Health secretary pledges to ‘break the culture’ of voluntary sector lobbying

In a leaked video, Wes Streeting described the Royal Osteoporosis Society as the “worst offender” for lobbying the government and described voluntary organisations as “stakeholders, not partners”.

Streeting said: “They’re going to have to work with us, they’re going to have to bear with us, that’s why I think they are stakeholders, not partners.

“I’m trying to break the culture of the voluntary sector and the way that it lobbies government.”

Streeting appeared to row back from the comments later in the week when he appeared at an event hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support to mark World Cancer Day. 

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The Big Help Out will not run this year

Organisers of the volunteering event, which has been held for the past two years, say a potential clash with the 80th anniversary of VE Day was a major factor in the decision to shelve the event for this year. 

But Matt Hyde, co-founder and chair of the volunteering event, said in an opinion piece for Third Sector that he was planning for the event to return “even bigger” in 2026. 

The Big Help Out was first staged around the King’s coronation in 2023, when an estimated 7.2 million people gave up their time to volunteer for charities. 

The event was expanded to run over three days in 2024, when about 6.5 million people took part.  

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Naomi Campbell allowed to appeal trustee ban after fraud claim

The supermodel Naomi Campbell has launched an appeal against the Charity Commission’s decision to ban her from charity trusteeship, claiming she was the victim of “systemic fraud” by a fellow trustee who set up a fake email account to impersonate her.

In September, Campbell was disqualified from being a charity trustee for five years after a Charity Commission inquiry found a range of governance and financial failures at her charity, Fashion for Relief.

But Campbell has since been granted permission to pursue an appeal against the regulator’s decision to ban her from trusteeship, in a ruling by a charity tribunal judge last month.

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