In Depth:  Ben Bourne

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Charities be careful!

Charities be careful!

Ben Bourne

The responsibilities on charity trustees aren’t letting up.

With intervention in or removal of charities by the Charity Commission for those repeatedly filing late returns, increased powers to suspend or disqualify non-compliant trustees, and its new weapon to issue formal publishable warnings for charities that get into difficulty with their compliance, it seems there is little margin for error for the modern charity trustee. Now the Commission is turning its beady eye towards those charities which fund or support overseas ministries.

Kids Company: lessons to avoid learning the hard way

Kids Company: lessons to avoid learning the hard way

Ben Bourne

The almost unthinkable collapse of Kids Company took place in August 2015.

Founded in 1996, the charity was set up to provide support to vulnerable and deprived inner city children and young people. At the time of its closure the charity employed more than 600 people and worked across a number of cities in the UK. In its years of operation it received more than £42 million of public funding. Its founder, the colourful Camila Batmanghelidjh, was its chief executive for 19 years and was awarded a CBE for her services to the charity and young people.

Charities: the dangers of being kind

Charities: the dangers of being kind

Ben Bourne

The report of the Charity Commission following its investigation into the operation of registered charity The Air Ambulance Service, published in August, provides a salutary warning for all charity trustees serving on Boards up and down the country.

As part of its investigation, the Commission found that the chair of trustees had personally sanctioned a loan of £27,000 to the CEO of the charity out of charity funds. Good intentions no doubt lay behind the chair’s decision to make the loan. Indeed, the justification for the loan was that the chair was keen to retain the high-performing CEO who it seems had been working to the great benefit of the charity. At all times it appears the loan was being repaid by the CEO and, in addition, the size of the loan was not outrageous, given that such loans are sometimes made between a company and its senior staff in the private sector.

Churches and charitable status

Ben Bourne

Much ink has been spilled recently over the decision by the Charity Commission to deny the Plymouth Brethren charitable status in respect of one of its gospel halls in Devon (the Preston Down Trust).

The church trust, a member of the Exclusive Brethren, was refused charitable status on the basis that it failed to demonstrate that it provided a genuine public benefit.