Newsreel
ArtSway in Hampshire will close its gallery at the end of July. Following Arts Council England’s announcement last year that it would no longer provide regular funding to the organisation, ArtSway has undergone two external organisational reviews, but a long-term, sustainable funding source could not be found. The artists’ studios will continue to operate and the gallery hopes to continue its education and outreach work in collaboration with partnership organisations, freelance staff and benefactors. The ArtSway brand is retained by the Trustees while future possibilities are explored.
The Charity Commission has published a strategy for dealing with fraud, financial crime and financial abuse, in response to a report by the National Fraud Authority (NFA) which indicates the charity sector loses £1bn to fraud every year. A new online toolkit outlines potential risks, provides trustees with information on their legal duties, and gives advice on holding, moving and receiving funds in the UK and internationally. The Charity Commission is working closely with the NFA to raise awareness of fraud in the sector and a public meeting on the subject is being held in Birmingham on 24 May.
A consultation inviting feedback from charities on the proposed Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme has been launched by HM Revenue & Customs. The scheme, to be introduced in 2013, will allow charities to claim a top-up payment on small donations of up to £20. Charities will be able to claim Gift Aid on donations totalling £5,000, although higher and lower rates will be introduced under certain circumstances. Eligibility criteria apply to the scheme: charities must have a good and recent track record of making Gift Aid claims; and no benefits – beyond small tokens of ‘negligible value’ – can be offered to benefactors in exchange for donations.
Guidelines detailing minimum criteria for internships have been published by the Museums Association (MA). The six point checklist stipulates that internships must conform to a minimum and maximum length; be planned and structured; give a clear outline of what is expected of the intern; offer a training and development plan; be open about the possibility of future employment; and pay reasonable work expenses. Concerns have been raised that the MA’s guidelines contradict Arts Council England’s ‘Internships in the arts’ guide, in relation to the need to pay interns national minimum wage.
Four new research and development projects focused on digital collections management are being launched by the Collections Trust, following an €8m investment from the European Commission. Europeana Inside will bring together ten software providers to develop open-source tools for sharing online collections. Enumerate aims to collect statistical data on digitisation, in order to support strategic decision-making about investment in digital collections. Other initiatives will see 75,000 Art Nouveau objects digitised and cultural organisations helped to open up their collections as linked data.
A new publication aimed at helping organisations demonstrate their corporate social responsibility is promoting a new tool to measure the social value of corporate sponsorship. Published by Demos, ‘Measuring Up’ has been written in response to increasing pressure on businesses to demonstrate their social value and civic responsibility, and to place a value on the social activities and interventions they provide to the communities in which they operate.
Ooops…
Gremlins in the production of last week’s magazine meant that we wrongly attributed authorship of The Arts Management Handbook to John Holden and Robert Hewison. Their book is entitled ‘The Cultural Leadership Handbook’ and our review of that is in AP244. The Arts Management Handbook is by Meg Brindle and Constance DeVeraux (Eds.) And it wasn’t a good week, as the image on p13 should have been credited as Plenum, by Simeon Nelson, 2011, not 60 Second Cathedral by Dominik Lejman. Sorry to all concerned – we’re trying harder than ever this week to get it right first time!
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