The Charity Commission has removed a charity from its register following an operational compliance case that found a group of people had taken over the charity's operations for their own benefit.
The Old Barn Youth and Community Association, a charity based in East Finchley north London, was removed from the register in December 2014, following a decision by a Commission-appointed trustee to surrender the lease of the building in which it operated in.
The charity has made an appeal to the Charity Tribunal in regards to the appointment of the trustee, however as that was made outside the time limit it may not be allowed to proceed.
The building had also been used as a private nursery, of which Ofsted has raised concerns about its management arrangements. It closed in June 2014, following a failed appeal to the Care Standards Tribunal.
According to the Commission’s website, the charity’s object was the “provision of facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation for children and residents of East Finchley”.
The Commission had received concerns over the charity’s operations from a local MP, residents in Barnett, Barnett Council and local community organisations.
The concerns said that the building was primarily being used as the nursery, with minimal evidence of charitable activity in the premises. It was clear to the Commission that the “local community continued to be generally excluded from the premises by the group”, the Commission said in its report on the case.
An assessment from the Commission, following a lack of communication from the charity, found that there was no evidence that trustees had been properly appointed when the group took over in 2010, and no evidence that the charity had had any members in that period. It also found no evidence of financial activity from 2012 to 2014, and that “to all intents and purposes, the organisation was inactive as a community recreational charity”.
Having been unable to secure the community use of the building, and on finding no evidence that trustees had been properly appointed or any membership gained, the Commission made an order in October for it to appoint social purpose business Mobilise Public Ltd as a trustee to “seek to manage the charity and to secure any charity assets”.
As a trustee, Mobilise Public Ltd, confirmed the Commission’s view that there was no properly appointed trustees or a membership, and the only significant asset was a lease to the council, as the council was a freeholder. Following consultations with the community, it discovered that the reputation of the charity had been damaged in recent years, and the decision was taken by the trustee to remove it from the register.
The Commission has said that in due course, the property will be used for community charitable purposes again.