Funder relaunches £362m programme with new priorities

The National Lottery Community Fund has announced an updated version of its Reaching Communities grant programme. 

The scheme, which funds projects making positive changes in communities, distributes grants of £20,001 or more to charities in England for a period of up to five years.

While grant size and length will remain the same, the funder said the grant programme would prioritise projects that support people, places or communities that experience poverty, disadvantage and discrimination; and that meaningfully involve communities in steering the project.

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Number of charity donors fell to a record low last year, new figures show

The Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving report shows that the number of people donating, volunteering or sponsoring someone for charity in 2024 fell to the lowest recorded levels since CAF began its research in 2016.

This was despite the public having donated an estimated £15.4bn to UK charities over the past year, according to the report – up from £13.9bn in the previous year. 

CAF said this rise was likely due to increased accuracy of the research caused by changes in the methodology.

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Regulator authorises donation to British Museum worth £1bn

The Charity Commission has authorised the permanent donation of Chinese ceramics to the British Museum. 

The Chinese ceramics collection, which consists of about 1,700 pieces, is being donated to the museum on a permanent basis by the Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art.

The foundation’s trustees announced plans to donate the collection permanently in November last year, but the gift was subject to regulatory authority from the Charity Commission, since the transfer was not being explicitly allowed under the charity’s governing document.

The commission said the gift was the most valuable object donation in British museum history.

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