Pay guidelines for charity executives to be drawn up

THE National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and the Charity Commission have agreed to draw up joint guidelines on executive pay, Third Sector magazine reported on Monday. The decision came after the chairman of the Charity Commission, William Shawcross, said that the high salaries paid to charity executives risked bringing the sector into disrepute ( News, 9 August). The chief executive of the NCVO, Sir Stuart Etherington, proposed in a letter, seen by Third Sector, that the two bodies "jointly develop guidelines regarding the process by which charities establish pay and remuneration for senior executives".

RC bishop seeks sainthood for Chesterton

THE RC Bishop of Northampton, Rt Revd Peter Doyle, is seeking to open an investigation into whether the Roman Catholic author G. K. Chesterton could be canonised, reports suggest. The National Catholic Register has reported that the president of the American G. K. Chesterton Society, Dale Ahlquist, told a conference last Friday that Bishop Doyle was "seeking a suitable cleric to begin an investigation into the potential for opening a cause for Chesterton". The founder of the Catholic G. K. Chesterton Society, Stuart McCullogh, told the Register that the writer was worthy of sainthood. "Hundreds of converts to the Catholic faith cite Chesterton as the main reason for their conversion," he said.

Livability appoints a new chair

THE chief executive of the Royal Blind Society, Caroline Armitage, has been appointed as the new chairwoman of Livability, the Christian disability charity. Ms Armitage will take over from Chris Carr, the charity's interim chairman.

Incense deters pigeons from Ripon Cathedral

VERGERS at Ripon Cathedral have been burning incense to prevent a pair of wood pigeons from nesting inside the cathedral. The head verger, Andrew Aspland, told the BBC that he had noticed that, on days when incense had been used at services, the pigeons had stayed away. "I put two and two together and the following week got some incense out, started burning it and wafted it around the porch, and we haven't seen the pigeons since."

Church Times festival app launches for Greenbelt

THE Church Times has launched a free guide to festivals and events, which can be downloaded as an app from the iTunes store. It contains insider tips on what not to miss at the Greenbelt Festival (which takes place 23-26 August), interviews with artists and writers, music videos, and book extracts. It will also be updated to include articles at other festivals, such as the Bloxham Festival of Faith and Literature. The app can be downloaded here.