I would like to introduce my successor as chair of trustees at Headway Cambridgeshire, the very affable and able James Berry who has a strong financial background which is particularly essential right now as many charities struggle to survive during the present economic downturn.
This has been exacerbated by George Osborne’s ill-conceived plan to hit some charities even harder by his planned cap on tax relief for charity donations which has been criticised by the church and universities, as well as cancer researchers and charity bodies.
James called to ask my advice prior to an interview on Radio Cambridgeshire on this topic as Headway Cambridgeshire is among more than 800 charities backing an NCVO-led Give It Back George campaign asking the chancellor to re-think his decision.
James was interviewed by presenter Chris Mann and this is what he said:
“I explained that we’d signed up to the campaign, because we were concerned the tax changes in the recent budget would prompt very rich and generous donors to cut back on their charitable giving. People like Elton John, who has given £26 million to charity and J.K. Rowling, who recently gave £10 million to found a multiple sclerosis clinic in Edinburgh. In Britain and most countries in the western world, the policy has always been that people could give to charities without the taxman taking a slice. 75% of UK charities get nothing from the government and depend for their survival in these tough economic times on individual donations. Any tax changes would make life even harder for charities.
“I said that most donations to Headway were quite small, and encouraged people to carry on giving, because the tax changes wouldn’t affect people giving less than £100,000 a year to charity and even then wouldn’t come into force until 2013.”
The fact is, even though smaller charities like Headway Cambridgeshire may not be at risk, there is a perception that they will suffer and this would deter donations. There is a need for an urgent re-think about this.
I would also like to thank James for his kind words about me when he took over as chair I do miss everyone at Headway Cambridgeshire, but, as I have said before, I am a Headway friend forever…
Thank you Ellee for your sensible words about the Give it Back George campaign, and your ongoing support. It is very much appreciated. Let’s hope George has a rethink!
Thank you Mary. Wouldn’t it make sense for our super rich to pay their taxes and allow them to donate how they choose?
It’s always lovely to hear from James and I’m so pleased that all is going well.
Conservatory tax, pasty tax, granny tax …
These are desperate times. Our system – where we prefer to displace our own workers – requires a lot of tax to run if we are not to suffer a massive fall in living standards at the lower end.