Representatives from several maritime charities welcomed the news that potential changes in charity law will make aspects of their governance much simpler and clearer and will help them to recruit trustees. Delegates at last week’s Maritime Charities Group (MCG) seminar on the Charities Bill heard from charity law experts, Stone King LLP, about the detail of the legislation that is currently before Parliament.
Proposed changes include:
- Simplifying the process of amending a charity’s objects and purposes
- Allowing fundraising monies to be kept by the charity in certain circumstances, such as being unable to identify or find the donor
- Making is easier for trustees to make ex-gratia payments
- Simplified rules on the disposal of charity land
- Charities to be permitted to obtain goods as well as services from trustees
- Addressing issues with the Register of Mergers
Steven Ravenscroft, partner at Stone King said:
“The Charities Bill introduces various changes to Charity law which will reduce the regulatory burden for charities, including important changes to the rules regulating permanent endowment, charity land disposals and Charity mergers. We were delighted to have the opportunity to share our thoughts on the various changes with MCG members and the wider maritime welfare charity sector.”
Chair of MCG, Commander Graham Hockley LVO RN said:
“We are incredibly grateful to the team from Stone King for such an interesting and enlightening seminar. It has certainly given us food for thought and we look forward to benefiting from the changes outlined.”
He continued:
“This is the second in our new series of monthly seminars for the maritime welfare charity sector and we are delighted that so many organisations have attended today. It shows that the appetite is there – so when we get the subject matter right and have expert speakers, we can’t go wrong!”
Click here to watch the seminar.
