Oxfam’s “Mapping Our World” online resource for teachers and pupils has been nominated for a children’s Bafta award, in the “Learning - Primary” category. It was launched in April and is part of Oxfam’s work to give young people key skills for global citizenship.

More on Community Newswire; or see Mapping our world.

I do my best to avoid spending time on sites focused on fundraising, as VolResource generally leaves that area to Fundraising UK. But with Intelligent Giving launching soon, a quick glance at their blog - The Charity Sleuths -was in order. I was a little alarmed to read that of the 22 responses they’d had from charities previewing entries (emphasis added):

Barring one addled response from someone who seems incapable of navigating the site, people seem to have grasped that the purpose of Intelligent Giving is positive, and that we are not some evil force intent on destroying the charity world. November 3rd is the official launch date but you’ll be able to see the site on the 1st.

Hardly inspiring confidence that they really have the user and charities in mind in producing a usable site on judging which are best charities to support. And as an ex charity finance director myself, some of their blog commentary on figures they find in annual accounts also makes me wonder if they have any expertise in that area. Well, hopefully we’ll find out in a few days.

UPDATE, 1st November - site looks OK with only a minor layout issue (if viewing at 800×600 or smaller). Maybe there are just a few too many menu and other options on the front page ….. On the comments front, checking the charity I used to be FD for a few years ago, Plantlife, saying that “the website’s still there so it is obviously still a going concern” (after a slight drop in income shown in the annual report they looked at) is rather trite and insulting. But early days.

Finally blog posts covering issues relevant to the voluntary sector in Britain seem to be appearing quite regularly. Here’s some which appeared in our Technorati lists today:
» Blog Archive » London Region ICT Champion: Why London’s voluntary sector needs (and has just got) an ICT Champion.

Paul-Robinson-Howdenshire: Appointment of Gilberdyke Parish Council Funding Officer: Parish Council has employed Charlotte Hursey as a dedicated part time ‘Development and Funding Officer’ working within the Parish (in East Riding of Yorkshire). The role is to establish and provide a funding advice service for local voluntary and community groups.

Socializing: “Social enterprise” in a rut, says: “The Financial Times can’t even tell us how to define social enterprise. Last week’s article, When the good struggle to be great just recycles what seems like the edge of the discussion - Interesting idea, hard to define and isn’t is good people are being entrepreneurial. I personally think this confusion between social enterprise and social entrepreneur, re-told in the article, is unhelpful.”

And a press cutting via Google News:
Funding Concerns Taint Charitys Celebrations (from Watford Observer): A CHARITY’S landmark celebration this week was tainted by funding concerns. Daniel Sturrock became the 1,000th volunteer to register with Three Rivers Volunteer Centre since the national volunteering database was launched.

Plus recently added to the blogroll here: A Cambridge Co-operator Co-operation locally and wider. Over on OpenCharityBlog (blogs BY charities FOR wider public): Mumbles Matters Online community newspaper and forum of the Mumbles Development Trust.