Tag: charities

Winners of the special Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award announced

A special one-off addition to the annual Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) has been awarded to 20 national charities for their exceptional work to empower young people.

  • 20 charities across the UK recognised for a unique one-off addition to the annual Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, created in honour of Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
  • The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, The Social Mobility Foundation and The National Deaf Children’s Society among those awarded for their exceptional work empowering young people

The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award, a special one-off addition to the annual Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), has been awarded to 20 national charities for their exceptional work to empower young people.

From large household names to those operating on a smaller scale, the work of each awardee is vital in providing young people aged 16-25 with new opportunities, challenges, activities and skills.

The awardees include The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, widely recognised as the world’s leading youth achievement award that helps young people develop new skills and build self-belief and resilience, and the Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade, which helps to develop essential life skills and offers experiences to help young Jewish people reach their potential.

Her Late Majesty The Queen displayed a life-long dedication to public service throughout her 70-year reign, so it is fitting that this one-off edition of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service recognises the thousands of volunteers who have showcased a similar longstanding commitment to their work.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “From Action Tutoring to StreetGames, these 20 charities deliver outstanding work to help give young people the skills they need to grow and succeed. I’m delighted that their contribution is being recognised with a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award.

“Ensuring young people get the best possible start in life is a priority for me and the Government, and there is no more fitting way to celebrate these brilliant charities than a unique edition of the highest award for voluntary service.

“The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups. It was established 20 years ago to commemorate The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, and has recognised around 250 outstanding local volunteer groups across the UK each year to date”.

Sir Martyn Lewis CBE, the QAVS Chair said: “These awards are a timely acknowledgement of the wide-ranging support and encouragement that is available to young people across the UK.

They highlight the indispensable role that the voluntary sector plays in targeting help, advice and guidance where it is needed most.

These awards should also be seen as a tribute to the millions of volunteers and donors who, in difficult times, provide the resources of time and money which contribute so powerfully to the social fabric of our country.

Judging panel member Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said: “I was delighted to be part of the judging panel for the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award.

“The process highlighted the amazing amount of work that is being done across a wide range of organisations and how it truly transforms the lives of so many people.”

Lucie Vickers, StreetGames Head of Volunteering and Youth Voice said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award.

“Creating opportunities for young people from low-income, underserved communities to become volunteers and future community leaders is at the heart of our Doorstep Sport approach, and we are delighted that the impact of this work has been recognised through this prestigious award.”

Kevin Munday, Chief Executive at City Year UK said: “The journey towards receiving the Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award is the success of hundreds of talented and dedicated volunteers taking the right small steps towards social change for over a decade.

“This Award represents a joyful and proud giant leap forward into the kind of future our volunteers have all aspired to.”

Additional recipients of this one-off award include:

  • British Youth Council – with 700 volunteers, this charity empowers young people to create political and social change through a number of programmes. The Make Your Mark consultation, led by UK Youth Parliament is an annual ballot allowing young people from across the UK to vote on the issues that matter to them, whilst the Youth Steering Group invites young people to participate in 26 round table discussions on issues such as gambling, climate change, youth violence and mental health.
  • Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team – supports young BME people, refugees and asylum seekers in Wales. It provides specific support to 16-25 year olds through three projects: BME Youth Invest project, The Think Project and the Young, Migrant and Welsh project, which aimed to engage ethnic minority people aged 16-25 to explore and document their experiences by creating films to increase public awareness and appreciation of Wales’ diverse history and heritage.
  • LGBT Youth Scotland – works to create safer spaces where LGBTI young people aged 13-25 can explore their identities in an affirming environment, learn new skills, gain confidence, develop resilience and find community. With 133 volunteers, they provide specific support via youth groups; one-to-one support; youth commissions; an LGBT Charter Programme and award-winning online community, Pride & Pixels.
  • YMCA England & Wales with The Scottish National Council YMCA – provides young people with the critical foundations for a better quality of life by offering support with housing, education and welfare. They provide a home to more than 20,000 people experiencing homelessness each year, making them the largest voluntary sector provider of supported housing for young people in England and Wales.
  • Brook Young People – delivers clinical and education support around sexual health, wellbeing and relationships to young people aged 16-25 through providing information, education and outreach, counselling, confidential clinical and medical services, professional advice and training. They also work in partnership with Youth Offending Services to deliver targeted education support to reintegrate youth offenders back into education and the community.
  • The National Young Advocacy Service (NYAS) – 600 volunteers work to support children in care, care-leavers and care-experienced young people through a variety of services including advocacy, mentoring, mental health projects, and a free national helpline. Their Independent Visitor Service is a befriending service for children in care up to the age 18, offering long-lasting friendship and support, and the opportunity to take part in new and fun activities.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is awarded annually, with the date for the 2023 awardees soon to be confirmed. In June 2022, 244 local voluntary organisations across the UK received this prestigious award, all of which enhanced the lives of others through their work. Awardees of the 2022 award can be found here.

