Charity Age Concern is taking a test case to the European Court of Justice this month that would, if they are successful, allow workers to demand the right to continue in their jobs past the age of 65.

According to Emma Soames, editor-at-large of Saga magazine writing in the Daily Telegraph there are currently 1.3 million men and women working past retirement age, for a number of reasons. These include economic necessity – the current pension of £90 a week for a single person looks increasingly pathetic alongside current price increases, as do the very low annuity rates paid out on private pensions – as well as wanting to continue working with friends and colleagues doing something more pleasurable than sitting at home and contemplating years of daytime TV.

Apparently employers are, according to Ms Soames, coming to like older workers who don’t take unexpected days off sick, are less excitable, are more dependable and, not to be sneezed at, are less likely to be after the boss’s job.

Meanwhile in support of charity Kith and Kids a new fundraising project Prime Thinkers offers organisations a group of 8-10 mostly retired or semi-retired business executives to consult for one hour on problem solving or idea generating.

The group supply their time on a voluntary basis and the organisation getting the benefit pay just £75 to the charity, or £100 for 1½ hours.

Co-founder of Kith and Kids, a disability charity which helps the families of disabled children, Maurice Collins told Charity Matters “Since our launch in early May five groups have started up in London and we hope to go UK wide”.

www.primethinkers.com

Disability charity Scope has admitted to a tribunal that it unfairly and wrongly dismissed the head teacher at its special residential school in Nottingham last April. (Private Eye).

Carole Oviatt-Ham had been head of the Rutland Home school for children with severe disabilities for the 28 years it had been open and denied accusations that she had bullied a parent and made a child protection referral without proper discussion. In a letter sent to parents Scope accepted that her dismissal “did not fall within the band of reasonable responses by an employer” that she “did not commit gross misconduct” and that she “was unfairly and wrongly dismissed”.

Scope has made the settlement paid to Mrs Oviatt-Ham the subject of a gagging order.

Following pressure from the events industry and government bodies e-Bay internet auctioneers have agreed to ban the re-sale of tickets to free music events (Live UK).

The practice first came to light at the 2005 Live 8 charity concert where touts were offering tickets on e-Bay for up to £2,000, an offer stopped by protesters who made £10 million of bogus bids, forcing e-Bay to withdraw.

E-Bay has also agreed to charge re-sellers of charity event tickets a surcharge of 20% which is paid to the charity, whether the reseller gets the face value of the ticket or not. Continue reading →

A charity summer ball staged by property speculator Grant Bovey and his wife TV presenter Anthea Turner was cancelled in April because Bovey felt his guests should not be asked to donate large sums of money in difficult times. (Daily Telegraph).

Bovey himself is having trouble with his buy to let property business, Imagine Homes, which is one of the markets largest players and has millions of pounds worth of unsold property on its books due to significantly reduced demand.

The company is 20 percent owned by HBOS who is also its lender and who are currently looking at a restructuring.

Around 200,000 people attended a free charity concert in Kiev, the Ukraine on June 14 at which Sir Paul McCartney performed. Millions more watched the concert on giant screens erected in other cities. (Audience).

The concert was staged by the Victor Pinchuck Foundation, a charity set up by businessman and philanthropist Pinchuck to contribute to the country’s modernisation.

McCartney performed at another concert in June at Liverpool Football Club’s ground at Anfield, for a modest charity donation. Sadly the charitable ethos of the event, run as part of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations was marred by the stupid and grubby greed of Liverpool Football Club, (Joint chairmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks) who were confiscating plastic bottles of water from concert goers attending so that they had to pay a rip-off £2.50 for a small bottle to LFC.

Sometimes our football club venues, when used, really let the side down.

In ten years time, baby boomers – those aged 44 to 61 and therefore born between 1946 and 1964 – will have 90% of the UK’s disposable income, making them a top target for charity donations. (The Datebook).

This is the claim of direct marketing agency DMS who also say that this consumer category currently numbers 16 million and that as well as being wealthy they are media perceptive, and individualistic, which could call for an overhaul of fundraising approaches. www.directmarketing.co.uk