TFN

This month’s TFN magazine – available here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/april-2026/read – is the last edition of TFN magazine before Scotland goes to the polls on 7 May for the election.

So we have presented the six main parties (based on polling) with SCVO’s election manifesto and asked them to use it to frame their pitches to the sector –
Alexander Stewart of The Scottish Conservative Party
Gillian Mackay of Scottish Green Party
Claire Baker of Scottish Labour Party
Alex Cole-Hamilton of Scottish Liberal Democrats
Graham Simpson of Reform UK
Shirley-Anne Somerville of Scottish National Party (SNP)
give us their thoughts.

We also hear from Christian Aid Scotland, SCIAF and Quakers in Scotland as faith groups unite in a call for global justice ahead of the Scottish elections; Andy Paterson of Social Enterprise Scotland writes about changing the economic model in Scotland and Ollu, a parent supported by Save the Children Scotland shares the reality behind child poverty.

Continuing the Scottish election theme, Ewan Aitken of Cyrenians and Sara Redmond of The ALLIANCE talk passionately about their asks from the next Scottish Government.

Elsewhere, we hear about the devastating impact of last year’s Nation Insurance hike, with input from Charity Finance Group, VCSE Observatory, NCVO Directory of Social Change and others.

To mark – but relevant all year round – Katie Carmichael takes a deep dive into the power of design to tell stories and amplify messages in the voluntary sector and beyond.

We also hear about a remarkable Home-Start volunteer and the story of how kids at one of the UK’s smallest primary schools are now the proud owners, and makers, of two majestic scrap metal sculptures…

It's a packed mag this month and it's available to read and share here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/april-2026/read

This month's TFN magazine is available now and you can read it all here https://lnkd.in/eA4VuWGy - this month we look at global civil society, aid cuts, Scottish charities making a difference, AI and digital and more.

It feels like something significant has shifted in the world since the last edition of TFN's magazine. Since then, we have seen a massive lurch towards war with the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

These crises move us to look both ways – at what's happening internationally and how that can and will impact us domestically.

In that spirit, TFN's March edition looks outward and examines how civil society is responding to the major issues of the day, with major new reports from CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and Bond. We also look at the domestic context civil society, which encompasses the voluntary sector, is operating in.

And linking both the domestic and international, we focus on the devastating impact of UK Government aid cuts with input from SCIAF and Oxfam Scotland.

While looking outward, TFN continues to scan across the sector in Scotland, highlighting its successes. Some of them are featured here: from celebrating 25 years of Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland with Justine Duncan, to Mission of Innocents' new creative hub and Sistema Scotland's fantastic Big Noise project.

There is also a very timely look at how charities can respond to digital and AI challenges, speaking to John Fitzgerald about SCVO's digital call to action and case studies from PATH Scotland and Enterprise

And last but not least, we have our usual brilliant line-up of columnists: Ewan Aitken, Christine Carlin, Sara Redmond and Charlotte Bray, this month joined by Professor Alaa Garad, SFHEA, FRSA, PhD who gives his insights into
and how it can help organisations thrive.

Truly, our sector contains multitudes. We hope we have provided at least a flavour of that this month.

You can read it all here https://lnkd.in/eA4VuWGy - and feel free to share the link!

Welcome to the first TFN magazine of 2026 – which you can read in full here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/january-2026/read

The first mag of 2026 looks at fundraising, workforce, inclusion, the Scottish budget and much more...

We start the year with a bumper edition, and we take a look at a perennial issue in our sector – fundraising.

Understandably, with the strains and stresses caused by the cost of living crisis, there has been a dip in amounts fundraised. How can organisations adapt and overcome this?

The one thing we know about our fundraisers is that they are drivers of innovation. They will find a way!

If 2026 already looks like being a tumultuous year, the stage as always is set by what came before, so we round up reactions to the Scottish budget, which will in a large part set the scene for May’s Holyrood elections.

And whatever happens, there are issues that we will always have to face – so we present Niall Christie’s look at the travails over inclusion which have engulfed Girlguiding. There is much here that is applicable to the wider sector.

A highlight of the sector’s year is SCVO’s Gathering, which takes place next month. This will coincide with the publication of a major voluntary sector workforce survey. You can find a snapshot of some of the results on these pages.

You will find all of that in this month’s magazine as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists.

And don’t forget - if you work for a member or supporter organisation, why not set up an account so you can access members only content such as the full archive and exclusive content.

New mag looks at the precarity of funding, the mis-match between what the sector gets, how it gets it and the increasing amount demanded from us and you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/december-20/read

Welcome to TFN magazine’s final edition of the year.

