Community information

Abstract

IT IS SAID THAT ‘charity begins at home’ but, as far as English law is concerned, charity begins in 1601 with an Act of Parliament of Elizabeth I. The preamble to this act lists some of the activities regarded as charitable at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Although many of them are now enshrined in central and local government, the 1976 Goodman report stated that ‘Charity will never be altogether superseded by state activity even in the field of poverty and social welfare. There will always be gaps in the services run by the state.’ In addition to the nationally well‐known charities, there are numerous small charities at local level, which give valuable help and support to community groups and activities. Running or setting up a charity, there is a fair body of law covering the subject, so more than welcome is a recently published layman's guide called Charity trustees' guide, written by A R Longley. It highlights some of the most commonly asked questions about charities and indicates where the answers may be found. There is a bibliography of books, pamphlets and leaflets and a list of useful addresses. Published by the National Council of Social Service, the guide costs £1.25 from McDonald & Evans, Distribution Services Ltd., Estover Road, Plymouth.

Citation

Bunch, A. (1979), "Community information", New Library World, Vol. 80 No. 9, pp. 180-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb038456