To celebrate their achievements, the awardees of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Volunteering Award will be invited to a unique presentation event in 2023.

The Women’s Fund for Scotland celebrates investing £3million to organisations across Scotland

  • The Women’s Fund for Scotland has so far invested around £3 million to over 640 groups and is the only sex and gender specific grant maker in Scotland
  • Almost 1,000 life-changing grants have been made by The Women’s Fund for Scotland
  • 42,967 women and girls have benefited from The Women’s Fund for Scotland funding

The Women’s Fund for Scotland (WFS), a charity created to help girls and women across Scotland, has released its 2022 Impact Report.

The report details the way WFS has been able to inspire and empower women across the past 20 years to help them overcome inequalities that affected their freedom, health, income, pay and power.

Founded in 2002, WFS is the only gender-specific grant maker in Scotland and the report highlights that to date, it has invested around £3 million in over 640 groups helping almost 43,000 women and girls. The work of the fund has helped to create 48 social enterprises and the grants have supported 65 women to become self-employed.

The report highlights many examples of the life-changing impact support from the fund has had on women from all walks of life in Scotland.

The fund has helped and supported a wide range of groups across Scotland from a textile training project, partnerships with Glasgow Girls Football Club and the Women’s Business Station, supporting Deaf Link to develop a tailored service to meet the needs of deaf women and girls experiencing abuse, to the “Followitapp”, a digital resource for women being stalked that is accessible through the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre.

One user of the app described how it has helped her record incidents, and feel like she doesn’t have to have the evidence of her stalker in her home:

“I never felt safe. I was at breaking point. When the App didn’t exist, I wrote things down. I would get to the stage where I didn’t want to write it down anymore. I didn’t want it lying about my house. It was just a constant reminder of my stalker. I just wanted to forget about it all.

“In the App, the time and date are already there for you, and it’s a lot quicker. You don’t need to fill in all the information there and then. I filled the rest in when I got to a safe place.”

Sue Robertson, Chair of the Women’s Fund for Scotland, says: “Our impact report provides the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of the important work that The Women’s Fund for Scotland supports. 

“In Scotland you are never more than 50 miles away from an organisation funded by the Women’s Fund for Scotland, and more than 42,000 girls and women have benefited from our funding. This is something we are extremely proud of and hope to build upon in the coming years.”

Shona Blakeley, Executive Director at The Women’s Fund for Scotland adds: “We are extremely proud of all the support we have been able to offer over the years.

“However, this is only possible thanks to our supporters, and we rely on their generosity and kind donations. For those who would like to donate, you can do so via our JustGiving page – https://www.justgiving.com/womensfundforscotland”

The full impact report can be found here:- 

ImpactReport2022_compressedDownload

https://www.womensfundscotland.org/project-stories/impact-report-2022/

Modernising OSCR: Scottish Government publishes Charities Bill

Improvements and updates to increase transparency and accountability

Legislation to update and strengthen existing charity law has been published. The Charities (Regulation and Administration) Bill aims to increase transparency and accountability and improves the powers of the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

As part of the proposals OSCR will:

  • publish annual accounts for every charity
  • include the names of all charity trustees in the Scottish Charity Register
  • be able to remove charities that fail to provide accounts and don’t respond to OSCR’s communications
  • create a publicly searchable record of removed charity trustees

The legislation will also give OSCR new powers to issue positive directions to a charity to take action, such as managing a conflict of interest, where a risk has been identified by the regulator.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “Charities play a vital role in our society, from supporting individuals and communities, to informing policy at a national level.

