Jonathan Freeman MBE

Danone made huge profits, and give healthy and increasing dividends to shareholders as seen here https://lnkd.in/ezs39xYZ My email to the Council's planning dep. "I wish to place on record my strong objection to the above planning application by the Danone Harrogate Water Corporation in Harrogate. Considering all we know about climate change, loss of biodiversity and the role that trees and forests play in the eco-system, for nature and our own health, I am amazed that a company that promotes 'clean' Harrogate water to the world is even considering such a regressive development. I walk frequently through and around the Rotary Woods and Pine Woods. A lovely area enjoyed by families, the elderly and many children. Already there a large number of heavy water trucks driving to and from Harrogate Water's plant, they are clearly damaging a public road (a road taxpayers will need to pay for repairing), and these trucks pose a danger to pedestrians and cyclists who share and cross the road. Adding more heavy goods traffic is both non-sensical & not in the interests of people, nor the finances of the council itself. It benefits Danone only. I understand that protected bats and badgers call the woods home. Replanting new trees in place of older growth trees and established woodland is obviously not going to provide a home for these protected species, in fact it will both displace and potentially kill the existing wildlife, including a significant bird population. Whilst Danone's proposal to use durable, harmful chemicals to manage any new woodland further threatens wildlife and your rate payer's health and well-being. Not only is this in direct conflict to the public's interests, I cannot see how Danone's own brand will not be damaged by such measures. There are other matters that Danone's application directly conflicts with or contradicts, including government policy, and the Deciduous Woodland Priority Habitat, Asset of Community Value and Special Landscape area status of Rotary Woods. By itself this surely shows that the application should not be granted, and any future attempts thrown out with it. Danone is a highly profitable multi-national business who can and should afford to find an alternative to this clearly unpopular and regressive plan. They are more than capable of finding profits in other parts of their water businesses across the globe that do not cause so much damage. In fact, it is in their own interests and ESG credentials to put profits second to the well-being of our shared environment, the wildlife that relies and thrives in it currently, and the health and well-being of your rate payers, all our neighbours and their children. Please put local people and the environment before Danone's profits and reject the planning application - they have alternatives".

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Charities and Government Excellent Research from Pro Bono Economics who have published a very useful free resource for charities https://lnkd.in/e_a8ybFN . This says "The 2024 General Election brought 335 new MPs into the House of Commons. For the many charities that seek to influence parliamentarians, this creates a significant challenge. That’s 335 new MPs to research and sift through to try and understand if they might be inclined to support a charity’s cause. "Many small charities cannot afford parliamentary monitoring systems or expensive agencies to do that sifting for them. If hundreds of organisations all undertake the same research into those MPs’ backgrounds, it means massive amounts of duplication and wasted time for already time-starved organisations. Also see https://lnkd.in/ebSvCG_Y which explains that "Experience in the charity sector has accelerated the most dramatically of all with this new Cabinet. #Starmer has appointed eight #Cabinet members who have previously worked within the charity sector. That is a quadrupling of charity experience at the top of government." CFG : Charity Finance Group Charity News Association of Charitable Foundations Association of Chairs The Resource Alliance Charity Excellence - a FREE one-stop-shop for everything a non-profit needs.

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Some very interesting (and challenging) options here. Should there be a reference to building more homes too? Many tenants live in overcrowded homes and the lack of more affordable housing affects them as much as those on housing waiting lists.

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This is well worth a read if you are seeking grant funding. Some great tips here thank you Gill Pipkin. Writing bids is time consuming and so often pressured with short deadlines. So important to do the groundwork, be prepared, read the funding criteria carefully, write in simple terms and avoid jargon, tell your story of who you help, why and the difference you will make but make sure you are answering the question being asked! Take any opportunity to build a relationship with your funder. #charity #fundraising

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This is what purpose looks like. Nick Stace OBE. Former CEO of the Princes Trust, new chair of the Prison Reform Trust and Barclays Head of Sustainable Finance and Social Purpose discusses prison reform with Raphael Rowe It was about a year ago Rory Sutherland introduced me to Nick and I think some of the conversations from last Mondays event were about how to bring the public along on a reform journey. As you would imagine, with Rory's incredible mind, the ideas were flowing. I look forward to sharing some of the footage later. Nick, Thank You for supporting meetmagic.org and the Raphael Rowe Foundation, it means a lot to us all. Alessandro Floridi Brendon Pongia Pui-Yu Lee Spencer John Andrew Matuszczak David Hicks Kapisha T. Vicky Henderson Emma Ringland Winnie Nguyen Daminda Kumara Wajih Ghoul

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Re: State of the Voluntary and Community Sector Report Bromley 2024  Delighted to be able to share with you our report on the Voluntary Sector in Bromley. It includes a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape and a set of recommendations aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of voluntary services in our community.    The report highlights key areas where collaboration between statutory partners, funders and the sector can lead to significant improvements in service delivery and community outcomes.     Some of you will also be aware of the Government plans to develop a civil society covenant and the guidance recently published by the LGA/ NAVCA - Working with Local Infrastructure Organisations to engage smaller VCFSE organisations: Good practice guide | Local Government Association  Taken together we believe they provide a really helpful starting place for a conversation about working together to build a strong and thriving voluntary sector. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the report and how we can turn it into concrete actions on the ground! https://lnkd.in/eHkCtm7k #StateoftheSector #Covenant #LGA #ThirdSector #NAVCA #LondonPlus

