TFN view

IN the week that TFN examines training in the third sector it sad to note that its workforce is not being trained up to take on leadership roles. Women are, it seems, 68 per cent of staff in the top 100 charities but only 9 per cent of the chairs. The third sector’s values of

ARE third sector groups finally taking training seriously? Statistics show they are to the extent that many are investing more time and money than they did even before the recession made everyone batten down the hatches. Organisations used to steer clear of training because of the costs involved. Now they are positively embracing it because

FROM board members at loggerheads over the direction of an organisation to volunteers rearranging the kitchen and confusing everyone, the issue of volunteer management is never far from the minds of those involved in the third sector. Volunteering is the lifeblood of many Scottish voluntary organisations and it also provides opportunity, skills and society for

SCOTLAND’S prisons are amongst the most overcrowded in Europe. With six out of 10 offenders reconvicted within two years of leaving the prison gates new approaches to reducing offending should be a priority. Politicians know they can address these issues in one of two ways: either by building more and more prisons to house as

THE Health and Sport committee’s report into integration of health and social care, published this week, held no surprises and generally backed the Scottish Government’s way of travel. It was good to see so much emphasis on the third sector’s role in integrating health and social care, as well as a call for strong action

THE biggest problem facing the Shetland Charitable Trust isn’t its investment in the Viking Energy wind farm but its increasing lack of credibility within the community it serves. With 22 local councillors on a board of 24, it is plain to see for every member of the community that it is not operating separately from

WIND energy is supported by two-thirds of people in Scotland, but those who don’t agree seem to make more noise than those who do. The media is partly to blame, so when someone like Donald Trump comes riding into town in a blaze of glory his every word is reported. None of those words however

THE launch of the Pear’s Foundation’s Give More campaign this week is not linked in any way to the Big Society apparently. It is encouraging all of us to think more about the needs of our communities and contribute more cash, time or energy, which sounds quite like the Big Society. It also aims to

IT is official: the warm glow is fading. Despite higher job satisfaction in the voluntary sector satisfaction levels among voluntary sector staff are waning. Working in the third sector was never a kind of Utopia but it has always been understood that contributing to a good cause has beneficial effects because staff are more likely

JUST over two weeks before polling day on 3 May, Scotland’s political parties launched their campaigns for local elections. What a difference to last year’s Scottish Parliament elections. It is as if Scotland’s political parties actively decided to put as little effort as possible into their council campaigns. The lack of engagement with the third