A 300-year-old charity has been unable to access its banking services for three years, despite support from the Charity Commission.
Diane Semley, administrator at William Ashwin’s Charity, told Civil Society the charity has been unable to access its NatWest account for almost three years since the person who had been dealing with the bank died.
The charity, which has existed since 1724 and provides grants to the local community in Lincolnshire to help those experiencing poverty, appointed new trustees and then tried to regain access to its account.
Semley says that despite sending documentation to prove that those in touch with the bank are the current trustees, the charity still cannot access funds.
She added the charity was “going to have to go down the legal route”, which would cost the organisation further.
The Commission, which has provided assistance to the charity, called on all high-street banks to “resolve the widespread problems in the way they engage with their charity customers”.
Meanwhile, a NatWest spokesperson said: “Apart from a mandate amendment request in June 2022, which was refused as the form wasn’t signed by an existing trustee, we don’t have any record of the charity contacting us about trouble accessing the account and have been unable to reach them to date.
“We want to help the charity as soon as possible so encourage them to get in touch with us and we will resolve any issues as quickly as possible.”
£4,000 stuck in the bank
William Ashwin’s Charity was told it needed to send a deed of governance, which the Commission advised was an extract of a will from 1724, to the bank, which Semley said it did.
Despite the charity regulator supporting the charity, the bank has not accepted the documents.
Semley said: “They’re disputing that and I can’t give them any details of signatories, because we don’t know the signatories.
“So, we’ve now had a charity that we’ve not been able to administer financially for three years, because we cannot access the bank.”
Semley said her charity was “stuck in the middle” between the Commission and NatWest.
“It’s just become a bit of a mess. I’ve been tearing my hair out; we are having to go down another route which is to create what we call a statement of truth with a solicitor which is a cost to the charity.”
William Ashwin’s Charity rents some land out, and the person who rents the land has been putting money into the bank, but the charity “cannot operate the bank account”.
Semley said the charity has been prevented from using the money stuck in its bank account to help its local community.
“I think we’ve got about £4,000 in the bank. So we’re not a big, big mega charity. We’re a tiny little charity that just wants to do a little bit of good for people in the village.
“It is a frustrating situation, and one that I don’t think the banks should be empowered to put anybody under.”
Commission: Trustees should not have to face unnecessary obstacles
Semley said the Commission has been “brilliant” and told her “you are not the only one, there are others in your position”, which are often other older charities.
Sam Jackson, assistant director of policy at the Commission, said: “Charity trustees, who give their free time to serve society, should not have to face unnecessary obstacles to managing charity money.
“It can make a challenging time even more difficult for trustees, as the experience of William Ashwin’s charity illustrates.
“William Ashwin’s Charity has existed in some form since 1724 – and is an example of the long tradition of charitable spirit in the UK.
“This spirit of goodwill should be nurtured and supported which is why we continue to press this matter and continue to engage with the Financial Conduct Authority, high-street banks and UK Finance.”
The charity regulator recently criticised the banking sector’s response to its calls for improvements, after 42% of trustees reported experiencing bad service.
Its survey found 6% of respondents had experienced account freezes or being blocked, while 7% said their bank had lost their records.
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