Good Finance is a collaborative project to help improve access to information on social investment for charities and social enterprises.

Their Outcomes Matrix is a practical tool to help social impact organisations  plan and measure their social impact in terms of outcomes.

The Outcomes Matrix is a useful tool to:

• Gain a starting point for planning and measuring your social impact outcomes
• Communicating your impact to social investors and key stakeholders
• Thinking about future areas of development for your organisation should provide a helpful starting point for organisations to measure their social impact.

The Outcomes Matrix will take you on a journey as you follow the steps from start to finish. You can select the outcomes and indicators that are relevant to your organisation and add additional detail when you wish.

You can select the relevant outcome areas for your organisation in order to build your own unique Outcomes Matrix. There is a choice of 9 outcomes areas.
These being :

• Arts, Heritage, Sports and Faith
• Citizenship and Community
• Conservation of the natural environment
• Employment, education and training
• Family, friends and relationships
• Housing and local facilities
• Income and financial inclusion
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Physical health

To find out more, including a step by step tutorial video click here.

Gift Aid Awareness Day and the #TickTheBox campaign was launched by the Charity Finance Group (CFG) in 2018 to raise public awareness of this often-misunderstood tax relief, and provide the charity sector with more expert advice and information on how they can maximise Gift Aid for their organisations.

This year the awareness day was on 7 October 2021.

As part of the day the guide to gift aid 2021 was published. You can access the resource here: https://cfg.org.uk/resources

In addition a Gift Aid webinar was delivered with HMRC, open to CFG members and non-members. The recording of the webinar can be accessed on CFG’s you tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cfdgonline/videos

The health foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK.

On 24 September 2021 the charity wrote an analysis about how as the UK emerges from the pandemic and works through the impact of Brexit on the available workforce, the further education sector will play a key role in developing the labour market skills necessary for economic recovery and delivering the government’s levelling up aspirations.

As a health charity, they feel education has an important influence on health. Providing the skills, attributes and specialist knowledge needed to secure good jobs and participate in society – building blocks of a healthy life. They explain that further education encompasses a broad range of providers and courses, from specialist courses through to work-based learning.

VCSE organisations with a charitable purposes of advancement of education and the advancement of health or the saving of life’s may find the analysis of interest for both bid writing and strategic planning.

The analysis in full can be accessed here.

On 30 September 2021 the Charity Commission delivered their 2nd virtual annual public meeting, due to the pandemic.

Whilst they regretted the opportunity to meet charities first hand, there was nearly 1000 people who listened to the live recording and charities were given the opportunity to ask questions of the panel.

The event was recorded and can be listened to on you tube, using this link.

Helen Stephenson CBE, CEO of the Charity Commission for England and Wales delivered a speech as part of the event. Helen mentioned that, that over half of the largest charities, those with incomes of over £500,000, say they made use of furlough, or other emergency funding schemes during the pandemic.
Last year, 97 charities reported that they were insolvent, as part of their annual return to the Commission. That is up by a third on last year, but still a relatively small number in total. Accessing government support such as the furlough scheme may be the reason why the Charity Commission have seen fewer charities fail and dissolve than they might have predicted back in March of last year.

There are some grounds for continued optimism with only 10% of those they asked anticipating financial difficulties in the months ahead to present a critical threat to their survival. However, Helen felt for some charities the most difficult times may lie ahead. And that those challenges will not just be operational, and not just financial. But also about people, relationships.

The Charity Commission have already seen an increase in disputes in charities and they expect this may continue.
Their advice is as you face difficult decisions about how to adapt your charity’s work to changing times, be alive to the risk of disagreements escalating.
Don’t place being right ahead of doing the right thing. Prioritise communication with those you work with, and work for, and with those on whose support you rely.

The full speech can be accessed here.

Charity Fraud Awareness Week is being held 18 – 22 October 2021 and is an award-winning campaign run by a partnership of charities, regulators, law enforcers, representative and umbrella bodies, and other not-for-profit stakeholders from across the world.

The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of fraud and cybercrime affecting the sector and to create a safe space for charities and their supporters to talk about fraud and share good practice.

The Preventing Charity Fraud website has a number of resources including details of a free training course from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.

This training course is your chance to get confident with what cyber security means for your organisation and learn the steps you can take to keep your organisation safe online. This pre-recorded training course covers the five key topics of cyber security. You’ll explore each of these topics by navigating several encounters a small business owner may have with cyber security over the course of a week, Monday to Friday.

