Third Sector’s podcast documentaries explore some of the big issues facing the charity sector and the people who work within it.
What happens when charities struggle to reckon with the regulatory and governance structures that charity law requires them to follow? And when the regulator’s decisions are called into question, what next?
Hosted by Lucinda Rouse, this three-part podcast documentary examines three charities where things went badly wrong. It questions whether their cases throw up any weaknesses in how the UK’s voluntary organisations are governed and regulated.
Featuring voices close to the action at Kids Company, the Captain Tom Foundation and Mermaids, along with legal experts and the head of the Charity Commission, the series asks what lessons the wider sector can take from each of these high-profile cases to ensure other charities avoid the same harmful pitfalls.
In a world where need is spiralling out of control and new, radical forces are shaping the landscape for doing good, can charity be the answer to the world’s social and environmental problems?
Lucinda Rouse presents The End of Charity, a new podcast series from the makers of Third Sector.
Guided by some of the leading voices of the philanthropy world, as well as radicals who believe the current model is on the brink of implosion, Lucinda asks: what are the flaws and contradictions baked into the ways charities work?
How has the sector’s problematic past shaped its present?
And who are the disruptors – from MrBeast to Extinction Rebellion – who could shake it up for good?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Third Sector’s podcast documentaries explore some of the big issues facing the charity sector and the people who work within it.
What happens when charities struggle to reckon with the regulatory and governance structures that charity law requires them to follow? And when the regulator’s decisions are called into question, what next?
Hosted by Lucinda Rouse, this three-part podcast documentary examines three charities where things went badly wrong. It questions whether their cases throw up any weaknesses in how the UK’s voluntary organisations are governed and regulated.
Featuring voices close to the action at Kids Company, the Captain Tom Foundation and Mermaids, along with legal experts and the head of the Charity Commission, the series asks what lessons the wider sector can take from each of these high-profile cases to ensure other charities avoid the same harmful pitfalls.
In a world where need is spiralling out of control and new, radical forces are shaping the landscape for doing good, can charity be the answer to the world’s social and environmental problems?
Lucinda Rouse presents The End of Charity, a new podcast series from the makers of Third Sector.
Guided by some of the leading voices of the philanthropy world, as well as radicals who believe the current model is on the brink of implosion, Lucinda asks: what are the flaws and contradictions baked into the ways charities work?
How has the sector’s problematic past shaped its present?
And who are the disruptors – from MrBeast to Extinction Rebellion – who could shake it up for good?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In November 2023, the finance officer of West Norfolk Carers came to a devastating realisation: after more than a year of rejected funding applications, the charity wouldn’t be able to stay afloat for longer than four months.
Several months earlier, the Lankelly Chase Foundation, a grantmaker tackling severe social disadvantage and extreme marginalisation, had reached a similarly terminal conclusion.
After finding that its very existence perpetuated past harms and injustices, the foundation’s leaders decided the best way forward was to shut down.
In the final episode of The End of Charity, Lucinda Rouse is joined by Jane Evans and Julian Corner, the chief executives of West Norfolk Carers and Lankelly Chase, respectively, to ask: what’s next for the charity sector?
Rhodri Davies, Martha Awojobi and Eshe Kiama Zuri consider the road ahead for doing good, while Steve O’Donnell, a recipient of West Norfolk Carers’ services, lays out the impact of the recent rash of charity closures on vulnerable citizens.
If you have enjoyed The End of Charity, please consider rating and reviewing the series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast platform of choice.
Series writer and presenter: Lucinda Rouse
Editor: Emily Burt
Executive producer: Ollie Peart
Production manager: Louise Hill
Series producers: Riham Maged, Penny Bell, Matt Hill
Studio producers: Nav Pal, Inga Marsen, Til Owen
Art director: David Robinson
Videographer: Julian Dodd
Video producer: Til Owen
Sub-editor: Rachel Jerden-Cooke
Contributing editor: Andy Ricketts
Voicing support: Emily Harle, Dami Adewale
Concept developer: Rebecca Cooney
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.