Press release

Charity behind Charitygiving website starts making payments to charities

Interim Manager begins initial distribution.

From:
The Charity Commission
Published
3 December 2014

This news article was withdrawn on

No longer current.

The Charity Commission has welcomed the announcement by the Interim Manager (IM) of the Dove Trust, the charity that ran the now defunct charity donation website Charitygiving, that he has begun making payments to charities and good causes that are owed money.

The Interim Manager has calculated that there is approximately £2 million owed by the Dove Trust to nominated charities and good causes with £700,000 currently available for distribution. In accordance with a High Court order the Interim Manager has announced that charities and good causes that had been pledged money by fundraisers through the website will generally receive about 35 pence for every pound owed to them.

Full details are on the Charitygiving website.

Shortly after his appointment by the commission in 2013, the IM of the charity concluded that there were insufficient funds for a full distribution to be made to over 1,800 charities and good causes that were owed money by the Dove Trust. Given the complexity of charity and trust law issues involved, the commission asked the court to decide how the IM could lawfully distribute the limited funds that were available. In July this year a judge ruled that the available funds should be distributed amongst the beneficiaries in proportion to the amounts outstanding. A High Court order confirmed the process to be taken by the IM to carry out checks and calculations and begin paying money to the charities.

Charities who believe they are affected or who have already heard from the IM should look at the information on the Charitygiving website and follow the instructions set out.

Ends

PR100/14

Notes to Editors

  1. As per the High Court Order, the IM shall not make any distribution to any charity or good cause where the costs associated with so doing are equal to or greater than the amount which would be distributed. This means the IM will not make bank transfers of less than £5.00, or cheque payments of less than £15.00.

  2. The commission’s statutory inquiry remains open and it has removed the remaining trustee, Mr Bryan Gunn. Mr Gunn is challenging the commission’s decision to remove him as a trustee in the First Tier Tribunal (Charity). Two Tribunal appeals in connection with the Dove Trust have already been struck out by the Tribunal. One of the appeals referred to the commission’s decision to freeze the charity’s bank accounts and the other to extending the appointment of the interim manager.

  3. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales.

  4. Our mission is to be the independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales, acting in the public’s interest, to ensure that: * Charities know what they have to do * The public know what charities do * Charities are held to account

Published 3 December 2014