5 things that happened in the Charity sector this week - 13th January

Makerble Charity Roundup

1.  Reduced energy bill support for charities from April

Currently, under the Energy Bills Relief Scheme (EBRS) non-profit organisations receive a discount on their energy bills. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced this week that in from April this scheme will be replaced by the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS). Whilst plans for ongoing subsidies from the government are welcome, the level of support in the upcoming financial year will be significantly lower. Over the last six months the EBRS cost approximately £18.4bn. The EBDS, however, will be capped at £5.4bn government spending for the whole year. Charity sector bodies have urged the government to find a longer-term solution to support non-profit organisations.

 

2. Trust founder completes 52 triathlons in 52 weeks

Rob Starr, 53, is the co-founder of the Starr Trust, which supports young people in achieving their dreams. Over the last year Mr Starr has done a triathlon every Friday, which has helped raise over £100,000 for his trust. He did most of the triathlons around Brighton. Travel and bad weather did not ever stop him. Some triathlons he did abroad, the furthest from home was in South Africa. When the weather was awful, he would swim in a pool and use an indoor bike, but always tried to run outside. Mr Starr received support from his friend Sir Daley Thompson throughout this challenge.

 

3. Wolves fans raise almost £2,000 for Race Against Blood Cancer

In 2017 former club goalkeeper Carl Ikeme was diagnosed with leukaemia. He went into remission in 2018 and has since supported the local Race Against Blood Cancer charity. He previously supported a donor drive, which aimed to increase the number of stem cell and bone marrow donor from minority groups, which are vastly underrepresented. Recently Ikeme’s fans began fundraising for the charity to help others fighting the same condition. A Wolves fans volunteer group held a quiz night that raised £1,785.

 

4. Exmouth man to walk UK coastline to support the RNLI

Tim Jones, 33 and his dog Monty will be starting their route around the UK coastline at Exmouth RNLI Lifeboat Station next Friday. He will walk “clockwise”, visiting as many lifeboat stations as he can. His 8,000-mile route includes the Isle of Man and the Scottish Islands. He hopes to raise £500,000 for the RNLI, which he has admired for a long time.

 

5. Charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers moves to a bigger facility

The number of refugees and asylum seekers using The Harbour Project’s services has trebled in the last two years. To meet the growing need, the Swindon-based charity is moving to a new facility funded by the charity itself and South Swindon Parish Council. The charity support refugees and asylum seekers in rebuilding their lives. Around 1,500 people are currently seeking refuge in Swindon and the charity was not able to support all of them in its former office. The CEO Claire Garrett said “Our role here is to respond to human needs, I’m never going to turn anyone away at the door.”

 

Sources:

https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/treasury-announces-reduced-energy-bills-support-for-charities.html

https://www.thejc.com/news/community/what-a-starr-charity-chiefs-52-triathlons-in-52-weeks-raise-over-100000-1LCMBvhPCwL8RKX7lpPT40

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/wolverhampton/2023/01/12/almost-2000-raised-by-wolves-fans-for-blood-cancer-charity/

https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2023/january/13/exmouths-tim-to-walk-the-uk-coastline-for-the-rnli

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-64225655