Nicva News

NICVA is celebrating Adult Learners' Week this year - beginning 12 May - with various training events.

New research shines a light on Northern Ireland as a giving nation and highlights the appetite many people have to respond to increased need in their community by giving more money, time or energy to the causes they care about.

Could what started as a great idea to simplify the claiming of Gift Aid on small cash collections become the latest Gift Aid headache for small charities, local groups and "newbies" to Gift Aid? NICVA has prepared a briefing paper on the Small Donations Scheme.

A new outreach project designed to help the tens of thousands of older people across Northern Ireland who are actively engaged with mental health services launched at the Long Gallery, Stormont on 26 April.

On Monday 30 April the NI Assembly unanimously passed a resolution from the DUP which “expresses concern at the proposals by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to limit tax relief on large charitable donations; believes that this could have a devastating impact on charities; and calls on Her Majesty’s Government to abandon this approach.”

On 24 April NICVA held ‘ActUpNI: Campaigning Lobbying and Dissent’ bringing the voluntary and community sector together to discuss the effectiveness of its campaigning and lobbying strategies, investigate what has worked, where improvements could be made and where energy should be focused in the future.  It was also the launch of NICVA’s new online campaign site www.ActUpNI.org.

NICVA has recently added its name to the Give it back George campaign, which is calling on the Chancellor to reverse his decision and exempt charitable donations from the plans to cap personal tax reliefs.

Minister for Social Development, Nelson McCausland referred to work to cut bureaucracy and red tape in government funding during a report on his involvement in the British Irish Council meeting on social inclusion.

The Shadow Secretary of State, Vernon Coaker MP, has told NICVA members that the power of the sector lies in its credibility, experience and legitimacy.

At an event held by NICVA and the Law Centre (NI) in Belfast, the most radical shake up of the social security system in over 40 years came under the spotlight.  The event was broadcast live over the Internet to facilitate as many people as possible taking part in this important debate.