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“Our partners and networks have been raising the alarm about systemic racism, injustice and violence for many years. “Systems change work needs deep, long-term investment and care in the most affected communities.” Together with other funder intermediaries in the UK, we are bringing together our networks, infrastructure and skills to focus on four key priorities. Read more in our joint letter with Funders for Race Equality Alliance, The Justice Together Initiative and Migration Exchange (MEX). Together, we urge long term action - and for the power dynamics in funding “to change for good”. https://lnkd.in/dUBKxJBP

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Your Voice Counts is represented on all three of our local Safeguarding Adults Boards which really strengthens safeguarding procedures in our area - I've written about this in a blog for #SafeguardingAdultsWeek, please take a look below

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I've just completed this: my wish list includes some kind of charity/ citizens panel to consider the impact of proposed policies on charities and their beneficiaries before implementation, and some kind of long term core costs grants so that charities that are providing essential services e.g housing, education can meet their costs. The impact on the NI change for Emmaus Bristol isn't huge, but will further eat into reserves - already halved by the cost of living crisis. There have been waves of charities closing after the double blow of the pandemic followed by inflation. Lots more will go if there's another crisis which adds to costs or stops income. It's been such a hard five years I do sometimes think what's going to be next? Extreme weather as a result of climate change is definitely something we need to be thinking about in terms of service continuity, and building reserves for.

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Charities are stepping up to report their impact on Climate and Equity Diversity and Inclusion. However the largest of the UK's charities are doing better than those in the next tier down. This statistic may also reflect how large and small businesses are responding. Reporting on this survey should continue to drive more effort and impact. CFG : Charity Finance Group Civilsociety

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In 2022, we warned about the risk of Government funding cuts and our Sep 23 £1bn Funding Cuts report showed the impact. That derailed the fragile sector recovery and we are now in deeper crisis than ever. It also showed how that could be avoided in future and our subsequent Charity Recovery Roadmap added more ideas, including those of others. I'm again seeing increasing reports of new funding cuts, including this one. The Government promised change but if it's not soon delivered, we'll all sit and watch another largely avoidable car crash. Spending what little funding there is more effectively could massively reduce the impact. https://lnkd.in/eUh7JWH6

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Some great practical advice here from Gill Pipkin about bid writing. Well worth a read!

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Interesting article in @Cityam today by Stephen Timms arguing for a partnership between government and the impact economy: https://lnkd.in/eEYekcwm He specifically calls for the creation of an Office for the Impact Economy, as a  a joint Treasury-Business and Trade unit; saying "We need a new partnership between Government and the impact economy, putting shared values into practice to build a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future for all." Regardless of the result on Thursday, I hope that all parties will recognise the role that #SocialEnterprises and #Charities can and must play to unlock capital in order to tackle some of our most complex social challenges.

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Really proud of this one. Today, UK Youth is publishing a new report with Institute for Government that sets out a clear path for government to unlock the power of preventative services, including youth work. https://lnkd.in/e8vEYwDf Preventative local authority spending on services like youth clubs and children’s centres was cut by more than three-quarters (77.9%) between 2009/10 and 2022/23, while acute spending on looked after children and safeguarding services rose by more than half (58.1%) over the same period. This is bad economics and it is hurting young people. Rather than just point out the problem, this report sets out a clear roadmap for the next government to transform millions of lives and save billions of pounds. The rapidly rising needs of young people – with threats to their mental health, employment, and even physical safety – are not inevitable. We have clear evidence of what works to change this trend. Now we need policymakers to play their part and make the long-term commitment required.

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I'm incredibly proud of our Operations Director Eimear Davis, who is doing a fantastic job representing Social Value UK at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Stakeholder Summit! Here she is, in action, below... ⬇ I'll also be speaking on a panel at the Summit tomorrow, focusing on 'Maximising Value.' What questions would you like to see addressed? Share your thoughts in the comments below. #MaximisingValue #SocialValue #StakeholderSummit #NuclearDecommissioning #ValueCreation #SocialImpact #Sustainability Jamie Reed

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💥The link between social housing and economic inactivity set out below Other things to love about JobsPlus👇 💥Saturation model means anyone we meet, including those in work, can get jobs support - this means we can prevent people becoming economically inactive (sounds simple, but no funder ever pays for this, so hurrah for that at last!) 💥 Freedom to experiment granted - yay! 💥 No competition with other funded programs - we can all genuinely work together - phew! 💥 Proper evaluation built in from day one - evidence to prove what works 👏 💥 DWP locally providing any support we need to unlock resources and case management of benefit problems 🙏 💥 National learning among the pilot sites 🥰 Naomi Clayton Iona McArdle FRSA Emma Sneyd Matthew Poole Ian Reed Chris Catterall Lynsey Sweeney

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Impact investments are investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Learn how donors can use the assets in their donor-advised funds (DAFs) to make impact investments, which can in turn be granted. #ImpactInvesting #Philanthropy #DAFs #DonorAdvisedFunds

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