Trustee News

Former MP who runs International Rescue Committee is criticised over adverts for full-time roles The former Labour MP David Miliband is facing criticism after it emerged that the charity he runs, for which he was paid more than £700,000, is offering unpaid internships at its headquarters in New York City. Miliband, the chief executive of the refugee charity International Rescue Committee (IRC), has previously been labelled “million-dollar Miliband” after his pay packet rose to $911,796 in 2019, then worth more than £700,000. Continue reading…

Save the Children’s analysis finds Britain will spend 80% less on nutrition abroad this year, as hunger levels rise around the world Britain is set to spend 80% less on helping feed children in poorer nations than before the pandemic, according to a charity’s analysis. Save the Children said the British government will spend less than £26m this year on vital nutrition services in developing countries, a drop of more than three-quarters from 2019. The estimate of aid cuts to nutrition comes after UN agencies called for urgent action to avert famine in 20 countries including Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria. Related: Britain’s aid cuts: what’s been announced so far Continue reading…

Hospital in Zanzibar and support for child workers in Bangladesh among projects to miss out as nearly £2m of funding is cancelled The UK has scrapped three rounds of grants to small international development charities, prompting fury that it has wiped out funding for 42 projects around the world to save “less than the [£2.6m] cost of the Downing Street press room”. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told charities last week that rounds six, seven and eight of the Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF) would not go ahead because of aid cuts, cancelling nearly £2m of funds earmarked for new and future programmes, including many that had been approved. Related: ‘Devastating for women and girls’: UK cuts 85% in aid to UN family planning Continue reading…

Family say it has been ‘incredibly emotional’ marking what would have been his 101st birthday Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family said they felt “incredibly emotional” on what would have been the war veteran’s 101st birthday on Friday, but were pleased to see his legacy going strong as they launched a fundraising weekend in his honour. The family kicked off the Captain Tom 100 Challenge at Lord’s cricket ground on Friday morning, encouraging people to raise money for charity by attempting feats based on the number 100. Continue reading…

Once a year, I went to see the Queen with my friend Helen Smeed. Helen, who has died aged 77 from a heart attack, was a long-time parliamentary researcher and personal assistant in the House of Lords. We would wait across the street from the Sovereign’s Entrance during the state opening of parliament and watch the resplendent horse-drawn carriages arrive. Afterwards, during lunch in the Lords’ canteen, Helen would always show her appreciation to the people who made parliament work, from cooks to policemen. She believed in public service. Helen and I met when we were neighbours on Buckingham Street, behind the Strand in London, during the 1990s. She rented out her spare room to dancers from the Royal Ballet. She had taken up pilates in 1970, as one of the first students of pilates in the UK, under Alan Herdman, and continued practising throughout her life. She spent many years at the charity Mencap in a number of roles, finally as personal assistant to the chairman Brian Rix, who later became Lord Rix. Continue reading…