Society daily 02.08.11

Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top SocietyGuardian stories • Charities fight for survival as funding slashed across country • Winehouse renews addict treatment plea • Hospital deaths: nurse makes court appearance • Tory council says it can't afford to run schools • Nicky Clark: Real suffering is more than failing to get a nurse's appointment • Richard Seymour: What Francis Maude's efficiency savings really amount to • Police issue ecstasy alert after two nightclubbers hospitalised • Almost one fifth of youngsters cyberbullied • Most eight-month-old babies consume too much salt, report says All today's SocietyGuardian stories In SocietyGuardian tomorrow • Care farms are part of a growing 'ecotherapy' movement, but do the activities on offer deliver long-term benefits? Bibi van der Zee joins a group of young people to find out • A midwife says government pension reform plans will leave her £90 a month worse off and working longer • The collapse of Southern Cross exposes flaws in the choice agenda, says Tom Clark Other news • Children & Young People Now [registration]: Funding cuts bring three-year rise in youth volunteering to an end • Community Care: Castlebeck chief promises to overhaul management • Independent: Cuts threaten traveller children's schooling • Telegraph: IMF: families to be £1,500 a year worse off • Third Sector: London homelessness charities to merge • Inside Housing: Northern Ireland homeless figures on the rise • London Evening Standard: Churches threaten to contest local elections in parking fees protest On my radar ... • Charity cuts. The anti-cuts campaign organisation False Economy has found that more than 2,000 charities will close services or sack staff as a result of losing local government funding . As my colleague Randeep Ramesh reports today, there are fears that many innovative schemes may be lost as a result. See our interactive map for details of which areas have been worst affected. The figures are based on freedom of information responses from 265 councils, and False Economy says a project looking at PCT funding cuts is to follow. On Twitter, the NCVO head of policy, research and foresight, Karl Wilding comments : "Sadly I think today's TUC / False Economy research woefully under-reports impact of cuts on charities." And Rob Dyson tweets: "Funny how Gov thought 'great,we can cut direct services & rely on public funds to charities to run them' & then cut public purse & charities." Meanwhile, writing in the Times today [paywall], the Spectator's Peter Hoskin responds to Francis Maude's claim that the coalition has already overseen £3.75bn of cuts , by claiming "there's almost limitless scope for more": "[Civil servants] are, after all, the wonderful folks who gave us the lost data discs, the NHS computer shambles, the error-strewn tax credits system, and thousands of other examples of mismangement. The Civil Service could do with an overhaul. And it could be overhauled to a greater extent than the government is prepared to admit." • Liz Jones. The Mail columnist wrote at the weekend about her annoyance at not being able to get vaccinations at a moment's notice at her local NHS clinic (where she isn't registered) and claimed the episode highlighted the health service's failings: "Let us just say that, so far, I have not been a burden [on the NHS]. But, on Friday morning, I found I needed the NHS for the first time in about 20 years, and it let me down. Very badly." She then went on to compare her predicament to the residents of the Winterbourne View private hospital, where a Panorama investigation uncovered alleged abuse of people with learning disabilities. As disability rights campaigner Nicky Clark responds on our blog : "Jones is perhaps attempting a similar whistleblowing of her local surgery. However, a nurse who calmly explains to a frustrated columnist the procedure for obtaining vaccines when you are unregistered as a patient, and institutionalised abuse of learning disabled people are not the same thing." Nurse, blogger and author Brian Kellett says Jones' piece went beyond the pale: " It was truly epic in the way it combined unreasonably high expectations, a complete misunderstanding of the NHS, a lack of medical knowledge and inflated sense of self worth. I'm not going to link to the original story because I don't want to send visitors to the rag that is the Daily Mail. Here is the thing - I often deal with unreasonable expectations from the patients that I see, often these expectations are because the patient doesn't understand what an urgent care centre can provide - and yet with all the people I see who have these expectations, none have pissed me off as much as this article from a fashion writer. Largely because once I explain that the Urgent Care Centre can't order them an MRI scan they seem to understand a lot better than this supposedly highly educated columnist." Jones needed the urgent appointment for her vaccinations so she could head off to cover the famine crisis in Somalia, but as Ros Coward points out on Cif, sending the fashion writer - who has a long history of anorexia - to cover the story is "grotesque". See this spoof Twitter account for @LizJonesSomalia for "posts" from Africa. • Charity the Papworth Trust, which is collating responses to the government's proposed reforms of disability living allowance . Since the plans were unveiled late last year, the trust says it has been "inundated" by questions and concerns. For the next three weeks, it is asking people who receive DLA - or those who know someone who receives it - to complete a five-minute survey. • Fact of the day comes from Krusty Allslopp: "So, there was only 1, yes ONE, NHS rehab centre for young people in the UK and that has now been closed due to the cuts....#winehouse" • Public sector pensions . Are you confused about what the government's reform plans mean for your own pension pot? My colleagues on the Money site are hosting an online chat at 12.30pm on Thursday 4 August, when experts including Gerry O'Dwyer of the Royal College of Nursing, Laith Khalaf of independent financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, and Kevin LeGrand of consulting actuaries Buck Consultants will answer readers' questions. Post your question now on this thread On the Guardian Professional Networks • Cabinet Office ends alpha.gov.uk experiment for single government website • Royal Liverpool hospital trust looks to team with universities and city council in providing a site for biomedical businesses • Westminster council leader Colin Barrow explains how proposals put forward by Eric Pickles will benefit councils that support growth rather than deepen the north-south divide Events and seminars How can social and community enterprises access public sector assets? 14 September 2011, London Examine the theory and practice behind the transfer process, learn about forthcoming legislation and explore which tactics and strategies are most effective for social enterprises. Effective Events Fundraising 16 September 2011, London Explore the strategic role of events fundraising in charities. Learn to plan, market and deliver events aligned to your brand and wider strategies. Hear from experts, network with fellow fundraisers and share best practice to maximise participation and income. Public Services Summit Scotland - Re-examining and innovating for better delivery 22 September 2011, Edinburgh Challenge thinking, share innovations and debate the future of public services alongside other senior public services deliverers. Book before 26 August for a 20% early bird discount. Social Media in Social Housing: How to do it 4 October 2011, London Communication with tenants and increasing media coverage can be made easier with social media use. Join us for clear and practical examples on saving money, improving communications and writing a social media strategy. 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