Society daily 19.04.12

Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top SocietyGuardian stories • David Cameron faces pressure as NHS waiting times grow • Painful realities of waiting for treatment on the NHS • Child heart surgery may stop at Royal Brompton hospital • 350,000 children 'will lose free school meals in welfare reform' – charity • Criticism of Boris Johnson youth crime project 'removed from public report' • Lib Dems seek alternative to cuts • Breast cancer treatment gets boost • Severe abuse in childhood may treble risk of schizophrenia • Patrick Butler's Cutsblog: Charity cuts - hard times are the 'new normal' • Deborah Orr: 10 things not to say to someone when they're ill • Male, pale and stale: Scottish council elections will fail women, say academics • Gavin Kelly: Minimum wage is least carers deserve All today's SocietyGuardian stories On the Guardian Professional Networks • The government's upcoming social care white paper must take the needs and contributions of unpaid carers into account , says Heléna Herklots, of Carers UK • New Philanthropy Capital has launched a new report into how charities can use 'theories of change' to measure impact. The co-author of the report, Angela Kail, analyses the key findings • There are limits to representation, argues Daria Kuznetsova. Not everyone with a local stake can sit on health and wellbeing boards On my radar ... • Some interesting reading on the charity tax cap row. On the Civil Society blog, Mark Astarita argues that allowing donors to gift their tax relief to charity instead of claiming it themselves would resolve the issue: At the moment, higher-rate taxpayers are able to claim some tax relief on donations for themselves. We propose a simple, tick-box scheme that would allow donors the choice to donate that tax relief amount to the charity – we predict this would be attractive to donors and charities alike. Providing this option – to claim the tax relief, or to donate it – would be simple to administer and would result in a huge boost to charities. For example, an additional £312,500 could be added to a £1m donation. With gift aid on top, that donation would be worth over £1.8m to the charity or foundation, in turn doing greater public good. A simple tick-box option on tax relief – to opt in, or opt out – could have a huge impact to charities large and small. Perhaps this could be the solution that will protect charities and put to bed the notion that high-value giving and tax avoidance are inextricably linked. This is not, and never has been, the case. Generous people are just plain generous and I have yet to come across one donor after 20 years of fundraising that is motivated by a tax break over a wonderful cause. Meanwhile, the itsmotherswork blog finds no sympathy for either philanthropists or charities I cant, hand on heart, agree that it's more important for a charity to receive a philanthropist's beneficence than it is for that person to pay their tax in full. If you are a culture or heritage charity, no matter how many happy, geeky hours I have spent in art galleries, museums and stately homes, I can't prioritise your interests when there are children eating their dinner from supermarket bins (or pregnant women going without food for a week at a time ); if you are an animal charity, I can't value your new sanctuary higher than making sure families have a roof over their heads; if you are a sport or leisure charity, you should come lower down everyone's list than meeting the health needs of our ageing population. If you are a charity stepping into the space that 'austerity' has created because of cuts to publicly funded programmes that used to help the most vulnerable, I salute you. These are difficult times, and many of the people you work with are in increasing need because the publicly funded support they used to have has dried up, due to lack of tax revenue. Yes, that's right. We think we need more charity, because the Government is collecting less tax and therefore providing less welfare. We won't fix that by allowing wealthier people to pay less. • News of a charity donation of a different kind from the Huddersfield Examiner, which reports that staff at the Oxfam Wastesaver depot in the town opened a donated bin bag to discover cannabis worth £5,000 . Lorraine Needham-Brinley, production manager at the depot, told the Examiner that the most unusual donation before that was a rotting joint of pork, deposited in a textile bank with a note saying the meat - left over from Christmas - was for the starving in Africa. (thanks to Krusty Allslopp for the link) • Louis Theroux , whose new two-part series, Extreme Love, starts on BBC2 this evening. In the first episode, he visits an American school for young people with autism , and talks to students and their families about "pleasures and the strains of one of the most extraordinary kinds of relationship". The programme is previewed here by Ben Arnold . Mail on Sunday TV columnist Ian Hyland tweets : Louis Theroux's autism docu tonight is the best thing you'll see on TV this week. It might be the best thing you'll see all year. and adds The best thing about the Louis Theroux autism documentary is he doesn't persuade them to go on a date and then film it. C4 take note. The Dimensions UK site is asking people which environments - such as restaurants, supermarkets or restaurants - should be made more autism friendly (thanks to Saba Salman for sharing the link) • David Holmes, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption & Fostering, who is taking part in a live Twitter chat this evening to discuss the government's adoption reform proposals . Follow the debate from 7pm this evening using the hashtag #adoptfosterchat Other news • BBC: Hospitals overcharging for short-stay patients - report • Children & Young People Now: Young homeless people suffer increased mental and physical health problems • Community Care: Adult social workers still have big role, says new Adass chief • Independent: Being beside the seaside can make us feel better, says new study • Inside Housing: Mayoral candidates clash over affordable homes • Mirror: Knife fights, drug problems and visits from mum... inside the UK's toughest youth prison • Telegraph: Executive pay must be reined in, say Church charity groups • Third Sector: Growth in voluntary sector workforce bucks trend of declining figures Events and seminars Making the most of social media for social housing Friday 4 May, Kings Cross, London This overview of social media channels will show you how to use them to maximum effect, with clear, practical examples of ways to save money, improve your communications and form a social media campaign Managing volunteers Tuesday 15 May, Kings Cross, London Engaging with volunteers is an increasingly challenging task. This half-day seminar will help you explore what 21st century volunteers want and what you need to do to involve them effectively. Delivered by leading expert Rob Jackson, this session is a must for anyone building a long-term volunteer engagement strategy. Digital engagement surgery Thursday 17 May, Kings Cross, London This engaging and participatory workshop will look at real-life scenarios and how charities are using digital techniques to collaborate and communicate. Attendees will be asked bring challenges in with them (submitted advance), which will be shared in a workshop format to collectively tackle common themes running through the sector. Successful bid writing Friday 18 May, Kings Cross, London Bid writing is an essential skill in voluntary sector organisations. This interactive seminar will help you create applications and bids that demonstrate your organisation's strengths and priorities, how you differ from other projects, what the benefits are for your clients and the community and how you'll be able to measure them. SocietyGuardian blogs Patrick Butler's cuts blog Sarah Boseley's global health blog SocietyGuardian on social media Follow SocietyGuardian on Twitter Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Follow Clare Horton on Twitter Follow Alison Benjamin on Twitter SocietyGuardian's Facebook page SocietyGuardian links SocietyGuardian.co.uk Guardian cutswatch - tell us about the cuts in your area Public Leaders - the Guardian's website for senior managers of public services The Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs SocietyGuardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]