The government has published new legislation that relaxes corporate governance and insolvency law to help organisations under pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill 2020, organisations will be given greater flexibility over things like holding member meetings electronically.

The proposed measures will come into force at the end of June. The bill is limited and will expire on the 30 September, unless it is extended.

In summary the bill allows:

Volunteers will be at the forefront of a new government public transport initiative that is being designed to deal with the increased pressure on routes as lockdown is lifted.

Journey Makers is being coordinated by Volunteering Matters on behalf of the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership and the Department for Transport.

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) today opened the £200 million emergency fund to support charities and community groups during the coronavirus pandemic.

You can read the guidance on who is eligible and how to apply here.

The government has released an additional £150 million to support charities during the pandemic.

Oliver Dowden MP, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport announced that the additional funding would come from dormant bank and building society accounts and will be used to help charities, social enterprises and vulnerable individuals during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Government's new Coronavirus Community Support Fund will open for applications on Friday 22nd May at 10am. £200million of funding will be available primarily for small to medium organisations in England, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Further details, including how to apply, will be available on The National Lottery Community Fund's funding page on Friday 22nd May at 10am.

The Fund has two key objectives:

More information has been made available on how the government’s £750 million package of support for the charity sector is being distributed, as well as how organisations can apply for it.

The Charity Commission has published new guidance to examiners urging them to be vigilant for charities misusing funds during the coronavirus pandemic.

Independent examiners review the accounts of those charities with incomes below a quarter of a million.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee has criticised the government for failing to adequately support UK charities in the face of plunging incomes and rising demand for the sector.

In particular the COVID-19 Crisis and Charities report found that: