Trustee News

As the Conservative party talks to itself, a chance to grip the challenges of the autumn and winter is being wasted The sweltering summer continues to deliver ominous headlines, all pointing to the perfect storm that seems certain to break in the autumn. A new study from York University predicts that, by January 2023, more than half of UK households could be in fuel poverty, spending over 10% of net income on energy costs. The health secretary, Stephen Barclay, admits that the NHS may be unable to cope with a likely Covid wave, seasonal flu and the health impact of the cost of living crisis. Charities, which successive Conservative governments have relied on to prop up one of the meanest social safety nets in Europe, are struggling to meet soaring demand for basics as their own finances are hit by the economic squeeze. Against this sobering backdrop, the ongoing Tory leadership race has become a darkly surreal distraction; a private affair which, increasingly, insults the intelligence of the country at large. As they seek to peddle old-time religion to Conservative party members, both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have deployed vintage Thatcherite dog-whistles rather than offer proper reassurance to those in need of it. Confronted with the reality that the budgets of millions of families risk being holed beneath the waterline, Ms Truss sounded utterly out of kilter with the times as she used an interview to reject the idea of additional “handouts”. During a hustings debate, Mr Sunak actually argued for a crackdown on welfare benefits, blaming the unemployed for driving up inflationary pressures in the labour market. Continue reading…

Don’t Pay group reportedly has 80,000 pledges to refuse payments from 1 October when price cap rises UK charities are warning people of the severe consequences of not paying their energy bills, as a campaign to stop payments from October gains momentum. The Don’t Pay UK group, which is demanding a reduction of bills to an affordable level, has reportedly gathered support from 80,000 people who intend to cancel their direct debit payments from 1 October, when the regulator raises the energy price cap, the maximum amount suppliers are allowed to charge. Continue reading…

Move to examine the Barrowman Foundation comes amid mounting scrutiny of Charles’s charity The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into one of the key donors to Prince Charles’s charity after it emerged it had been funded by unsecured loans. The Barrowman Foundation, a platinum donor to the Prince’s Trust, has not recorded any donations in its published accounts since it was set up and is funded by borrowings from its founder, the businessman Doug Barrowman. Continue reading…

Huge rise in numbers forced to choose between eating and heating in UK, says charity The number of people seeking help because they cannot afford both food and energy has risen more than threefold in a year, according to new data that highlights the increasingly tough choices households face between heating and eating. The figures, published by Citizens Advice, lay bare the difficulties caused by spiralling domestic energy costs, which charities say are driving millions into fuel poverty. Continue reading…

Laurie Brophy, my daughter-in-law’s father, who has died aged 90 from oesophageal cancer, was deeply involved in his local community in Pencoed, near Bridgend, south Wales, inspiring others with his voluntary work and fundraising for the homeless charity Llamau and the children’s disability charity Y Bont. His first major fundraising exploit came on a very hot day in 1997, running the London Marathon in a fur badger suit in aid of badger protection. Two years later, he ran his first ultra-marathon, the Marathon des Sables, a brutal six-day 156-mile race across the Sahara, the oldest competitor at 67. He did several more ultra-marathons, his last aged 79, in the Atacama desert. Continue reading…