katehiggins's blog

It's the talk of the steamie, as they say up here. With everyone trying to discern the motives behind Blair's gesture.

Last week, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland announced a return to its core business - grantmaking. Hurrah!

The concepts are fundamental, particularly when it comes to fundraising. But they are subtly different and the power to influence them comes from quite different sources.

For years, the annual Children in Need malarkey has annoyed me - nope I am not even going to give it a link.

The campaign to save Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has stepped up a few gears.

A petition to the UK Government has now been launched - please sign it. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/LloydsFoundation/

Over 12000 grant awards and almost £85m awarded since 1985 to charities working in Scotland and overseas. The reason for their extraordinary decision not to accept any new funding applications?

Simple. Lloyds Banking Group - now partly owned and funded by the bank of you and me - wants to sweep away everything that makes the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland unique. Oh, and haven't actually got round to giving them any money this year.

The very real and far too common experience of hate crime amongst disabled people dominated the news agenda at the beginning of this week. And it presented a golden opportunity for organisations that support disabled people and their families to raise awareness of their work.

As it's my birthday today allow me to share a present with you - or at least some thoughts on