Charity Diabetes UK has warned that if current trends continue 60% of men and 50% of women will be obese by 2050, with the majority having type two diabetes, which can kill, and the rest at high risk, resulting in an estimated bill of £50 billion for the NHS. Currently in Britain 2.8 million people have been diagnosed with the disease, with a further estimated 850,000 unaware they have it.

Worldwide more than 220 million people are affected and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 3.4 million died in 2004 from the consequences of high blood sugar, a figure expected to double between 2005 and 2030. Given that obesity and poor diet are to blame the pandemic should be preventable. Continue reading →

A poll by the Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust charity has found that 40% of women fail to take a potentially life-saving test, citing “difficulty of missing work” as the cause.

And many said they were “too embarrassed” to ask for the time off.

Hospitals in England are being attacked for their high car-parking charges, usually 60% higher than those paid to councils by shoppers. Hospital parking is free in Scotland and Wales.

Charity Age UK warns that older people and their families rely on their cars to attend hospitals and say that charges should not be an unreasonable barrier to getting treatment.

Many hospitals with expensive car parks – and charges can reach £3 per hour – claim that the high profits are invested in patient services, rather than high management salaries or pensions. To see how caring your own local hospital is visit www.telegraph.co.uk/health

Consumers are to be asked to donate more to good causes when they use a credit or debit card, or a cashpoint.

The technology exists for suppliers such as restaurants and shops to round up bills to the nearest pound and donate the increase to charity. Banks can also deduct donations via cashpoints. It remains to be seen whether customers paying by credit card will feel charitable after being ripped off with card charges, or after being clipped by their bank with very high interest charges for borrowing/very low interest on deposits, or the iniquitous fines for going a few pounds overdrawn, a scam for which our banks are justly famous.

The government initiative is thought to be part of the “Big Society” PR stunt. It is also thought unlikely that MPs will be asked to donate a share of their lucrative expenses claims, fiddled or otherwise, to set us all a good example.

Charity shops are now to be spared some of the excesses of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) according to employment minister Chris Grayling, who says he wants to “root out needless bureaucracy” and “put common sense back at the heart of Britain’s health and safety system”.

The government’s new-found intelligence on the issue has come too late for the Cancer Research UK charity shop in Cullompton, Devon, which closed after it was told by the HSE that it would have to use most of its £30,000 a year income to pay £25,000 to a safety manager, to implement health and safety compliance, or cease trading.

Reportedly two of the HSE inspector’s concerns were that the shop was using the wrong type of cleaning products, and that staff might hurt themselves washing up.

A rare book of sheet music of six sonatas by Mozart was given to Oxfam and then withdrawn from auction when the donor advised the charity that the donation was a mistake.

The book, which was printed in 1765 when Mozart visited London at the age of eight, was expected to fetch £3,000. Oxfam will return it when the donor provides proof of ownership.

The NFP Technology Exhibition, featuring new technology for the not-for-profit sector, takes place on Thursday 29th September at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

Entrance is free and there will be a range of educational seminars for visitors.

www.conferencehouse.co.uk

Amusing to note that Tony Blair’s puffer, Alastair “mass destruction” Campbell, pushed and shoved another player in an altercation at a recent charity football match.

The object of Campbell’s bad temper was singer Tom Parker of boy-band The Wanted, and the occasion was a celebrity six-a-side soccer match at Turf Moor, Burnley, where Campbell took aggressive issue with Parker’s play.

Campbell is well-known for complaining, to audiences awake enough to listen, how negative the press are towards him.