The Charity Commission has today concluded its inquiry into Urban Relief (former registered charity number 1114537). The Commission opened an inquiry on 3 February 2015 after a trustee of the charity had been convicted of a number of offences, including managing a brothel, concealing criminal property and using the charity’s bank account to launder funds from the proceeds of crime.

The Commission undertook scrutiny of the charity’s bank accounts and conducted further enquiries, including attempting to meet all the trustees. Although the inquiry’s analysis of the bank account records indicates that the charity did receive and spend funds, the inquiry saw no evidence that those funds were obtained or applied in furtherance of its objects.

Both the convicted trustee and his wife (also a trustee) failed to cooperate with the inquiry despite being ordered to do so by the Commission. The Commission found that 2 of the 4 charity trustees were unaware that their names had been declared to the Commission (see endnote 1).

The inquiry concluded that the trustees were responsible for mismanagement and misconduct in the administration of the charity due to a persistent failure to comply with the Commission’s orders and directions. The Commission removed the charity from the register on 21 November 2016 (see endnote 2).

Carl Mehta, Head of Investigations, Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

The trustees in this case failed to abide by even the basic duties of trustees and failed to cooperate with our investigation. This charity has now been removed from the register of charities and the trustee involved was held to account by the criminal justice system.

The full report is available on GOV.UK.

Ends

PR 07/17

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.
3. Details of how the Commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.

Endnotes

1. The Commission established in the inquiry that out of the 4 trustees 2 had never consented to be trustees, or acted in that capacity.
2. The charity ceased to operate as of August 2014, the last discernable date that any funds were transacted through the charity’s bank account.

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Right Reverend Philip John North, MA, Suffragan Bishop of Burnley, in the diocese of Blackburn, for election as Bishop of Sheffield in succession to the Right Reverend Steven John Lindsey Croft, MA, PhD, on his translation to the See of Oxford on 6th July 2016.

The Right Reverend Philip North (aged 50), was educated at the University of York and trained for the ministry at Saint Stephen’s House, Oxford. He served his curacy at Sunderland Saint Mary and Saint Peter, in the Diocese of Durham from 1992 to 1996. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Company of Mission Priests.

From 1996 to 2002 he was Vicar of Hartlepool Holy Trinity in Durham Diocese and also served as Area Dean of Hartlepool from 2000 until 2002. From 2002 to 2008 he was Priest Administrator at the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and from 2004 to 2007 he was also Priest-in-Charge of Hempton in the diocese of Norwich. From 2008 to 2015 he was Team Rector of the Parish of Old Saint Pancras in the Diocese of London. Since 2015 he has been Suffragan Bishop of Burnley.

His interests include current affairs, cycling and walking.

The British Embassy Kabul have a dedicated fund for supporting projects which further our priorities in Afghanistan. The fund will support projects implemented between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018.

How to apply to the 2017-18 bidding round:

We are looking for a range of relatively large-scale bids (£100k – £600k), which can achieve an impact in one year. We may also consider larger or smaller-scale bids in some areas, if they can still demonstrate that they can achieve an impact.

Currently we are inviting bids in the area(s) of:

Social Cohesion and Countering Extremism [closing date: 12th February 2017]

Bidders should submit bids that focus on:

• Strengthening Afghan Civil Society organisations who focus on Countering Extremism to develop their capacity to research, design and implement local programmes to counter violent extremism.
• Research activities to support the ongoing Peace and Reconciliation process.
• Programmes designed to improve social cohesion, encourage plurality of voices and build resilience in communities.

Project bids for further priority themes will be invited throughout February 2017. Please check this site for details and closing dates.

In all thematic areas, successful bidders will be expected to demonstrate:

• That the project proposal provides good value for money;
• That the project proposal has a clear, achievable impact, and responds to a local demand or need;
• That their organisation has the capacity to deliver the project to a high standard;
• How the project helps build Afghan capacity (International NGOs/companies should aim to partner with a local Afghan counterpart where feasible);
• That the impact of the project will be sustainable beyond the end of the funding period (i.e. 31 March 2018);
• That they have carefully considered all risks and have proposed suitable mitigation methods.

N.B. Bids for projects in Afghanistan’s provinces will be given a higher priority.

To apply, you should:

• Read all the documents and requirements
• Complete the project concept note form and submit your proposal to BEKProgrammeFund@hotmail.com by the date given above in the theme header. Please ensure the theme area of the bid is included in the subject line.

Implementers who have been successful at the initial concept note stage will be contacted by the British Embassy and invited to submit a full proposal by late March 2017.

Implementers whose proposals are awarded funding will be notified by April 2017, with an expectation that activity could begin shortly afterwards, and end by 31 March 2018.

Before bidding please familiarise yourself with the following key documents: