An investigation has found “serious and persistent” governance failures at a homelessness charity, which failed to file accounts on time or operate with enough trustees.
The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Leicester-based GiftingHumanity in 2024 after it failed to supply financial documents for five consecutive years.
Its inquiry found the charity was not keeping proper financial records such as receipts and payments, and that it had a lack of policies covering expenses, cash handling, and use of charity funds overseas.
The commission also investigated whether the charity was being operated by at least three trustees, the minimum number outlined in its governing document.
While GiftingHumanity had three trustees listed on the charity register, the commission found that two had informally left the organisation several years earlier.
In a visit to GiftingHumanity in December 2024, its remaining active trustee told the commission that he was making all the decisions regarding the charity’s activities and that no board meetings had been held since the start of the Covid pandemic.
The commission concluded that the charity’s “serious and persistent” failings amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement in its administration.
“Trustees repeatedly neglected their legal obligations, including the submission of annual reports and accounts, maintaining proper financial records, and adhering to the charity’s governing document,” the commission’s inquiry report reads.
No evidence was found that the charity’s funds were used for any other purposes other than to support and promote its objects.
The charity now has the minimum number of trustees in place and has submitted all the outstanding financial information, including its accounts for the twelve months to April 2020, which were filed nearly four years late.
GiftingHumanity has been asked to comment.
