Tag Archives: GB

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Child Survival Fund, registered charity number 1116070.

The charity’s objects include to relieve poverty, distress and suffering amongst children and young persons throughout the world.

The inquiry, which was opened on 9 February 2017, will look at the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees, in particular the extent to which the trustees have:

• complied with an action plan issued by the Commission in January 2016, which set out certain steps required to be taken by the trustees to resolve issues of concern about the charity’s management and administration
• acted in the charity’s best interests and acted in accordance with their legal duties
• responsibly managed the charity’s resources and financial affairs, particularly with regard to the charity’s significant debts, fundraising costs and the proportion of fundraising income applied directly for charitable purposes
• acted with reasonable care and skill in respect of its fundraising agreement with a US based direct mailing agency and associated risks to the charity’s property
• adequately managed risks to the charity and protected the charity’s reputation, especially with regards to the conduct and transparency of fundraising activities conducted by the charity or on its behalf

The Commission has a history of regulatory engagement with the charity regarding concerns over high fundraising costs and a significant debt owed to the direct mailing agency. The Commission undertook proactive monitoring of the charity amid further concerns about the charity’s fragile financial position and the trustees’ apparent failure and inability to address ongoing issues within the charity. Further, the trustees have failed to provide reassurance to the Commission with respect to an action plan issued to the charity in January 2016, which was designed to address these concerns.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.

Ends

PR 24/17

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Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
4. The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.

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A funding round by ‘fem-tech’ business Chiaro has attracted £4.8 million of external investment. This is to support the development of 3 more smart products addressing female health and wellbeing and help it expand into 25 countries.

Joining the round are Octopus Ventures, a leading tech investor and Allbright, a venture capital fund that invests in female entrepreneurs, amongst others. It brings Chiaro’s total capital to £9.6 million.

Innovate UK awarded Chiaro a grant in its start-up phase, as it sought to leverage the latest developments in wearable technology and create a connected pelvic floor exercise tool, Elvie.

Exciting moment for tech for women

Tania Boler, chief executive and co-founder, said:

Women and consumer tech have never been a very exciting space for investors. There’s been an assumption that women aren’t early adopters of tech, which we’re trying to prove isn’t correct.

Now is an exciting moment for tech for women. There’s a big feminist movement and a paradigm shift in technology and health.

Elvie is a kegel exercise tracker for the pelvic floor. Weakened pelvic floor muscles can cause more than half of all women’s bladder, sex or prolapse problems. Women can use their smartphones to find out how to strengthen their muscles and monitor progress.

Within 6 months of the device going on sale Chiaro was making a profit. Last year the company reported direct sales of £800,000. It has recently struck deals with major retailers including John Lewis and Amazon.

Most promising startups

Chiaro is part of Tech City UK’s Upscale programme of 33 most promising startups. It has also received celebrity attention, with its product having featured on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website and been included in high-profile gift bags at the Academy Awards.

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I am deeply concerned by the continued delay in implementing the 31 December 2016 political agreement in the DRC. Without progress it will be impossible for credible elections to be held this year leading to an historic peaceful transition of power, as is clearly the wish of the Congolese people.

The work of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) to broker an agreement on remaining issues is highly commendable and so it is disappointing that the political parties failed to reach consensus by CENCO’s deadline. EU Foreign Ministers are now actively considering sanctions against anyone blocking a peaceful solution, a move the UK fully supports.

I therefore call on all parties, and in particular President Kabila, to reach agreement as soon as possible. DRC’s present and future is in grave danger; a peaceful transition can only be achieved if all sides show greater flexibility.

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The Prime Minister called the German Chancellor, the President of the European Council, and the President of the European Commission earlier this evening to update them ahead of the letter giving notification of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the European Union being delivered tomorrow.

In separate calls, they agreed that a strong EU was in everyone’s interests and that the UK would remain a close and committed ally.

They also agreed on the importance of entering into negotiations in a constructive and positive spirit, and of ensuring a smooth and orderly exit process.

The Chancellor, the European Council President, and the European Commission President thanked the Prime Minister for her calls.

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I am delighted to be able to join you here in Birmingham for this prestigious conference which comes on the eve of one of the most significant moments that the United Kingdom has faced for many years.

