Day: 1 May 2020

PRCA offers free training webinars to furloughed staff

Stuart Mitchell

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has offered furloughed members of the industry unlimited free access to its training webinars, as its latest measure to support the industry through the COVID-19 crisis. This offer gives furloughed employees the opportunity to attend one virtual classroom training session and grants them access to a broad range of PRCA webinars until the end of May. The offer is open to all practitioners, regardless of whether their employer is a PRCA corporate member or not.  PRCA Director General, Francis Ingham MPRCA, said: “We are determined…

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Smart Hot Water: UK consumers to help balance the electricity grid every-time they turn on the hot tap

Stuart Mitchell

British households are trialing a new device which can help them save money and use energy more efficiently. The USER Project is adopting the energy storage potential of the everyday hot water cylinder installed in millions of UK homes to help balance the energy system. Funding from the Government is enabling the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimise a virtual community of 350 homes across the country. These will allow for transforming traditional hot water cylinders into grid-interactive water heaters that are context aware. They coordinate their operation in…

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Virgin Money covers its not-for-profit fundraising platform’s 2% ‘platform fee’ until the end of lockdown

Stuart Mitchell

Virgin Money UK PLC has announced it will cover the platform fee for its wholly-owned not for profit fundraising business, Virgin Money Giving (VMG), for the remainder of government lockdown. VMG will waive its platform fee on all donations and fundraising activity, including the ‘2.6 Challenge to save the UK’s charities’, from 18th April. This fee, set at 2%, covers the running costs of VMG to enable it to provide charities, fundraisers and donors with a safe and secure digital fundraising service without making any profits. By temporarily covering the…

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Mobile payments service to streamline how UK charities collect donations

Stuart Mitchell

As charities around the world are feeling the unprecedented pressure caused by COVID-19, the UK charity sector is expected to lose over £4 billion in the upcoming weeks and months due to fundraising events being cancelled and places of worship closing their doors. In these uncertain times, mobile technology is enabling charities to collect donations remotely. A partnership between MobiCash, a mobile payments service, and RSM 2000 Ltd, a UK-based payment service provider for SMEs and the charity sector, is helping charities across the UK by leveraging market-leading payments technology…

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Unlocking assets could free £1bn to support coronavirus fight, says report

Stuart Mitchell

Hundreds of millions of pounds could be unleashed to support charities hit by the COVID-19 crisis, according to new analysis by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). A report published today recommends a raft of measures to unlock charitable assets, harness unclaimed Gift Aid and stimulate new giving to vital causes hit by the deadly outbreak. The report by CAF, which grants more than £650m to charities each year, contains recommendations for government, regulators and charities themselves to unlock vital cash needed to support charities during the current crisis and rebuild…

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