Toby Perkins, Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, attended the Charities Aid Foundation’s ‘soft power station’ at the Labour Party Conference recently to discuss the role that the UK’s soft power can have in improving communities across the world.

Toby said, “It was really interesting to meet with Charities Aid Foundation staff and hear their ideas about the a ‘soft power’ approach to international relations which allows the UK to project our values and commitment to human rights around the world through charities, community projects, arts, and sports.”

CAF recently published a report which explores the potential impact that the UK Government could generate by

investing in civil society infrastructure across the world as part of our international development work. The report suggests that a potential $350 billion a year could potentially be given to good causes by 2030 if middle class people in other countries were to be encouraged to give the same proportion of their income to charitable causes as the average person in the UK does, 0.54%.

Toby said, “Promoting charitable giving and creating proper civil society infrastructure in developing countries not only helps poor and vulnerable people, but also helps promote democracy, stability and improves international relationships. I will be meeting with CAF again in Parliament to discuss their report further.”