“Current charity law is now 17 years old, the charity sector has changed significantly in that time and the legislation needs to be updated to reflect that. Charities have told us that they want these changes to help strengthen existing charity law and update their system of regulation.

“In order to maintain public trust and confidence in this important sector and its regulator in the years ahead, we are taking the required steps to increase transparency and to extend OSCR’s enforcement powers.

“Scotland’s charities raise more than £13 billion of income each year and this Bill will give the public further transparency as to how that money is used.”

Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), said: “I welcome the introduction of this legislation. Charity regulation is vital to public trust and confidence in the sector, and it needs to be fit for purpose.

“This Bill is an opportunity to modernise regulation and ensure that OSCR has the powers it needs to fulfil its functions as effectively as possible. I also welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to a wider review of charity law in the future.”

The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill is a 2022-23 Programme for Government commitment.

Provisions in the Bill include:

  • updating the criteria for the automatic disqualification of charity trustees and extending it to individuals with specific senior management positions in charities
  • removal from the Scottish Charity Register of unresponsive charities that fail to submit statements of account
  • a requirement for all charities in the Scottish Charity Register to have and retain a connection to Scotland
  • a requirement on OSCR to publish the statements of account for all charities in the Scottish Charity Register
  • requirements on OSCR to include charity trustee names in the Scottish Charity Register, to keep an internal schedule of charity trustees’ details and to create a publicly searchable record of charity trustees removed by the courts

The Scottish Government consulted on proposals put forward by OSCR in 2019 and consulted again on a number of specific reforms in 2021 and found a majority of support for the changes.

Scottish charity law: consultation analysis 2019

Strengthening Scottish charity law: analysis of engagement responses 2021

Charities at risk of ‘underestimating’ online fraud as one in eight experienced cybercrime last year

The Charity Commission is warning charities against the risk of online fraud, as a new survey found around one in eight charities (12%) had experienced cybercrime in the previous 12 months.

This follows earlier findings indicating that the pandemic prompted increasing numbers of charities to move to digital fundraising and operating, exposing them to the risk of cybercrime.

Most concerningly, the survey highlighted a potential lack of awareness of the risks facing charities online, with just over 24% having a formal policy in place to manage the risk. Similarly, only around half (55%) of charities reported that cyber security was a fairly or very high priority in their organisation.

The warning comes ahead of Charity Fraud Awareness Week, which begins tomorrow on 17th October 2022. The campaign raises awareness of fraud and cybercrime and brings the charity sector together to share knowledge, expertise and good practice.

It is run by the Charity Commission and the Fraud Advisory Panel and a partnership of charities, NGOs, regulators, law enforcers, and other not-for-profit stakeholders.

The Charity Commission’s new survey explored charities’ experiences of online cyber-attack. It found that over half of charities (51%) held electronic records on their customers, while 37% enabled people to donate online.

A greater digital footprint increases a charity’s vulnerability.

The most common types of attacks experienced were phishing and impersonation (where others impersonate the organization in emails or online). For both attacks personal data is often at risk.

There are lots of simple steps that can be taken to protect against cyber harms including changing passwords regularly, using strong passwords and two factor authentication, updating training and policies, making back-ups of your data using the cloud and making sure antivirus and all other software is patched to the latest version.

Many useful tools and resources will be available to help charities reduce their vulnerability to these crimes throughout Charity Fraud Awareness Week.

The survey also confirmed that there is an under-reporting of incidents when they do occur, with only a third (34%) of affected charities reporting breaches. It’s important that charities get in touch with the Commission where there has been a serious incident, even where there may be no regulatory role for the Commission. This helps the regulator to identify trends and patterns and help prevent others from falling victim to fraud.

