The Charity Commission, with the support of the Welsh Government, has launched the Revitalising Trusts Programme in Wales, with the goal of reactivating up to £12 million in inactive charitable funds in Wales. The programme is urging trustees of dormant charities to come forward and receive assistance so that their charitable contributions can be used effectively.
Trustees will receive assistance from the Charity Commission and Community Foundation Wales in releasing inactive funds so that they can be distributed to deserving organisations across the nation by the Community Foundation Wales. As an alternative, the Commission will help the trustees revitalise the charity, for instance by altering its charitable purpose.
Revitalising Trusts can provide assistance to charity trustees who are struggling to find new trustees, spend the charity’s funds or assets, choose beneficiaries, or find the time to manage the organisation.
This comprises charities that have spent nothing in the last five years or have spent less than 30% of their income in the last five years.
The Commission may have already sent Trustees a letter advising them to seek help to use dormant money. The programme encourages all trustees to examine whether the Revitalising Trusts programme could help their charity reach its full potential.
Tracy Howarth, Assistant Director of Casework at the Charity Commission, said:
“In the current economic climate, following the pandemic and during a cost-of-living crisis, it’s more important than ever that charitable funds are being used to their full potential, to help improve lives and strengthen communities.
“We know trustees have the best intentions, but it’s sometimes harder to transform this momentum into long-term action, or charities find they have run their course. Through Revitalising Trust Wales, we want to help trustees put the hard-fundraised money to good use, to make a real and positive difference to those who need it most.
“If you think your charity could benefit from support to spend its funds, please do get in touch with us and we’ll help you work out the best next steps for your charity.”
Richard Williams, Chief Executive at Community Foundation Wales said:
“We realise that receiving a letter from the charity regulator may cause concern to trustees, but this is where Community Foundation Wales can help and support. There is no reason for this to be stressful, it can actually be a very positive experience for the trustees involved and their community. We can help the Trustees to change the charitable purpose of the trust or by releasing inactive funds and redistributing them to communities across Wales. We know Trustees worry about inactive funds. We can help them through this programme to ensure they are within Charity law and that their communities benefit as was originally intended from their funds.”
Community Foundation Wales and the Charity Commission provided assistance to the Trustees of the T D Jones (Llanfair Clydogau) charity, which oversees an education fund close to Lampeter, as part of the Revitalising Trusts programme.
The fund’s expansion and transfer to Community Foundation Wales received support from the trustees. Now, this money is being used for charitable purposes.
Paula Barker, Trustee of T D Jones (Llanfair Clydogau) said:
“Like many small village churches, the congregation of ours has dwindled. As the secretary and church warden I found that among the many problems arising from this was what to do about a sum of money left for the charitable purpose of providing books for the Sunday school children. The objects had been altered to allow for help to the local school children, but the trustees of the charity were no longer in a position to act and no monies had been distributed.
“It was with some relief that we received information about the Revitalising Trusts Programme. It seemed quite daunting to start with and the initial problem was tracking down the right signatories for the paperwork. However, Laura Cameron Long, the Programme Manager at UKCF, guided me through every step of the way. There proved to be no difficulty at all and the whole process of transferring the funds to Community Foundation Wales went without a hitch.
“The most gratifying aspect of this is that the funds are now being of real help where needed and we feel sure that the original donor would approve of that.”
Following the campaign’s success in England, where approximately £80 million has been distributed to regional projects, Revitalising Trust Wales aims to maximise the campaign’s positive social impact.