The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Support the Heroes charity and appointed an insolvency expert from accountancy firm HW Fisher & Company as interim manager to run the military charity, following complaints about its fundraising activities
The charity, set up in February 2014, has stated objectives to support those serving or who have served in the Armed Forces with a focus on treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and makes grants to other charities. It declared income of £119,473 for the financial year ended 31 March 2016, up from £72,474 the previous year.
The Commission has serious concerns about an agreement the charity signed with a commercial fundraising company. It is particularly concerned about the transparency of the charity’s fundraising arrangements and the ability of the public to make an informed decision about donating to the charity.
The regulator is also examining the charity’s governance arrangements and ability of the trustees to avoid or manage potential conflicts of interest.
The concerns resulted in the Commission ordering the trustees not to part with any of the charity’s property on 11 November 2016, as well as ordering them to stop all fundraising while it conducted further investigations.
The Commission froze the charity’s and subsidiary’s bank accounts on 18 November 2016.
Brian Johnson, a partner in the business recovery and insolvency division of HW Fisher & Company, was appointed as interim manager on 9 December 2016 to assist the Commission in addressing its regulatory concerns.
The inquiry will examine the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees, in particular the extent to which the trustees have ensured that conflicts of interest in the charity and its subsidiary have been adequately avoided or managed, and whether they have acted with reasonable care and skill in respect of its fundraising agreement with a professional fundraiser and associated risks to the charity’s property.
The charity’s trustees have filed an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) challenging the regulator’s decision to appoint an interim manager.
The Commission says it will publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, actions undertaken as part of the inquiry and the outcomes once its investigation is concluded.
Information about Support the Heroes charity (Reg no 1155853) is available on the Charity Commission website
