Wales’s charity the Prince’s Foundation.

In a brief statement, the Metropolitan police said it had launched the investigation after media reports alleging offers of help were made to secure honours and citizenship for a Saudi national.

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A treasured letter to Uncle Bob in Malta | Brief letters

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Postal wonder | Corruption | Sacklers | Platinum pudding | Polar prayers

As a five-year-old in the 1950s, I wrote a letter with my Toytown writing set to my favourite uncle, who was in the navy. Before posting, I chose the shade of Noddy stamp to best complement the matching paper and envelope, then addressed it to “Uncle Bob, Malta” (Letters, 11 January). He received it, along with a hefty excess postage fee, but carried it with him in his wallet long afterwards as a cherished memory of home.
Andrea Clarkson
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria

• You report that “the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, insists the UK has some of the toughest anti-corruption laws in the world” (MPs to re-examine UK response to dirty money from Russia, 10 January). But laws and acts of parliament are just pieces of paper until their implementation is monitored.
Marika Sherwood
Oare, Kent

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After rightwing attacks on rescues, UK lifeboat charity has record fundraising year

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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had ‘significant’ increase in annual donations after it went to the aid of asylum seekers

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is on course for the highest annual fundraising total in its near 200-year history. Donations swelled after the charity attracted huge public support following rightwing attacks for helping save the lives of asylum seekers at risk of drowning in the Channel.

The RNLI said it has received a significant increase in support, with online donations rising by 50% this year.

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Women in prison ignored by feminist funders that find them less ‘marketable’, says NGO head

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Survey by Women Beyond Walls finds 70% of groups working with incarcerated women do not receive funds from women’s rights foundations

The global feminist movement is failing to support organisations working with women in prison, as donors shy away from funding projects aimed at people with “complicated” narratives, says lawyer and activist Sabrina Mahtani.

Mahtani, founder of Women Beyond Walls (WBW), said many NGOs around the world were doing vital work “supporting some of the most marginalised and overlooked women” in society, including providing essential legal services and reducing pretrial detention time.

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Activists call for revolution in ‘dated and colonial’ aid funding

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Aspen Institute’s New Voices want donors to exercise humility and trust those receiving grants to know what their communities need

Aid donors are being urged to revolutionise the way money is spent to move away from colonial ideas and create meaningful change.

Ahead of a two-day conference this week, activists from Africa, Asia and Latin America have called on public and private global health donors – including governments, the United Nations, private philanthropists and international organisations – to prioritise funding for programmes driven by the needs of the community involved, rather than dictated by preconceived objectives.

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Naomi Campbell’s fashion charity investigated over finances

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Regulator examines potential mismanagement at Fashion for Relief and payments to trustee

The fashion charity established by the supermodel Naomi Campbell has come under formal investigation from the charities watchdog over misconduct concerns relating to its management and finances.

Campbell created Fashion for Relief in 2005 to raise funds for children living in poverty and adversity around the world, and says it has raised millions over the years for good causes through its annual charity fashion show.

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Prince Charles’s former aide quits as charity boss amid cash-for-honours claims

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Michael Fawcett resigns from The Prince’s Foundation after accusations he offered to help secure a knighthood for Saudi donor

A former aide to the Prince of Wales has resigned as chief executive of one of Charles’ charities amid an alleged cash-for-honours scandal.

Michael Fawcett and his party planning company will also no longer be providing services to Clarence House, a spokesperson said.

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