Charitable Sector

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville Excerpts

Tuesday 5th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, just as it was a pleasure to serve with her for four years in the other place.

Speaking where I do in the list, I can comment on the high quality as well as the large quantity of maiden speeches today. It is a privilege to speak in the same debate. Of those who have spoken, my noble friend Lady Benjamin mentioned that great Trinidadian, Learie Constantine. My family knew him and perhaps in this corner of the Chamber I am nearest to his grave, whence I thought I caught the distant whisper of a cheer.

I declare interests as the initiator of two trusts conducted under the admirable umbrella of the CAF, one for lay causes and one for ecclesiastical. I have also been a trustee for an average of 14 years each of a random set of half a dozen charities involved in archaeology and economic development in the Andes; a literary shrine in Cumbria—perhaps the best buttressed in the world in terms of original manuscripts; training in architectural conservation; the creation of a monument to extinct species, with a separate carved tablet for each species; a charity sustained by alumni, both male and female, of my old school, who inevitably take a keen interest in current controversies; and, finally, the Churches Conservation Trust, which is publicly funded by both church and state, one of whom I had once privately to remind that there were two income streams, not one.

Circumstantial evidence in the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, suggests that, in a similar way, both the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Hereford and my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach had some hand in the welcome sponsoring of this valuable debate. I say quietly in support of the right reverend Prelate’s statistics that, in the UK Giving combined research for the Charities Aid Foundation, the NCVO and the Office for National Statistics, religious charities take the largest generic share of the total amount of income donated and lead the table for both individual mean and medium monthly donations, even though, of course, medical research, hospitals and hospices and children and young people have the three largest numbers of supporters.

Speaking two-thirds of the way down the batting order, much of what might be said is likely to have been said, but knowing that such debates are treated as quarries after the event, I shall try to add some things that I do not think have specifically yet been said. They will have the same randomness as the trusts of which I have been a trustee.

First, in the UK Giving—the research grouping I mentioned earlier—overview for 2008-09, the final key finding of six was that the uptake of gift aid for small donations remains poor. Only once has a one-off beneficiary of action by me ever sent me a confirmation of the gift. I give credit for this to St Matthew, Bayswater, a church which the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Arts and Heritage visited on its annual outing. At the risk of sounding bureaucratic, I think that gift-aided small donations would grow if the donor were reminded in this way, and the beneficiary might make better subsequent use of the names and addresses of those well disposed towards it.

Secondly, it should be a matter of pride for us that in the Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index for 2010, of 153 countries, the UK comes eighth, with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States ahead of us in their respective continents, and Ireland, Switzerland and the Netherlands ahead of us in our own. However, despite being eighth overall in financial giving, 20 countries below us in the main table are ahead of us in giving time and 17 countries below us are ahead of us in helping a stranger. These are categories which enter into the index. My remarks are intended to be descriptive and not evaluative, but those positions are a warning against complacency.

Thirdly, there was a reference to discrepancies between earlier speeches and the briefings we were receiving. While valuing all the briefing, it is worth remarking that the Charity Commission’s survey shows that three times the number of respondents believe that they or their family have used the services of a charity once they are told what charities do, whereas the UK Giving research group puts the factor at six times in the same circumstances. If in this golfing week we settle for a compromise of four and a half times, it still suggests that in these times charities could collectively raise their game in publicising the services that they charitably render to us all.

Finally, CS Lewis once remarked that when you heard of someone going around doing good to others, you could always tell the others by their hunted look. That may be true of an individual but not of individuals gathered together in a charitable cause. They are a collective force to which any Minister would be sensible to be responsive, to the ultimate good of us all.