If you are a christian youth group looking for a way to promote your work, look no further than this excellent 4 minute production currently uploaded on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0d0QOl7Kd8
In my view a very clear message, well edited and contemporary. Ten out of ten!
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
The Cross Pollinate Foundation is a ‘dragons den’ for small Christian social change charities. It meets twice a year to introduce five charities to a group of 40-50 philanthropists. Selected charities are invited to present to the philanthropists for six minutes and then take questions. At the end of the evening the philanthropists are invited to pledge financial support to the charities.
The Cross Pollinate Foundation, www.crosspollinate.co.uk, invites charities to request the opportunity to present at its next event in London, on 5th May 2010, from organisations that fit the following qualifying criteria:
Registered charity
Under £1million turnover
Distinctive Christian ethos
Engaged in social action
Interested charities should submit a request of no more than one page of A4 that includes the charity registration number, charity website, an email address, last years financial turnover and answers the following:
Who are you and what do you do?
A couple of stories of lives changed by God through your work
An explanation of how £5,000, £15,000 or £25,000 would be spent if it could be raised?
Confirm availability to present on Wednesday 5th May 2010 if selected.
Submissions should be emailed to admin@crosspollinate.co.uk, with the name of the charity in the subject box, by the deadline date of Friday 19th March 2010. Charities selected to present will be informed the week beginning 29th March 2010.
Good luck!!
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy. The UK’s first independent, multidisciplinary, academically based Charitable Giving and Philanthropy Research Centre has been established by a funding partnership including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Office of the Third Sector (OTS), the Carnegie UK Trust, the Scottish Executive, and other interested partners.
At present, lack of research limits the support of philanthropic giving and distribution. The Centre will now support high quality research aimed at developing the necessary evidence base to better understand charitable giving and philanthropy issues, and influence policy and practice decisions in the UK. Its main role will be to strengthen the provision and use of independent, high quality, relevant and robust research and empirical evidence.
The Centre will develop knowledge, capacity and expertise through in-depth longer-term research and development, and will deliver short and longer-term analyses with sufficient rigour and relevance to inform policy and practice decisions. The Centre will be responsible for the communication of relevant outcomes and analysis through publications, seminars, workshops, professional development support, etc.
The Centre will draw together leading experts throughout the UK and beyond, and bring together research knowledge to strengthen the evidence base. It will become a focus for stakeholder engagement, knowledge exchange and transfer, working closely with, and supporting the work of, regional and national bodies and for cross-national and international collaboration. It will support overall research capacity through the development of skilled researchers with expertise in charitable giving and philanthropy research, and by developing and facilitating the use of data and other resources required for high quality research.
For further information do visit their excellent website:
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
The Derby Open Centre is a charity which exists to promote understanding through contact between different communities. It promotes good community relations between all citizens of Derbyshire no matter what their background or beliefs based on personal experience, communities, faith organisations and places of worship as well as with representatives of secular organisations.
The Open Centre offers:
Tens of thousands of school pupils (aged 3-18 years) and adults from Derby, Derbyshire and surrounding counties have used the resources of the Open Centre since it was opened in 1981. From September 2007- August 2008 6,551 children visited the Centre and September 2008 – August 2009 approximately 10,000 children visited. This included 900 children from 45 East Staffordshire Schools.
The Centre also provides training for local organisations and all key members of the community as part of their Equality and Diversity Training, including Derbyshire Police, Magistrates Court, Criminal Justice Department, Connexions, PCT, Business in the Community and Derbyshire Fire Service. From January 2009 to date they trained 900 adults and also students from Derby University, Derby College, Youth Groups and the Women’s Institute. The Centre has established very close relationships with local communities and provides unique hands on experience and contact as part of the education and training it provides.
Recently this Christian grant-making help part-fund the salary for the next three years of the Chief Executive (£60,000 over 3 years).
For more information on the Derby Open Centre, please visit:
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
A new guide to assessing the performance of charities has been published by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
The little blue book, aimed at charities and funders, borrows techniques from other professions such as investment analysis and management consultancy to give guidance on how to analyse results, leadership and finance. The tool helps charities to ask crucial questions about performance and provides practical examples of how organisations have improved through evaluation. Funders will be able to use the guide to identify a charity’s strengths and weaknesses.
Chief executive of NPC, Martin Brookes, says the guide is based on nine years experience analysing charities and advising donors. He adds, “All charities should strive to be as effective as they can be, and understanding more about an organisation, including what works and what doesn’t, helps charities to improve.”
Andrew Hind, chief executive of the Charity Commission , welcomes the guide, saying: “Any tools that may help charity trustees and their staff identify room for improvement are valuable, and I would encourage charities to take a look and see what they may gain from this.”
NPC will be launching a series of seminars to help charities and funders put some of the ideas contained in The little blue book into practice, and to promote discussion. The guide can be downloaded for free from NPC’s website:
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Considerable amounts of money and resources are being invested by the state, the church and by parents in Christian ethos schools around the world. Schools with a Christian ethos are both attacked and defended in relation to their contribution to the standards agenda, character formation, spiritual development and nurture within the Christian faith community.
