A charity set up by Brexit donor and campaigner Arron Banks “fell short” and was run inadequately, and has now closed down, the Charity Commission has said.
The regulator had opened a compliance case into the Love Saves the Day Foundation following media reports about Banks’ Brexit spending.
There were concerns about discrepancies between the charity’s accounts, which reported no income or spending, and information provided on its website, which said it had made significant donations to projects.
The regulator found that the charity had not properly accounted for funds and that its website risked misleading the public.
David Holdsworth, deputy chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “The public rightly expect high standards of governance, transparency and accountability of charities. The trustees of Love Saves the Day Foundation fell short of these expectations with their inadequate management and administration of the charity.
“Setting up a charity is a valued responsibility, but not one that should be entered into lightly. Those that run charities must remember that they have important legal duties towards the charity.”
'Serious flaw in administration'
The Commission asked trustees to provide additional documentation, including bank statements, to establish what had happened to £10,000 that the charity had been due to receive. Trustees told the regulator that the donation had been made in a personal capacity by one of the trustees.
Bank statements showed the charity had not received the donation, but had asked for it to be paid directly to another charity with similar objects.
The case report said there was no evidence of “misuse of charitable funds” but that “there had been a serious flaw in the administration of this charity” because all funds should be accounted for clearly. The regulator provided trustees with advice on how to close down a charity.
Website ‘misleading’
The case report also said that the “charity’s website risked misleading the public due to the charity’s inactivity”.
The Commission told the charity to take the website offline “as a matter of urgency”. The website is now down.
Last autumn trustees said that they intended to close the charity and it was removed from the register of charities on 31 May 2018.
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