NCVO warns Icelandic banking crisis has also hit UK charities

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has warned that the third sector has also been hit by the Icelandic banking crisis.

Following news that over 100 local authorities, with almost £800m deposited in Icelandic banks, have been affected, the NCVO said voluntary and community organisations had also been hit.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington said charities had at least £120m invested in Iceland, where a string of banks have collapsed and been taken into state ownership.

Echoes LGA

Echoing the Local Government Association’s pleas for councils, the NCVO urged the government to ensure charities’ deposits were protected.

It is inviting third sector leaders to an “emergency summit” next month to examine the current economic climate and its impact on charities. Those invited include the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, the Charity Commission and the government’s Office for the Third Sector.

Etherington said: “We need to come up with a robust plan about what is currently happening and more importantly how we go forward together in what look like difficult times ahead.”

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