THE Charity Commission has prolonged its inquiry into the Barnabas Fund (also often called Barnabas Aid) to 4 other charities connected to it, after identifying “possible risks as a result of their shared premises, trustees and/or founders, and the flow of funds with Barnabas Fund”.
The charities — the TBF Trust, the Reconciliation Trust, Servant Fellowship International, and the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life — are all a part of the “Barnabas Family”. Some trustees sit on the board of greater than one in all the charities. Caroline Kerslake is a trustee of 4 of the five.
Last October, the Commission announced that it was investigating the Barnabas Fund over serious concerns regarding its compliance with charity law and using charitable funds (News, 11 October). This included “allegations of unauthorised payments to a number of the current and former trustees and related parties, allegations that the charity’s founders have inappropriate control or influence over how the charity operates, and possible unmanaged conflicts of interest”.
It also set out to determine whether the charity’s structure and relationship with Nexcus (also often called Barnabas Aid International), a US-based subsidiary, were in the very best interests of the charity. Nexcus was founded by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, the founding father of the Barnabas Fund, in 2020. He stays a trustee.
The Commission used its powers to limit temporarily any transactions of greater than £4000. Citing “concerns that charitable funds could possibly be in danger”, it has now frozen the bank accounts of the Reconciliation Trust and restricted any transactions above £2,500 made by the opposite three charities.
Last October, a press release from Barnabas Aid (published online with out a named creator) said that an investigation conducted by an independent firm had found “serious and repeated contraventions of internal policies; that some senior figures were answerable for making a toxic work environment which resulted in staff feeling entirely unable to routinely voice concerns; evidence of great financial impropriety.” The investigation had uncovered “evidence of theft and misuse of funds”, it said.
Dr Sookhdeo (international director) and his wife, Rosemary (international director emeritus), were required to resign, as was Caroline Kerslake (international director of projects) and Prasad Phillips (deputy international director). On the Charity Commission website, each Ms Kerslake and Mr Phillips are still listed as trustees. Dr Sookhdeo stays the chair of the TBF Trust.
A press release on the Barnabas Aid website, published last Friday, said that the charity welcomed the extension of the Charity Commission’s inquiry.
It continued: “We deeply regret that Barnabas supporters have received confusing correspondence from ‘TBF Trust’. Anything from TBF Trust has not been sent by Barnabas Aid. Those responsible are in possession of a historic mailing list, which we consider is from greater than 10 years ago, and are using it without permission.” The incident had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the statement said.
In a press release reported in The Times, Dr Sookhdeo said: “For many years these charities have been helping persecuted Christians world wide. Now that my beloved Rosemary and I are each terminally in poor health, we’re determined to stop the vultures circling across the £100 million assets that are desperately needed by those still suffering for his or her faith.”
