OCF’s Chief Executive and President were delighted to attend the service in Windsor, along with hundreds of representatives from communities in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Organiser The Oxford Foundation has recently set up a named fund with OCF to channel any fundraising.
Chartered Accountant Katy joins us with an experienced financial background, including roles at EY and Wenn Townsend. She will bring vital financial management to support the staff and trustees as OCF grows.
As flooding continues to affect communities in Scotland and the North of England, a UK-wide appeal has been launched to support flood victims. Coordinated by umbrella body UK Community Foundations (UKCF), the appeal will benefit from match funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Community foundations in Europe have been working together to react to the refugee crisis, with a pan-European collaboration and a new UK-based charitable fund established to support frontline care and longer-term integration into our communities.
Oxfordshire Sport and Physical Activity (OxSPA) has launched a new charitable fund, hosted by OCF – saving OxSPA the cost and hassle of establishing their own charity. OxSPA aims to increase participation in sport and physical activity in Oxfordshire, and the OxSPA Trust is its new charitable arm.
OCF is delighted to welcome retired local businessman John Taylor as its new Chair of Trustees. John is working with our current Chair Anna Moon during a handover period, before officially taking the reins on 1st January 2016.
After three years of sterling service, our current Finance Manager Laura Keen will be leaving us at the end of the year. This means we are seeking a replacement Finance Manager for a part-time role in central Oxford.
The need for greater collaboration between charities and more strategic giving by donors are key challenges for the charity sector, according to OCF’s CEO Jayne Woodley. She made the comments at the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Economic Question Time event at the Said Business School recently.
A combination of new donor-advised funds, match funding and more strategic grant-making means the 2014-15 financial year was our best yet. By building on our income successes with Gift Aid and an impressive investment fund performance, we have been able to make bigger community investments than ever before.
Research has shown that people in the UK do not know about local charities, despite 67% believing it is important to support their local community. OCF is working with OCVA to create a new open data tool that will connect the donors with the doers.