As Britain cuts aid to war-torn country on brink of famine Muslim charities are directing donations towards feeding population
The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which started this week, is the biggest period of giving for UK Muslims.
According to research by the Muslim Charities Forum, in 2018 the UK’s estimated 3.5 million Muslims donated more than £120m to global charitable causes during Ramadan, at a rate of £46 every second.
Continue reading...Behind the Aspinall Foundation is a history of power, riches and links to the Tory party
When Carrie Symonds was welcomed to her job at the wildlife conservation charity the Aspinall Foundation in January, her new boss gushed that she had arrived at an “exciting time” for the organisation. Symonds, said Damian Aspinall, would be a “huge asset to us”.
Coverage of Boris Johnson’s fiancee’s appointment as head of communications focused on her well-publicised love of animals – useful, given the foundation’s charitable mission. It oversees Howletts and Port Lympne wildlife parks in Kent, home to exotic threatened species including rhinos, elephants, gorillas and cheetahs, which are prepared for a return to the wild in Africa.
Continue reading...No 10 does not deny reports that scheme could cover costs of works by PM’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds
Downing Street is trying to set up a charity that could cover the costs of the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s flat, which he shares with his fiancee, Carrie Symonds.
A No 10 spokesman would not deny reports in the Daily Mail that the prime minister is attempting to set up a charity where benefactors can contribute to the upkeep of Downing Street.
Symonds is understood to have undertaken a substantial redecoration of the flat above No 11 that she shares with Johnson and their baby son, Wilfred. Johnson is known to have joked with Conservative MPs about the cost of the refurbishment.
According to the Mail, the purpose of the charitable fund would be to maintain not just the No 11 flat, but also other parts of Downing Street, including the state rooms, and could therefore be presented as having a wider heritage purpose.
Continue reading...Actor describes being helped with lines and learning by repetition at event for the Vision Foundation
Dame Judi Dench has spoken of her determination to carry on working despite sight loss, even if that means using friends to learn lines and being gently told to stop delivering speeches to the proscenium arch rather than her fellow actors.
Dench described how she copes with deteriorating eyesight – the challenges, the unexpected advantages and the funny side – at an online event on Thursday with Stephen Fry and Hayley Mills for the Vision Foundation, the London sight loss charity.
Continue reading...Charity made changes after 2019 earthquake response report found allegations of child sexual misconduct by staff weren’t properly investigated
Oxfam will no longer be subject to strict supervision by the charity watchdog following “significant” reforms prompted by a 2019 report into conduct by its staff after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The Charity Commission for England and Wales found allegations that staff working in disaster zones sexually abused children were not fully disclosed, with the watchdog also citing a “culture of poor behaviour” among Oxfam GB staff sent to help victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Continue reading...Frank Rothwell, 70, raised more than £640,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK in tribute to his brother-in-law Roger
A grandfather has become the oldest person to row 3,000 miles solo across the Atlantic Ocean, raising more than £640,000 for dementia research.
Frank Rothwell, 70, from Oldham, set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on 12 December and crossed the finish line in Antigua in the Caribbean on Saturday – reuniting with Judith, his wife of 50 years, in good time for Valentine’s Day.
Continue reading...MPs say sexual exploitation still rife despite series of scandals and call for more effective measures
The sexual abuse and exploitation of local women by international aid workers remains “rife”, say MPs, describing the sector as the “last safe haven” for perpetrators.
A parliamentary inquiry found evidence of widespread abuse of beneficiaries, ineffective investigations and whistleblowers forced out of jobs, despite a series of recent scandals that had prompted some reforms.
Continue reading...Help disadvantaged young people by calling Marina Hyde, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland and others on Saturday
It’s your chance to discuss this extraordinary year, one-to-one, with your favourite journalists. Marina Hyde, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland, Anushka Asthana, Owen Jones and others will be taking your calls and donations at the Guardian and Observer 2020 charity appeal telethon this Saturday.
This year’s appeal cause is disadvantaged young people, and we are raising money for three charities doing fantastic work at the sharp end of the Covid-19 social crisis: UK Youth, which funds grassroots youth work schemes; Young Minds, which helps young people with mental health support; and the anti-poverty campaigners Child Poverty Action Group.
Continue reading...The Child Poverty Action Group helped a Dundee primary make life better for deprived families
It was the “special occasions” at her children’s school that Anna (name changed) struggled with. She and her partner both work but, with four children, stumping up the cash for Halloween costumes, Christmas jumper days or pyjama days was tricky.
“Sometimes we could manage, other times we couldn’t,” she said. “I’ve kept my kids off school in the past when we couldn’t afford to send them in with whatever it was that they were meant to have.” On other occasions, such as book fairs, she would have to borrow money.
Continue reading...Reduction came before this week’s move to slash UK spending on poorer nations to 0.5% of national income, with girls worst affected
The overseas aid budget for education was slashed by more than a quarter by the government this year, even before this week’s further axing of a third of aid spending, according to analysis seen by the Guardian.
