MEMBER NEWS

• BBC Children in Need to directly fund core costs

To help address the cost of living crisis, BBC Children in Need has created a new funding stream to cover organisational costs. The aim is to make sure organisations remain sustainable so they can keep delivering effective programmes. It’s part of the funder’s new strategy developed with young people, volunteers, grantees and external stakeholders.

• Foundation introduces story-based evaluation

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation has published an evaluation of its Young People Leaving Care Learning Programme, which supports young people as they become care leavers.

To complement more typical evaluation methods, they used ‘Most Significant Change’, a qualitative method focused on story-based evaluation, which aims to better capture the impact of creative aspects of the participants’ work.

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Call for more funding for specialist legal advice

A recent report has found that funding for specialist legal advice in England and Wales is in decline, at a time when need is growing. Analysis by 360Giving for The Access to Justice Foundation reveals a significant decline in legal aid funding for specialist legal advice, with the majority coming from just six funders.

• Increasing the impact of investments

Friends Provident Foundation and Golden Bottle Trust have both doubled their investment in Snowball, a specialist fund that invests across the themes of social equity and environmental sustainability. Friends Provident Foundation has pledged to invest a further £1m for every £10m Snowball raises.

• £1m fund from British and Foreign School Society (BFSS)

BFSS has launched a new fund to support educational opportunities for displaced young people in the UK and internationally. The fund is for UKregistered charities and community groups addressing the specific challenges children and young people displaced by conflict face in accessing quality education.

• The Funding Network turns 20

The Funding Network marked its 20th anniversary in October with a special crowdfunding event and the launch of an impact report. Over two decades, more than £17m has been raised at 657 Funding Network events worldwide and 2,435 non-profits supported.

• State of the Sector survey

Pro Bono Economics (PBE) and the National VCSE Data and Insights Observatory, run by Nottingham Trent University, are partnering to conduct a survey exploring the impact of the cost of living crisis on charities and community groups.