A major funder has emphasised that it has not funded a charity currently being investigated over alleged links to Hamas following a report in the Times.
Last Wednesday, the Times reported that it had uncovered a “connection” between the City Bridge Foundation and international aid charity Al-Khair Foundation via membership body the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF).
In 2023, City Bridge Foundation, which owns and manages five Thames bridges, gave two grants worth £1.17m to MCF.
The Times reported that MCF’s then treasurer and trustee, Shuaib Yusaf, is chief executive of the Al-Khair Foundation, which paid a membership fee to the membership body.
Since August, the Charity Commission has been investigating the Al-Khair Foundation after Mohammad Yousef Hasna, employed by an organisation the foundation works with to deliver aid in Gaza, was arrested and charged for conspiring to provide material support to Hamas.
Responding to the Times report, City Bridge Foundation said it was “completely false” to suggest that any of its funding went to the Al-Khair Foundation.
MCF, an infrastructure body for Muslim-led charities and civil society organisations working for social good across the UK, said the Times’ allegations were “unsubstantiated”.
A spokesperson for Al-Khair Foundation denied any links to or funding of proscribed organisations and said it is cooperating fully with the commission’s ongoing inquiry.
“Any suggestion of a connection between MCF’s funding from City Bridge Foundation and Al-Khair Foundation, or that any of those funds have been allocated to us, is entirely misleading,” they said.
They also confirmed to Civil Society that in August, its CEO Yusaf had stepped down from the board of MCF pending the outcome of the inquiry.
‘Disappointing’ article, says foundation chair
Writing on LinkedIn, City Bridge Foundation’s chair Paul Martinelli said “not a single pound” of its funding had gone to the Al-Khair Foundation.
“Wednesday’s Times suggested otherwise. I want to set out what happened, and why it matters beyond us,” he said.
“We gave a grant to MCF, for its work here in London. The grant was made for that work and nothing else.
“Every application we receive is scrutinised in detail before any money moves. Every grant is monitored closely after it is made.
“Our funding policy is reviewed regularly, and our trustee, the City of London Corporation, holds us to account on all of it.”
Martinelli said the charity’s first duty sits on the river, and that only funds not needed for the bridges are available for charitable work for the benefit of Londoners.
He added that infrastructure that pays for itself – referring to the five bridges City Bridge Foundation looks after at no cost to the taxpayer – “doesn’t need stories made up about it”.
“I value a free press. The Times has a long and serious record, and scrutiny of charities is healthy,” he said.
“That’s exactly why this is disappointing. A claim this serious should be checked before it’s printed. When it isn’t, the cost falls on the Londoners these charities serve.”
‘Coordinated campaign’ targeting infrastructure bodies
In a statement, MCF said it and Muslim-led charities have “repeatedly faced attempts to undermine their work through unsubstantiated allegations”.
“We’re concerned by efforts to use regulatory scrutiny to marginalise Muslim-led organisations or undermine their legitimate contribution to public life,” it said.
“The Charity Commission itself has recognised the risk of its regulatory role being weaponised against charities.
“Allegations should be considered on the basis of evidence and through the proper regulatory process, rather than through speculation or guilt by association.”
MCF said it was also concerned by what seems to be “a broader, potentially coordinated campaign by sections of the right-wing media”, targeting infrastructure bodies and funders that support social justice initiatives.
“At a time when diverse communities continue to face the compounding impacts of the cost-of-living crisis, structural inequalities, and years of austerity and neglect [...] funders’ support for the civil society organisations serving them has perhaps never been more important,” it added.