The five topics the training covers are:

• Backing up your organisation’s data
• Protecting against malware
• Creating strong passwords
• Keeping your devices secure
• Defending against phishing

The prerecorded free training can be accessed here.

Further details of the charity fraud awareness week can be found here.

Previously we advised you that Leicester City Council (LCC) is developing a new strategy to support the city’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. The July article can be found here.

As part of developing this strategy LCC has now completed their series of engagement sessions. The topics covered were:

• Finance and funding
• Partnership and collaboration
• Civil society
• Infrastructure support
• Volunteering

The topics were chosen following their reading, research, and discussions about the VCSE sector nationally, regionally and locally: past, present and future.

If you have not been able to join any of the sessions you have the opportunity to complete the relevant survey. Initially, the surveys had a closing date in August, but have been extended to gather further views.

The Finance and Funding survey can be accessed here.

The Partnership and collaboration survey can be accessed here.

The Civil Society survey can be accessed here.

The Infrastructure support can be accessed here.

The volunteering survey can be accessed here. 

Location – Leicester city centre

The Macular Society is the UK’s leading charity determined to beat the fear and isolation of macular disease with world-class research, and the best advice and support. Our support groups provide information, support and friendships to those living with macular disease and their family and friends. They rely on amazing volunteers who give a few hours each month to coordinate the running of the group. It is thanks to them that we are able to reach people in the area and provide them with life changing support. Looking for volunteers for the second Monday of each month from 1.30pm until 3.30pm, plus an extra two to three hours to suit you.

The Leicester support group is looking for a friendly and reliable volunteer who is passionate about helping others, to coordinate the smooth running of the group. You don’t need to have a macular condition nor sight loss; empathy and an understanding of its impact will help you provide the best support.

Key tasks: 

• Meet and greet – welcoming members and guests, sharing information, encouraging participation in meetings, wrapping things up at the end.
• Group programme – work with the group to organise guest speakers and social activities.
• Meeting venue – Act as a local contact for the meeting venue, reporting issues direct or to the Regional Manager.
• Group promotion – Support the Regional Manager to raise awareness in the local area and speak to local people about the group.

We value our volunteers and we provide all the training and support you need to be confident and successful in your role.  We will reimburse reasonable out of pocket expenses.

For more information apply by clicking here

On 3 September 2021 the Department of Health and Social Care and The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP published a news story explaining that on 1 October 2021 the new office for health improvement and disparities (OHID) will be launched.

The office’s aims will be to tackle health inequalities across the country.

The OHID will be a vital part of the Department of Health and Social Care and will drive the prevention agenda across government to reduce health disparities, many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and improve the public’s health.

The new body will tackle the top preventable risk factors for poor health, including obesity caused by unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

It will work across the health system to drive forward action on health disparities, including improving access to health services across the country, and coordinate with government departments to address the wider drivers of good health, from employment to housing, education and the environment.

Further details can be accessed in the news story here.

Tuesday 14 September 2021 from 11am-1pm

The next GLAA liaison group will include :

• Information on how the GLAA performed over the last quarter
• An update on their compliance strategy
• The latest trends from their inspection work and an overview of the Seasonal Workers’ Pilot.
• The work in the textiles industry in Leicestershire
• Find out about the Workers’ Rights and Preventing Labour Exploitation qualification
• Plus an insight into research carried out by the University of Nottingham.

This meeting will be by webinar.
Register via this link https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1215713930947184140

You will then receive details on how to join the session

The consultation closes at 11:45pm on 14 November 2021

On 5 September 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Ministry of Defence, and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP published a press release about proposed planning reforms to support hospitality businesses, markets, and historic visitor attractions so that outdoor space can be used more easily.

The consultation covers

• Right for markets to be held by or on behalf of local councils
• Right for moveable structures in the grounds of pubs, cafes, restaurants and historic visitor attractions

Proposed changes to two permitted development rights in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.

These being

• Class BB of Part 4 permitting the provision of moveable structures in the curtilage of pubs, cafes, restaurants and historic visitor attractions.
• Class BA of Part 12 permitting for markets to be held by or on behalf of local authorities

The consultation also contains proposed new permitted development rights to support the delivery of infrastructure on Ministry of Defence sites, to invest and transform its estate.

The press release can be accessed here.
The consultation document can be accessed here.