"I've got it on a list"

With apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan

You'd think it would be simple to find the details of all British charities working in Kashmir. You know, not just the big boys, but the small outfits - so you might have more of a choice of who to support.

But no. The Lord High Executioner might have been speaking for the mandarins of the UK voluntary sector when he said, "The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you."

The problem is, there are too many, competing, lists of charities (a familiar concept in this sector, Pooh-Bah) and, the ones that are easiest to search are incomplete... and the one that is complete has a search that will truly make you despair, young man (sorry).

Those best incomplete ones are: Charities Direct and Charity Choice

The one that is complete is, surprise: The Charity Commission

But today I'm not here to gripe. I have good news: any day now* Guidestar UK will go live with a complete list which will be searchable with a clever "theme-clustering" search engine. Just try it. Hurray!

Also the Charities Aid Foundation is building a comprehensive database of, not just charities, but voluntary and community groups, and this is due to bloom in the spring. Tra la!

And finally, for the example I gave, I lied. The British international charities have the benefit of the best search facility of any charity organisation: the British Overseas NGOs for Development. Search by location, work type or beneficiary type.

All ends with laughing song and merry dance.

*they have been saying this since April