Kirsty McNeill, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at Save the Children, discusses the strong traditions of civil society and how organisations big and small can work together for a better future.

Kirsty McNeill, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at Save the Children, discusses the strong traditions of civil society and how organisations big and small can work together for a better future.
Charities receive unique tax breaks, leading to advantages which are above and beyond any other kind of doing good: is that right? What about social enterprises, mutual and coops, or companies that commit to doing social good? Is the balance right?
What exactly are the characteristics which make a good organisation in the aftermath of the Oxfam and Save the Children scandal? I think we know such bodies when we come across them, and they are often grassroots initiatives with a strong sense of place and locale, and of mission and founding leadership.
Large and medium-sized organisations often dominate what we hear about the charity sector. But the world looks very different for small and micro-organisations – so different, in fact, that frequently it doesn’t even make sense to talk about them in the same breath.
THE NEW POLITICAL CLIMATE MEANS ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE All times are tough for the social sector; and so they should be. Charities don’t have a right to exist and we thrive on the tension that comes from living on the edge (I can say this now I’m no longer in daily charge of a charity). …
For people of my generation, working for a charity was a noble and realistic goal. With employment in the voluntary sector rising by a third over the last decade (to nearly 3 per cent of all UK workers), charities have offered a variety of fulfilling – and sometimes well-paid – roles. Yet, the 17th century …
From transparency to board diversity, the new Charity Governance Code is designed to rebuild trust. Civil Society Futures asked me to blog about the new Charity Governance Code. Although, as chair of the Code’s Steering Group, I’ve written lots of articles about it, this request immediately put me into a spin as I wondered what …
We are calling on members of the public from all backgrounds to submit evidence to our Civil Society Futures via our call for contributions. Today, we publish Andrew Purkis’ submission, with his permission. Introduction I have spent most of my working life in the organised part of civil society, having been Chair of 4 UK …
In 2011, the comedian and broadcaster Josie Long was worried that austerity would exclude working class young people from the arts. And so, with a friend, she founded the group Arts Emergency. After loads of boring meetings, it’s now a thriving charity with a cornucopia of projects, helping creative young people across the country. Civil …
Not made for these times In 1966, while Brian Wilson was radically innovating, and creating new works of musical genius, other members of the Beach Boys remained sceptical. Fellow band member Mike Love’s famously bad advice to him at the time (at least apocryphally) was “Don’t fuck with the formula”. Don’t move away from what …