Category: News

Charities raise serious concerns about government’s earned settlement proposals

Stuart Mitchell

Charities and voluntary organisations are raising serious concerns about government proposals to link volunteering to asylum settlement. The proposals form part of the government’s wider asylum and immigration reforms, which would allow volunteering to be used as a condition to obtain, or shorten the route to, settlement in the UK. Drawing on engagement with 314 organisations, NCVO’s findings show overwhelming concern across the voluntary sector. Respondents were in strong opposition to the proposed inclusion of volunteering to obtain or shorten the route to settlement for asylum seekers and refugees. Of…

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Thrive Renewables launches crowdfunding bond offer to help fund two new wind farms

Stuart Mitchell

Renewable energy investment company, Thrive Renewables plc, has launched a new £5 million bond offer on Triodos Bank UK’s crowdfunding platform. The finance raised will contribute to the development and construction of two new wind farms in Scotland and Wales, and provide funding to enable communities to build and own their own local projects. Thrive is a certified B Corp with a 30-year track record in delivering new clean energy projects and providing opportunities for communities to own wind and solar farms in their neighbourhood. Over three decades, the organisation…

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UNHCR launches new platform to analyse complex journeys across key routes

Stuart Mitchell

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has launched the Routes Monitor, a new data platform offering the most comprehensive picture to date of mixed movements across and along major global routes. Updated monthly, the platform brings together multiple sources of information – including from UNHCR, national authorities, UN and NGO partners, and media and social media monitoring – to show evolving trends, highlight protection needs and support more effective responses along entire journeys. This will help provide better protection and solutions where people are, offering alternatives to dangerous journeys. With a…

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Munich Security Conference: the EU’s dependence on US gas is a security threat, Greenpeace warns

Stuart Mitchell

Greenpeace activists from Germany protested the EU’s growing dependence on US gas just as the Munich Security Conference is kicking off. With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to attend the conference, activists unfurled a 15×6 metre banner reading “Break free from tyrants” atop a tower crane. On Marienplatz, only a stone’s throw from the conference site, other activists inflated 10-metre-long representations of Putin and Trump sitting on a gas tanker, to symbolise Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports from tyrants. Since 2022, EU-headquartered companies have signed an estimated…

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UK Heat Pump sales reach record high in 2025, but more must be done to meet Government targets

Stuart Mitchell

New data published by the Heat Pump Association UK shows that heat pump sales reached another record high in 2025, with over 125,000 units sold in the UK, a 27% increase on the previous year. This marks another year of sustained growth for the sector, with 36% of heat pump sales being manufactured in the UK.   Breaking down the HPA UK factory gate sales data further, key highlights include:  125,037 total heat pump sales, including 110,353 hydronic heat pump sales in 2025  A 27% increase compared to 2024 sales  All types of heat pumps saw a steady increase in sales when comparing 2025 to 2024, with a 26% rise in Air to Water Monobloc heat pumps, a…

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