Amie McWilliam-Reynolds, Assistant Director Intelligence and Tasking, from the Charity Commission said: “Online financial transactions, and online working generally, present a great opportunity for charities – whether in engaging supporters, raising funds, and streamlining their operations.

“This was demonstrated in particular during the pandemic, when the longer-term move away from cash to online fundraising accelerated. But online financial transactions and the collection and storage of personal data also harbour risk, and we are concerned that some charities may be underestimating that risk, and are therefore exposing their charity to potential fraud.

“We hope that projects like Charity Fraud Awareness Week help raise awareness among trustees and charity staff of the risks they may face, and of the advice and guidance available to support them in protecting their charity from fraud.

“Preventing and tackling fraud is not a ‘nice to have’. It is vital that every penny given to charity makes a positive difference, especially during these straitened times, when donors, charities, and those they support face mounting financial pressures.

Sir David Green CB KC from the Fraud Advisory Panel said: “Fraud is the UK’s most commonly experienced crime and much of it is committed online. Therefore, it is essential that charities take the security of their systems, information, people and money seriously.

“Simple cyber security measures can make a big difference which is why we’ve collaborated with UK police forces to offer a series of free cyber-security focussed events during this year’s awareness week.”

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2022 will feature online events, talks and useful advice from anti-fraud experts, designed to help the third sector and charitable organisations tackle the problem of fraud and cybercrime.

Fraser of Allander Institute: Scotland likely to enter recession as costs continue to rise

Scotland’s economy is likely to contract in the second half of 2022, according to researchers at the Fraser of Allander Institute. The Institute’s quarterly Economic Commentary, which includes an assessment of all the key latest data on the UK and Scottish economies, was published last week.

In the Deloitte-sponsored Economic Commentary, the Strathclyde researchers have set out their new forecasts for the Scottish Economy.

The economists are forecasting growth of 3.6% in 2022, followed by a contraction of -0.6% in 2023, before returning to growth in 2024 of 0.8%. This is a significant revision down from the Institute’s previous set of forecasts in June.

The forecasts assume that the last two quarters of the year, and the first quarter of 2023, will show contractions in the economy due to wider economic challenges. This means that Scotland is likely to be entering into a recession (defined as two quarters of negative growth in the economy).

With inflation at a 40-year high, this quarter’s Commentary also includes extensive analysis of the likely impact of price rises on different types of households in the economy.

Professor Mairi Spowage, Director of the Institute, said “The data we analyse in the Commentary today points to weakening demand in the economy as inflationary pressures pervade every aspect of our lives.

“Consumer confidence is starting to weaken with attitudes on the outlook looking pessimistic. This has led us to reduce our forecasts for 2023 and 2024. Our assumption is that there will likely be contractions in the economy during the second half of 2022 and into 2023 given wider economic conditions.

“In practice, this means Scotland is likely to enter a recession.”

Angela Mitchell, senior partner for Deloitte in Scotland, said “There is no doubt that businesses in Scotland face significant challenges over the next few years. Many business leaders have never navigated their business, and its people, through a period of such high inflation and weakening economic activity.

“Charities and public bodies, unable to pass on costs or pivot plans like businesses, are also facing immense pressure. The dual blows of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis are having a profound impact on the public sector’s spend power, while simultaneously driving huge demand for public services.

“Unlike during the pandemic, however, there is an opportunity to plan and prepare now for the months ahead. Business leaders will naturally want to focus on responding to the most immediate challenges, but they should also consider what they want their business to look like beyond the current challenges. Longer-term thinking, building in resilience and working towards creating an organisation that is fit for the future, will help businesses not only to recover, but to thrive.”

Also in the Commentary in this edition, the researchers have published an analysis of what the UK Government’s fiscal event on Friday 23rd September could mean for Scotland.

