Step 3a - Reading part 1

Introduction
You’re going to read a report about charity money.

First read the text quickly. Which of the following topics is mentioned?

Vocabulary

You are going to read a challenging text.
To help you, first learn this vocabulary list in StudioWozzol:
(Click in StudioWozzol on the red arrow for the options (e.g. read the words aloud, copy the whole list, learn by writing...)

Vocabulary Money - Charity

 

 


Now you’re going to read the text and do the exercise: decide if the statements are true or false.
Read the text.

One in five of Britain’s biggest charities spend less than 50 per cent of total income on good works, new report claims.
By Christopher Hope


Some of the UK’s biggest and best known charities are spending less than half of their total income every year on good works, a new research has found. The report from the True and Fair Foundation found that one in five of the country’s biggest charities spend less than 50 per cent of their total income on charitable activities. Some of the charities are some of Britain’s best known voluntary organisations such as Cancer Research UK, the Guide Dogs for the Blind and the British Heart Foundation.

Rob Wilson, the charities minister, said charities had to “reassure people and make very clear that the money donated to them will be spent on frontline charitable activities”. 'It's important for charities to be as transparent and accountable as possible - so people can make an informed decision about where their money goes.' He told The Telegraph that they had a duty to “eke out every last penny for good causes”. He said: "Giving to charity is one of the greatest expressions of generosity a person can make and it must not be taken for granted.

The foundation analysed the latest official annual report and accounts of the 5,543 charities. Its report - "A Hornets' Nest" published today - found that 1,020 charities were spending less than 50 per cent of their total income on charitable activities. Spending on “charitable activities” is defined in accounting rules as “all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries”. The British Heart Foundation spent an average of just 46 per cent of its income on charitable activities over the past three years. Sue Ryder, which runs a network of second hand shops, spent 46 per cent of its annual income on charitable works over the three years. The Royal Horticultural Society spent 60 per cent of its income on charitable activities over the same period. Many of the charities also receive millions of pounds of public money on top of the cash they raise from individual donors.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk


Do the exercise.