Dove Trust interim manager Pesh Framjee has said that he expects every charity that used its suspended CharityGiving portal will receive at least a proportion of their money back.
“Some people think they aren’t going to get any money at all, but I think that they are – the question is, we just don’t know how much,” Framjee told civilsociety.co.uk.
“It’s highly unlikely that anyone will lose out completely.”
Framjee yesterday met with the excluded trustees in what he described as a positive meeting.
“We’re getting closer to where I want to be,” he said.
“I’m still looking at the options of getting someone to take the portal over, and our key priorities remain to as soon as possible get to a stage where we know what the balance outstanding is and how much money is available, and then can we start taking in new money in a safe and secure way.”
Smallest donations may go into ‘pot’
Framjee explained that if a proportion of donations is lost then this is likely to come from the smallest sums:
“It may get to the stage where the Charity Commission decides that if someone has £10 in their account the cost of getting it out is not going to make it worthwhile.
“It just depends on who the new provider of the system is, and what they deem acceptable. They may take the view that it will go into the general pot, rather than be distributed directly.”
CharityGiving, operated by the Dove Trust, was suspended last Friday by Framjee, who the Charity Commission installed as interim manager.
The charity has not filed accounts since April 2009 and the sector regulator opened a statutory inquiry into it back in 2011, which is still ongoing. Framjee’s assessment revealed a shortfall between the funds due to the charities donated through CharityGiving and the cash held by the Dove Trust, estimated as at least £250,000.
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