British charities 'setting an example to the world'

The UK’s charitable organisations are the envy of the rest of the world, minister for the third sector Angela Smith told an awards ceremony in London last night (September 24th).

She told guests at the Third Sector Excellence Awards that British charities set an example to organisations in other countries in terms of research, support agencies, social enterprises and community-based initiatives.

Data from the Cabinet Office states that there are 870,000 civil society organisations in the UK with an income of £116 billion, suggesting that demand for charity investment services remains healthy.

’These awards are an excellent way of recognising just some of the outstanding work that is going on every minute of every day by organisations often working on tiny budgets,’ Ms Smith commented.

’No other country in the world has a sector like it and we should be very proud.’

Stephen Cook, editor of Third Sector magazine, said that the standard of entries for this year’s awards had been higher than ever before, despite the economic challenges currently facing the nation’s charities.

Recent figures from the Charities Aid Foundation show that the amount of money donated to charities fell by 11 per cent in the 12 months to April this year.
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