This month we hit themes which we have been returning to a lot over the past year – and will continue to in the years ahead.

The precarity of funding and the mis-match between what the sector gets, how it gets it and the increasing amount that is demanded from us.

We have returned to this theme and will keep returning to it because it frames absolutely everything we do. It is literally the stuff of the sector’s existence.

This month, we look at the architecture of funding – and specifically the geography of the funding landscape.

Is there a level playing field for smaller charities when applying for funds?

One of the biggest stories of the past year has been the impact of the hike in employers’ National Insurance.

Linked to the precarity of funding, this has taken a real toll

The first data-sets are becoming available about its impact – and, as expected, the results aren’t pretty.

The wider operating environment also impacts funding. This month we look at the impact the UK Government’s hard line on people seeking refuge in the UK, and we find that it could have a big impact on those providing frontline services to some of the country’s most desperate and vulnerable people.

We also look at the need to defend human rights and have an excellent focus on RNIB’s Tech Hub – an example of where, if things can feel gloomy, we must remember the transformative effect our work and services have.

You will find all of that in this month’s magazine as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists.

TFN’s November edition is out now – you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/november-2025/read

This month’s magazine asks what now for , how we combat homelessness and how we overcome division - plus, our festive gift guide.

The magazine takes both a look back and at and a look forward from last month’s Scotland Demands Better march in Edinburgh.

This event brought together the breadth of Scotland’s voluntary sector and civil society, based around an array of demands, all of them linked with the idea that we want change – profound, transformational change to how we live and how things are organised.

It was a great moment and a huge success – but the momentum must not be lost now, especially as we move into an election year.

Housing demands were boldly put on the march (whether that was from the likes of Shelter or Living Rent), and this month we report on the Homelessness Network Scotland conference.

We clearly have a problem – in fact a declared emergency - but it is actually heartening to see Scotland’s voluntary sector at the core of coming up with ideas to deal with this vast and complex issue.

Elsewhere, but linked into the idea of voluntary sector ideas at the grassroots providing solutions to Scotland’s profoundest problems, Ross Ahlfeld - in response to last month’s feature on the rise of the far-right - tells us what is being done in Inverclyde to overcome division.

And yes, it’s nearly that time of year – so don’t forget to check out our annual guide.

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features – it’s free for all to read, so feel free to share the link!

TFN’s Guide to Running a Charity or Social Enterprise 2025/26 is out now – and you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/guide

Every year TFN produces its Guide to Running a Charity or Social Enterprise. This year’s publication has just been released featuring invaluable expert commentary and an exclusive preview of in-depth research into what it's like to work in the voluntary sector.

It uses as its starting point unique workplace research conducted by SCVO which will be published in full next year - but you can get an exclusive preview of the findings in the new Guide.

The survey set out to uncover how people from across the voluntary sector feel about their work - from frontline staff and volunteers to managers and senior leaders. It asked: what do you enjoy and value? What is less satisfying? How could you be better supported?

It will help explore how employers might improve working environments and strengthen routes into voluntary sector careers, and TFN’s latest Guide explores similar themes, with the input of dozens of experts from SCVO, the wider sector, businesses…

We hope you find the TFN Guide to Running a Charity or Social Enterprise 2025-26 enjoyable, informative and useful: it is available to everyone, so please feel free to share the link far and wide: it is simply tfn.scot/guide

October's TFN magazine is out now - you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/october-2025/read.

This month’s magazine has a special focus on one of the most urgent issues of our time: the rise of the far-right.

And specifically: how to stop it.

TFN isn’t pulling any punches here – and neither are the range of people in the sector we have spoken to.

One of the main things to emerge is that we have to create and/or be part of a movement that speaks to the most bewildered and lost in our communities, overcoming division and lies with transformative answers and truth.

Linked to this is the absolute urgency of creating and showing meaningful solidarity with those who are the primary victims of this far-right surge – those in our communities who have been subjected to violence, smears and intimidation, whether that’s by fascist-led mobs, online trolls, parts of the media or state actions.

The other main piece this month is a look at how humanitarian aid workers have tried to operate in Gaza in the two years of hell that followed October 7.

Things may have moved on since the welcome announcement of a ceasefire (just as we were compiling this edition), but the suffering is endless for the bereaved, traumatised and maimed in this land of rubble.

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features.

This month’s TFN magazine is out now - you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/september-2025/read

The new magazine looks ahead to the and much, much more

If you’ve not noticed by now, you will very soon: even though it’s not till next May, we are now well and truly into an election campaign.