As anger met the government’s announcement this week, it was revealed that it has already reneged on the Tory manifesto pledge by cutting primary and secondary education funding as part of £2.9bn of cuts made by Dominic Raab in July. On Wednesday in parliament, while announcing he would seek to legally cut the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, Raab reiterated a promise to prioritise girls’ education, which was immediately dismissed as “empty rhetoric” by the shadow international secretary.
Continue reading...Growing numbers face a winter of destitution as the Home Office withdraws accommodation provided during first lockdown
Homeless charities are calling for evictions of asylum seekers to be suspended as growing numbers are being left destitute as winter approaches.
While many asylum seekers were temporarily accommodated and tested for Covid-19 during the first lockdown under the government’s “everyone in” scheme, the Home Office restarted evictions in September. This group has no right to work and no recourse to public funds or statutory homelessness services.
Continue reading...Charities such as the NSPCC should not accept money from the machinery firm, writes Annie O’Gara, while Nick Georges has witnessed the use of JCB equipment in the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure
JCB is rightly under close scrutiny (JCB challenged over machinery used to demolish Palestinian homes, 12 October).
You highlight JCB’s donations to the Conservative party. But JCB also donates to a leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, effectively sanitising the company’s reputation.
Continue reading...More than 500 compulsory redundancies as charity aims for annual savings of £100m
Almost 1,300 jobs are to be lost at the National Trust as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but the charity said it had more than halved the number of compulsory redundancies it expected to make.
A union has described the job losses as “devastating” for people affected but also called the plan “a reasonable way to move forward”.
Continue reading...Françoise Girard and two others cleared of racial discrimination but report finds culture of fear and intimidation at IWHC
The president of a women’s health charity has resigned following an investigation into allegations of racism and bullying within the organisation.
The findings of the independent investigation cleared Françoise Girard and two other senior managers at the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) of unlawful racial discrimination or retaliation against employees.
Continue reading...Charity has made ‘significant steps’ to improve safeguarding and can now apply for government funds two years on from withdrawal
The charity Save the Children can resume bids for government funding after it withdrew from the process two years ago over a sexual misconduct scandal.
The charity, one of the largest British recipients of government funding, receiving £139m in 2017, had taken “significant steps” to improve safeguarding and now meets government standards, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed on Thursday.
Continue reading...Decision to show then withdraw video sparked crisis at MSF Canada, says review
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) broadcast a $400,000 (£307,000) TV fundraising campaign in Canada despite warnings from staff that it was exploitative, reinforced racist “white saviour” stereotypes and breached the medical charity’s ethical guidelines, the Guardian has learned.
A damning review of the decision to run and later withdraw the advert, which featured the REM track Everybody Hurts played over images of crying black children being treated by MSF medics, concluded it exposed a lack of trust in leadership and triggered an “organisational crisis” at MSF Canada.
Continue reading...Conservation charity launches appeal to raise money for projects halted due to pandemic
A major appeal aimed at encouraging people to maintain links made with the natural world during lockdown and to raise money for environmental projects halted because of the Covid-19 crisis is being launched by the National Trust.
The conservation charity is also keen to encourage more care and respect for nature following a surge in littering, fly-camping and damage to nature and wildlife this summer.
Continue reading...Volunteers accuse charity of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren
Volunteers are accusing the National Trust of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren from enjoying nature and visiting its properties with the planned sacking of the charity’s education officers.
The number of protests and petitions are growing over the trust’s controversial “reset” involving the proposed loss of 1,200 jobs, including its learning staff, as the charity plans to stop providing any curriculum-based content or learning activities for schools.
Continue reading...The UK government has gone quiet on global safeguarding. The new FCDO must work with NGOs to hold abusers accountable
When stories of sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation in the aid sector surfaced in February 2018, a firestorm of blame and recrimination broke out across British NGOs. Household names were vilified, and the secretary of state for international development publicly declared that we had lost our moral compass.
Stories from victims and survivors were horrific and needed to be heard. NGOs were ashamed that abuse was still happening on our watch. We apologised, made promises of improvement and change. We came together as a sector and rapidly acted. Policies, processes and training were improved across hundreds of organisations and thousands of staff around the globe.
Continue reading...Local charities work constantly to support Lebanese society. It’s time they had a fair share of foreign aid
Every person in Lebanon has probably been asked: “Where were you during the Beirut port explosion?”
My response is always the same: I was here, in Beirut.
On 4 August, when the explosion ignited our skies, I was here – fighting for my life as windows, doors, and buildings collapsed around me. I was still here in the painful hours that followed, working with fellow activists to spearhead clean-up efforts, distribute food and rescue neighbours trapped under the rubble. And when it was revealed that our government’s alleged negligence led to the fatal blast, I remained here – on the streets with my sisters – to demand justice.
We were among the first to respond to this disaster. We were here before international aid workers arrived, before France hosted an international aid conference for the humanitarian response, and before the dust settled on our now devastated city.