The Deputy First Minister has committed to setting out an emergency budget soon after the UK Government’s fiscal event. The announcements made by the UK Government on tax mean that there are resources available to the Scottish Government to either follow suit – or to invest the additional funding in services.

David Eiser, the institute’s Deputy Director, said “The UK Government’s “mini-budget” was anything but mini – the measures announced were very significant.

“The scale of fiscal changes – without any analysis of the sustainability of such measures – has created significant concern in the financial markets.

“The real surprises were on income tax, with significant changes announced for next financial year – albeit some subsequently reversed. Of course, these changes do not apply in Scotland, so it will be up to the Scottish Government to set out its proposed income tax policy for 2023/24 in due course.

“John Swinney has committed to producing an Emergency Budget in late October – although we should probably expect that the decision on income tax will not be set out until the Scottish Draft Budget is published. We now expect the UK Government to present their Medium Term Fiscal Plan and OBR forecasts also in late October, with the Scottish Budget likely to follow before the end of the year.”

You can read the full commentary here.

Scottish charities scoop share of £1million fund

23 charities based in Scotland have received donations of £1,000 each as part of the Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards.

For the fourth year running, the Benefact Group is giving away £1million to charities through its Movement for Good awards. Members of the public were invited to nominate causes close to their hearts, with another 250 awards of £1,000 available now for donation. 

Euan’s Guide, A Bear Named Buttony and Doodle Trust are some of the local charities set to benefit from the money, following overwhelming public support in the country. More than 18,500 kind-hearted residents have voted for charities across the country so far. 

In total, more than 202,000 people around the UK supported the Movement for Good awards, with over 3,900 charitable causes up and down the country receiving votes. The 250 winning charities were picked at random from those nominated, following 250 previous winners being selected in June.

It’s quick and easy to nominate, you can vote for your favourite charity online at: www.movementforgood.com

Thanking supporters in Scotland, Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, said: “We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate a good cause as part of our Movement for Good Awards.

“Benefact Group is the fourth largest corporate donor in the UK and has an ambition to be the biggest. Owned by a charity, all of its available profits go to good causes, and the more the group grows, the more the group can give.

“As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do. We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.”

A further 120 £1,000 grants will be given away in December and £500,000 will also be given in larger grants later this year.

For more information about the awards visit www.movementforgood.com 

Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group.

Full list of winning Scotland charities:

Euan’s Guide

Faceyouth SCIO

A Bear Named Buttony

More Than Fibro (SCIO)

The Church of Scotland

Seil Island Community Hall Charity

Doodle Trust

Wellbeing Scotland

Signpost

Held in Our Hearts

Back Onside

Scotia Amateur Swimming Club

NappiRunz

Ecologia Youth Trust

Amma Birth Companions (SCIO)

West Coast Furniture Bank SCIO

The Learning to Understand Needs and Abilities Project

The Rock Trust

Buttons & Bows Baby Bank

Tap Into IT Where You Are Ltd

The Indigo Childcare Group

Dundee West Community Trust

The School Bank West Lothian

Bridge the Gap!

Charities appeal to First Minister to double Scottish Child Payment bridging payments NOW

We can turn compassion and justice into action to support children in low-income households.

120 charities and community organisations are calling on the Scottish Government @scotgov to continue to do the right thing by doubling Scottish Child Payment bridging payments.

See the letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (below):

Letter-to-First-Minister-doubling-of-bridging-payments-_0Download

#BridgeTheGap

https://bit.ly/3JWCIGJ

Do not put our human rights at risk!

The STUC is standing alongside 125 civil society organisations across Scotland to support the Human Rights Act and oppose the #RightsRemovalBill:

JOINT STATEMENT ON THE UK RIGHTS REMOVAL BILL

Our human rights are about the values we hold dear and the way we treat one another – they are about dignity, fairness, equality, tolerance, and respect. They are the foundations that help us live together freely and fairly – a safety net to protect us all.

We are therefore alarmed that the UK Government has introduced a Bill to Parliament which, if enacted, will repeal the Human Rights Act and will significantly
diminish protection for human rights in law.

