Regulator recovers more than £10m in unused funds for Welsh charities

Charity

The Charity Commission has helped recover more than £10m of unused charitable funds to revitalise inactive charities in Wales.

The regulator’s Revitalising Trusts programme prevents charitable funds from lying dormant by offering support and advice to trustees who are having difficulty spending income, recruiting trustees, finding beneficiaries or finding time to run the charity.

The programme launched in England in 2018 but did not begin operations in Wales until 2021.

Since the programme launched in Wales, charities and community organisations across the country have received a collective total of £10.4m, according to the commission. 

The programme has supported 72 Welsh charities that were inactive to become operational again, the regulator said today.

Of the more than £10m of unused charitable funds recovered in Wales, more than £1.2m was from charities in Swansea, nearly £900,000 in Cardiff and nearly £75,000 in Carmarthenshire. 

The largest sum recovered by the programme so far was in North Wales, where more than £1.8m was recovered. In Mid Wales, the amount recovered reached more than £1.4m. 

The programme also supports trustees of charities that cannot continue to operate but still have unspent funds by helping them to identify a charity or charities with similar purposes that can use the funds as intended. 

Those who cannot identify a suitable charity can transfer the funds to the grantmaker Community Foundation Wales. Under the programme a total of £1.5m has been transferred to this organisation since its inception.

David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “It’s important that every penny of charitable funds goes where intended.

“We’ve now distributed over £10m of dormant funds and by continuing to work with Community Foundation Wales, the Welsh government and trustees, I’m confident we can make even more of a positive difference to people and communities across the country. I encourage anyone working with a charity that has fallen inactive to reach out to us.”

Richard Williams, chief executive of Community Foundation Wales, added: “In these challenging economic times, small charities and trusts continue to play a crucial role in meeting the urgent needs of communities across Wales.

“We recognise that trustees are concerned about inactive funds, and we are here to support them in adjusting charitable purposes or releasing these funds to communities in need. 

“As a result of this support, Community Foundation Wales has been able to invest in more Welsh communities so they continue to benefit, as was originally intended, from these funds.”

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