This month’s TFN serves as the starting point for our coverage of next May’s Holyrood poll.

In it, we look at a landmark report from Engender (Scotland) on women’s political representation and the barriers that are faced. Its publication couldn’t be more timely.

We also feature an interview around the SCVO election manifesto, and the group’s asks from Scotland’s political parties.

On manifestos, at TFN we have been collecting voluntary sector and civil society manifestos as they come in and aim to publish them soon – please contact [email protected] if you want to be included.

Elsewhere in a packed mag, we drill into some of the hideous figures around the killing of humanitarian aid workers. The scale of what’s going on is truly horrific.

On a different tack, we take a fascinating look at how helped – literally – to build post-war Yugoslavia.

We also hear an inspiring story from The Action Group of a community project to make a tapestry, and Jeff Zycinski of Partnerships for Wellbeing talks about how a cancer diagnosis led to a career change and a new perspective on the value of community

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features.

New mag looks at community organising and much, much more - you can read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/august-2025/read

This month’s TFN magazine celebrates the power of community – exploring how ordinary people have organised from the grassroots to achieve change.

We focus on the Glasgow scheme of , but there are examples everywhere, for example, the wonderful work done by Supporting Our Community in Hillhouse in Hamilton.

This is real civil society in profound action – charities and voluntary groups have to be there to help people, but ordinary people themselves have a remarkable, collectivist ability to help themselves.

This is the lifeblood of our sector – we should celebrate it more.

What happens when a keystone organisation in our communities closes or is taken away? We look at that through an anatomy of what happened at Edinburgh's Engine Shed, 10 years from its closure.

We look at that this month – it’s a lengthy and detailed read, but an essential one.

Elsewhere, Nina Barough reflects on the success of the and we look at what lessons can be learnt from failures of data governance at Birthlink.

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features, including Ewan Aitken of Cyrenians and Sara Redmond of Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland

And don’t forget - if you work for a member or supporter organisation, why not set up an account so you can access members only content such as the full archive, TFN app and exclusive content.

TFN magazine's July edition is out now – read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/july-2025/read

The lastest magazine looks at Scotland Demands Better, a minimum income guarantee, the Scottish Charity Awards winners and much more

The power of our sector is that we are able not just to highlight problems in society – but also that we have the expertise to formulate solutions.

We look at both of these aspects in this month’s TFN.
First, we highlight the Scotland Demand Better campaign, which both TFN and SCVO are getting fully behind. You can read about this important cross sector and civil society push to bring a focus on the basics of how we live in our society to demand better lives – starting with real action on the scourges of low pay and poverty.

On the latter, another cross-sector collaboration has seen important work done on establishing a minimum income guarantee in Scotland – a level below which wages are not allowed to fall, and a means of lifting people out of poverty.

The findings are wide-ranging, but importantly they are not wishes or even demands: they are detailed and costed proposals which are now going to the Scottish Government.

And while we are looking at things cross-sector, a big shout out to all of this year’s Scottish Charity awards winners and nominees. The list of winners is a truly inspiring snapshot of the breadth of what we do.

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features.

TFN magazine's June edition is out now - read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/june-2025/read

The current mag looks at SLAPPs, the horrors of Gaza, the Promise, the challenges facing small charities and much, much more

Most charities are campaigning organisations in one way or another - We all have a cause and a mission.

For some, the pursuit of this can bring them up against some of the most powerful and intransigent forces on the planet – the forces (and resources) of corporate power and the mega-wealthy.

This month we look at the use of SLAPPs (Strategic Legislation Against Public Participation) and the moves, backed by the third sector, that are afoot to stop the Scottish court system from becoming an arena where the powerful pursue those who would scrutinise them.

In terms of scrutiny, the entire world is watching events in Gaza with horror. In this month’s magazine we feature the testament of a Scottish nurse and charity worker about what she saw as bodies were smashed and lives extinguished under the Israeli bombardment.

It’s tempting to look away from such horror – but that is precisely the moment that our gaze must be trained firmly on what’s happening.

On a more optimistic note, we look at work that is being done to deliver the Promise for our care-experienced children and young people, and find a willingness to make it happen.

To mark , we look at the challenges facing some organisations who make up the very atoms of who we are as a sector.

You will find all of that and much more in this month as well as TFN's usual line up of excellent columnists and features - including a column from Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland chief officer Sara Redmond.

Read it all here: https://tfn.scot/magazine/june-2025/read