Our experience of working with individuals and communities across Scotland is that the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) is an essential protection for our human rights. Indeed, many of our organisations submitted evidence to the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act detailing the ways in which the HRA is working well. We also collectively gave many hours of our time to respond to the UK Government’s consultation on proposals for this Bill of Rights. However, both the Panel’s
recommendations and the consultation responses have been disregarded by the UK Government in the development of this Bill.

We are very concerned that there are many elements to this Bill that will significantly reduce human rights protection. These include, for example, restricting / narrowing our relationship with the European Court of Human Rights, lowering standards of protection, and making it harder for the court to protect us from serious and irreparable harm.

The rights removal bill will undermine all of our human rights and significantly impact the realisation of rights for individuals whose human rights are currently most at risk. The UK Government’s proposals for reform are out of step with political and public opinion in Scotland. There is overwhelming support across Scotland to go forwards and not backwards on human rights, for a strong human rights legal
framework and not one that is watered down.

We therefore strongly urge the UK Government to reconsider this Bill and instead, consider what can be done to better protect human rights for all in Scotland, and across the UK.

This statement is supported by 125 organisations:

final-joint-statement-rights-removal-bill-june-2022_signed_01-07-2022Download

New £4.25 million grant kick starts UK-wide collaborative research effort to end motor neuron disease

£1 million for MY NAME5 DODDIE Foundation

·        £4.25 million research grant has been awarded that seeks that seeks to discover meaningful MND treatments within years, not decades  

·        Grant awarded by charities LifeArc, MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and MND Scotland, together with government research organisations Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)

·        Funding awarded to researchers from King’s College London, University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool, University College London, University of Oxford and University of Edinburgh to establish a new UK-wide motor neuron disease (MND) research partnership to address problems hindering progress

·        Funding is a springboard for the MND community to develop plans for further ambitious and large-scale research projects, attract significant investment for MND, and encourage more centres to join the scientific mission to find treatments and ultimately a cure for MND

·        Generosity and fundraising efforts of charity supporters have played a big part in making this partnership a reality.

Global MND Awareness Day: A group of charities and government research organisations has awarded £4.25 million to MND experts at six UK universities to kick start collaborative efforts to end motor neuron disease (MND).

This new ‘MND Collaborative Partnership’ brings together people living with MND, charities LifeArc, MND Association, MND Scotland and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, government bodies Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with researchers from King’s College London, University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool, University College London, University of Oxford and University of Edinburgh.

The partnership team will work together to find solutions to address problems currently hindering MND research and seeks to discover meaningful treatments within years, not decades.

Members of this new UK-wide MND research partnership will work together and pool their expertise over three years to:

  • coordinate research effort and deliver maximum impact for people with MND
  • develop better tests to measure MND progression and that allow doctors to compare different drugs
  • improve MND registers so doctors can collect detailed, high-quality data about the disease, and understand which patients are most likely to respond to a particular drug and therefore recommend them for the trials most likely to benefit them
  • support people to take part in clinical trials more easily
  • develop more robust lab tests and models of disease to enable scientists to test theories about the disease and a pipeline of potential therapeutic agents that could ultimately be used as MND treatments.

They will also launch a major new study involving 1,000 people with MND from across the UK to better understand disease progression and how people respond to new and existing treatments.

MND (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. People progressively lose nearly all voluntary movement and need complex care, and around half of those diagnosed die within two years.

Six people are diagnosed with MND every day in the UK and the condition affects around 330,000 across the world. One person in every 300 will develop MND. The only licensed drug for MND in the UK has a modest effect on extending life – but no treatments are available that can substantially modify disease or cure the condition.

Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi, co-director of the research programme and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London and Director of King’s MND Care and Research Centre said: “Our goal is to discover meaningful MND treatments within years, not decades. This landmark funding will bring the UK’s major MND research centres together for the first time in a coordinated national effort to find a cure.

“We now have a much better understanding of MND, so we must take this opportunity to accelerate development of new treatments and work together to move this knowledge into the clinic and help people affected by this devastating disease.”

