Singing in the rain!

Amidst the gloom what a joy to listen to Debbie Reynolds singing on the Today programme and reminiscing about the film star greats she knew! She is selling her vast collection of film memorabilia. ( If I had a few quid I'd get a Marilyn Monroe dress !)

Yesterday was ACEVO Board day- discussing the results of a Board appraisal evaluation! A good discussion, especially on how we can improve on new trustee induction. But it meant I had to miss the Learning with Leaders lunch with Lord Freud at Farrers. Apparently a glittering affair. Packed out to listen to David in his top acerbic best. Not afraid to chastise the sector; he said delivery was variable and those that complained loudest might not always be the best. Umm. These Leader lunches are one of ACEVO's hidden treasures. We limit them to a max 25, Chatham house and a proper lunch with wine ( none of this buffet curled sarni stuff!). And we rely on our wonderful corporate partners to host so that they don't drain member resources but do provide conviviality and comradeship.

Today we see the publication of the annual CAF giving statistics. Over a million more give to charity, yet total donations stay flat. So its a mixed picture.

Figures show that over that over the year (2010/11) the UK public gave £11.0 billion to charity. An additional 1.1 million people donated money to charity, however, the average amount given per month fell from £12 in 2009/10 to £11.

Despite more of the public deciding to support charities, in real terms the total value of donations (£11bn) remained the same as the previous year. In real terms, donations are now worth £900 million less than the amount given in 2007/08, the year before the UK entered recession.

People are clearly being generous but the reality is we need giving in real terms to increase if we are to meet the demands of people and communities in a recession.

But now it's the weekend. It' sunny. I'm about to head off for a glorious week in the Highlands. So I'm singng in the sun!