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Good Morning Whatever the rights or wrongs of the controversy surrounding Kidscompany and its founder Camilla Batmanghelidjh, there’s an important issue at stake. To what extent is any independent charity compromised the moment it becomes a sub-contractor of the State? The glory of a charity is to be free to take initiatives, to tackle problems and persuade volunteers to rally to the cause. But every penny received from Government chips away at its independence and freedom. Over the last few decades there’s been a sea change in social care. Once upon a time local government provided services from the cradle to the grave. Now, instead of being a provider they’ve become the purchaser. And many of those bought-in services are provided by charities. Grants, large and small, from government, local and national, flow into voluntary organisations in return for Service Level Agreements. They soon become dependent on the State, their future sealed not by public charity but by government contracts. Some 40 years ago I was involved in starting one of the first Volunteer Bureaux. It was done under the inspirational leadership of a pioneering woman called Di Day. The Bureau identified needs in the community and volunteers willing to help, putting them in touch with each other. To get it going we went to the County Council for a grant. “But, if it’s voluntary” they said, “why do you want government money?” Our reply was that we needed to put in place some structure in order to find and release the volunteer power in the community. The Council agreed and the Bureau flourished. Yet the moment we asked the government to get involved the independence and the freedom began to shift ever so slightly because there has to be proper accountability for public money. Not for nothing do the origins of volunteering lie in the word ‘Charity’. Although for some it still conjures up images of the Lady Bountiful, it means simply ‘Love’ as in that famous quote: “And now abide Faith, Hope, Charity, these three; but the greatest is Charity.” The love that St Paul had in mind saw God taking the initiative to love the world freely and voluntarily. His own charity the inspiration to believers to give themselves to the service of others freely and voluntarily. If the future care of our society is to be a partnership between the State and the 160,000 voluntary charities, the challenge will be in how we can protect their independence and freedom so that they can continue to take the initiative and tackle some of society’s most intractable problems.