Tomorrow we begin the negotiations to secure a new, deep and special partnership with the European Union.

As we do so, I am determined that we should also seize this historic opportunity to get out into the world and to shape an even bigger role for a global Britain.

This means not just building new alliances, but going even further in working with old friends who have stood alongside us for centuries.

That is the spirit in which I welcome you all here today.

When I had the privilege of addressing the Gulf Co-operation Council in December, I said that the relationship between the United Kingdom and our allies in the Gulf is not just of great historic value – but also fundamental to our shared future.

It is fundamental to our shared security because Gulf security is our security, and together we face the same global threats from terrorism and extremism, as we saw again so tragically in London just last week.

And it is fundamental to our shared prosperity – for Gulf prosperity is our prosperity – and by growing our trade and investment we can create new jobs and new opportunities for all our people.

So I am delighted to welcome His Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah – with whom I have worked on security co-operation for many years – and to see him here today with one of the broadest and most senior delegations that Qatar has sent anywhere in the world, including several Qatari ministers, leaders of industry and the Qatari Investment Authority.

The strength and seniority of the delegations here from both the UK and Qatar are a testament to the importance we both place on our bilateral relationship and the scale of our shared ambition to develop it.

Already the United Kingdom is Qatar’s number 1 destination for foreign direct investment, with investments worth over £35 billion ranging from the iconic Shard to new housing in the Olympic Village in East London.

And Qatar is already the third largest market for UK exports across the Middle East and North Africa, with over 600 UK companies already benefitting from the opportunity to support your growing infrastructure and provide goods and services to your people.

But this week I hope that we can go further, by laying the foundations for a bold new chapter in this partnership between our nations.

Last night we signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding to support Qatar’s 2030 National Vision.

This will deepen the co-operation between our governments and our businesses across a wide range of vital areas including education and healthcare, science, research and innovation, tourism and culture, transport, energy, financial services and the development of small businesses.

We will also deepen our co-operation on defence, where I hope the UK can be Qatar’s partner of choice; on cyber, where the UK will support Qatar to shore up its cyber defences; and on sport, where the UK will continue to share our expertise on managing major events as part of our support for Qatar as it prepares for the 2022 World Cup.

And as we support Qatar with British expertise, so today I am delighted that Qatar is pledging major new investment which will play a significant role in shaping a brighter future for Britain too.

For my Plan for Britain is not just a plan to leave the EU, but a plan to build a stronger economy and a fairer society, underpinned by genuine economic and social reform to make Britain a country that works for everyone, not just a privileged few.

And a critical part of this plan is developing a modern industrial strategy that can help secure my vision of a high-skilled, high-paid Britain where opportunity is spread across every community, not just the most prosperous areas like London and the South East.

Qatar’s new investment today will help to make this a reality by providing new support for regeneration projects outside London, here in Birmingham and in other regions across the country.

It is a bold statement of continued confidence in the British economy from long-term investors committed to prosperity in every part of our United Kingdom.

So I look forward to sitting down with Qatari investors this afternoon to discuss some of the many attractive commercial opportunities that a global Britain has to offer.

These include those opportunities arising from our own long-term investment in infrastructure – such as High Speed 2, which will be transformative for this region and in turn create many exciting, new opportunities for investment in all the parts of the country that it travels through.

These investments will play an important role in helping us to shape the forces of globalisation so that everyone shares in the benefits of economic growth.

They will also provide the foundation from which we can take our trade and investment to the next level. So I am delighted that we are also establishing a new Joint Economic and Trade Committee. And as I said at the Gulf Co-operation Council in December, I hope we can pave the way for an ambitious trade arrangement for when the UK has left the EU, including exploring whether we can forge a new trade arrangement for the whole of the Gulf area.

As a global Britain, I am determined that we will be the most committed and most passionate advocate of free trade in the world – and I look forward to continuing these vital discussions on growing our trade and investment as part of hosting the Gulf Co-operation Council in London later this year.

So thank you once again for your support today, for your investments in our country and for the continued partnership that we are building together.

Through this enduring commitment between our countries and our peoples, let us meet the shared challenges to our security; grasp the shared opportunities for our prosperity; and build a brighter future for the United Kingdom and Qatar, today and for generations to come.

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