A review undertaken by Theos (www.theosthinktank.co.uk) considers what the research evidence tells us about the impact of such schools both in relation to their purpose and goals, and to the wider debate about what education can or should provide for young people in contemporary society. The report will be of interest to anyone asking the question, ‘What do schools with a Christian ethos offer to pupils in the modern age?’
Theos concludes that the desire to justify the existence of schools with a Christian ethos, together with a broader policy context emphasising pupil attainment, has led to a focus in the literature on measuring impact in terms of pupil academic performance. The report also shows that the presence of different research theories in the literature and different conceptions of Christian distinctiveness result in a lack of clarity around such concepts as values, ethos and spirituality. This is further complicated by the ways in which traditional religious definitions of spirituality, values and morality are being challenged by new global trends.
The report concludes that not enough is known about the relationships between different conceptions of Christian distinctiveness, school type and the additional influences of home and church on pupils’ beliefs, attitudes, behaviour and spiritual development.
To find out more, please follow this link:
http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Client/Theos/Files/Mappingthefield.pdf
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Pictured below is the newly refurbished blue plaque in honour of the Founder, which is sited on the original flour mill at Holderness Road in Hull.
Many thanks goes to Hull County Council for their kind assistance in the refurbishment process.
Photo by Su Guy.
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Racing Welfare is the Jockey Club’s charity. They are the only organisation to provide help and support for all people who work or have worked in the racing industry. Their remit includes:
Racing Welfare is there to help and support the often unsung heroes of the Racing industry. Through their work the charity seeks to enable and enhance the lives of racing’s entire workforce and to benefit the British racing industry. The Charity is the organisation which re-invests in racing’s people to the benefit of the individual and the whole of the racing industry.
Recently this Christian grant-making help part-fund the salary for the next three years of the Rev. Graham Locking who is racing’s Chaplain and has been with Racing Welfare since 1997. Most mornings he will be found on the gallops anywhere in the England, Wales and Scotland, chatting with everyone from Group race winning trainers to those brushing polytrack from their breeches:
‘Our chaplain, Reverend Graham Locking, is doing a tremendous job within our industry. Not only does he help stable staff, he gives support to individuals in every branch of racing. He is one of the best things to have happened to the people of racing.
Mark Tompkins, Racehorse Trainer and Chairman of the Newmarket Trainers’ Federation
For more information on Racing Welfare, please visit :
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Britain’s philanthropists are demonstrating ‘the blitz spirit’ when it comes to community giving, according to the Community Foundation Network (CFN), which has announced record-breaking figures in relation to the support of grassroots organisations.
An extra £33.5m was made available by private philanthropists to support local communities at the height of last year’s recession, and with monies from central and local government, business and others a total of £56m was made available to support grassroots organizations.
The number of individual donors setting up charitable funds to support local group rose by a record-breaking 60% over the course of the year, with 1,765 major charitable funds now managed by Community Foundations, and an average value of just under £80,000.
While, unsurprisingly, the overall value of grant-making fell by 15% during the course of the year, CFN believe the huge increase in the number of new philanthropists shows the resilience of community-based philanthropy and its ability to contribute strongly in the year ahead.
Ten of the 57 community foundations now work with individual clients who have committed at least £1m in the past five years to strengthen their communities. One new fund in Leeds was worth £10m alone in 2008/9.
In 2008/9, grants made by local community foundations were used to support 16,922 local grassroots organisations tackling issues from unemployment and poverty to anti-social behaviour and drugs rehabilitation. Community Foundations use their local knowledge to connect those with money with dynamic local organisations with the ability to use that money to make a lasting impact.
For more information on the work of CFN, please visit: www.communityfoundations.org.uk
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.
Making the transition from school to the workplace is arguably tougher than it has ever been. In 2008, 10.3%—or almost 208,000—young people aged 16–18 in England failed to make this transition successfully. This headline figure hides a mass of stories and experiences. A lack of support in the home, a bad experience of school, or a traumatic event can all lead to disruption in young people’s lives, throwing them off course. Being out of education, employment or training is often a consequence of these events.
Whatever the cause, spending a long period of time out of education or work is harmful to a young person’s future life chances and happiness. It can also cost taxpayers significant sums in benefit claims and costs to health, education and social services. Alongside support provided by the government, charities play a vital role in helping young people. Understanding this role is important for both funders and charities themselves as they seek to improve what they do.
This report is about what the charitable sector is doing to tackle the problem of young people not in education, employment or training. It discusses the scale of the problem, outlines the role of the government and charities, and explores how funders and charities can have the greatest impact.
This Christian grant-making trust funds a number of projects across the UK which address’s the needs of NEET children. For your free copy of the report, please visit:
www.philanthropycapital.org/publications/education/NEETS.aspx
Dr. John Higgs, Secretary.