Dr Catriona Crombie of LifeArc, the charity which has coordinated efforts from all funders to deliver this landmark MND Collaborative Partnership, said: “Over recent years, scientists have made great progress in MND, and this has opened up several promising avenues that could ultimately make a difference to patients.

“But there are some barriers hindering progress. For the first time, the MND community – that’s patients, funders, scientists and doctors – have come together to work out the problems and plan a way forward. As funders we are really excited at what this exceptional group of people could achieve for those affected with MND.”

David Setters, who is living with MND and has been involved in shaping the partnership said: “We welcome this collaboration, which paves the way for the £50 million government investment promised in November 2021, focused on making the first meaningful treatments for MND available within years, instead of decades. 

“It brings real hope to those of us living with MND to see our leading neuroscientists and charities coming together in this way. The prospect of easier access to clinical trials and the most promising therapies being fast-tracked gives us a much-needed boost and brings a real sense of purpose to the community.”

Professor Christopher McDermott, one of the co-directors of the research programme and Professor of Translational Neurology at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) said: “We believe that by combining and coordinating our expertise, we will be more effective than if we work on projects in isolation.

“This partnership will provide the infrastructure to attract additional MND funding and enable further MND centres and researchers to join forces in the national effort to find effective treatments for MND. The partnership is the first step towards our goal to establish a national MND institute.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Motor neuron disease has a devastating impact on those who are diagnosed, their families and loved ones – but there is hope. 

“This new partnership is a highly ambitious approach which will drive progress in MND research and, backed by £1 million of government funding, will bring the MND research community together to work on speeding up the development of new treatments.The collaboration across government, charities, researchers, industry and people with MND and their families will take us one step closer to one day achieving a world free from MND.”

The Partnership was formed in 2021 to coordinate and pool funding for research into MND to speed up progress and help research to move towards the clinic and ultimately reach patients faster.

Funding for the MND Collaborative Partnership research grant totals £4.25 million and contributions are as follows: LifeArc (£1 million), MND Association (£1 million), My Name’5 Doddie Foundation (£1 million), MND Scotland (£250,000), Medical Research Council (MRC) (£500,000) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (£500,000).

Aldi donates 5,089 meals to Edinburgh and Lothian charities over the Easter school holidays

Aldi helped local charities in Edinburgh and the Lothians provide 5,089 meals to people in need over the Easter school holidays. 

The supermarket paired its stores up with local charities, community groups and food banks to donate surplus food, making the most of unsold fresh and chilled food throughout the Easter period. 

Around 105 tonnes of food were donated throughout the UK, with more than 187,000 meals going to causes focused on supporting families and children.  

The donations followed research from Aldi and community-giving platform Neighbourly which found that 98% of food banks in Scotland have seen demand soar since the start of the year. 

Neighbourly recently polled more than 700 food banks and community causes nationwide and found that an estimated 30% of people using these services in Scotland in recent months have been new to the food banks. 

On average, food banks in the region reported an average rise in demand of around 28% for their services so far this year, with expectations of further increases of around 29% in the next three months as higher energy bills and an increase in national insurance contributions add to the pressure.  

Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, said: “The school holidays can be a busy time for the local charities and organisations we support, but, especially in the current climate, food banks are experiencing even greater demand than usual.  

“We’re proud to support so many good causes in Edinburgh and the Lothians, helping them to provide meals to those in need over the recent school holidays.” 

Steve Butterworth, from Neighbourly, added: “The findings of our latest survey highlight that the cost-of-living crisis is clearly deepening, with families and households up and down the country really starting to feel the pinch and turning to charities and local causes for support as a result.  

“During what is a hard time for everyone, anything people can do to give back in the coming weeks will make all the difference.” 

Aldi has community donation points in stores nationwide to help those in need, and is encouraging customers to help in any way they can.

According to its poll with Neighbourly, products that are most in demand at local community groups include tinned food, tea and coffee, UHT milk, toiletries, and household cleaning products.