Scandals rock Scots charity donations

Published on 29/11/2003 00:00

THE amount of money given to charities in Scotland has plummeted in the wake of recent scandals surrounding the funding of rogue charities.

Public confidence has hit a low, with one breast-cancer care charity in Glasgow facing donations falling by a third.

Recent inquiries into Moonbeams, the children’s cancer charity, and Breast Cancer Research Scotland have been blamed for the dip, even though they are just two of Scotland’s 30,000 charities.

A new campaign, entitled Giving Scotland, will be launched next week by a coalition of charities. Backed by the Scottish Executive, it will encourage the public to give their support and money.

Cancer remains the UK’s biggest killer, accounting for one quarter of all deaths. About one in three people will be diagnosed with the disease at some stage in their lives, and approximately one in four will die from it.

New figures released yesterday revealed that skin cancer among young people has increased four-fold over the last 25 years, with testicular cancer among young men also increasing over the same period, from 26.7 cases per million to 36.7 per million.

Margaret Curran, the communities minister, said she recognises that public confidence has been dented following recent media coverage of court actions against a small number of charity managers, but hopes people will still give to good causes.

She said: "Scotland deserves a successful charity sector backed by robust and fair regulation.

"To help improve public confidence in charity-giving, the Scottish Executive has established a new one-stop regulator [the Office of the Charity Regulator] this year, and is preparing a draft bill for consultation next spring."