Charity boss banned after tax loophole leaves organisation with £3m bill for business rates

The founder of a small UK charity has been handed an eight year ban after using an apparently legal tax loophole to raise money left the organisation facing a £3m tax bill.
According to the Daily Mirror, Maurice Smith founder of Kenya Aid Programme, has been banned from running a charity or company for eight years. 

He approached landlords of commercial properties and offered to occupy their vacant units. Being a charity, the buildings were given an 80 per cent reduction for charitable occupation..

Sheffield Magistrate's Court ruled in 2013 that two warehouses were under half occupied by the charity and, as a result, did not qualify for the discount. This leaves the charity with a tax bill of more than £3m for four years’ worth of rates.

Smith was disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years yesterday.

 
Union calls for charity worker to be reinstated after being sacked for pointing out fire hazards

Unite has called for Alison Morris to be reinstated by service delivery charity Change, Grow, Live, after she was reportedly sacked for pointing out that its office might have to close if broken fire alarms were not fixed within 24 hours.

As has been reported in the BBC, Unite has called for Morris’ immediate reinstatement and said that the drug referral worker has been treated “in the most appalling way” by the charity.

In a statement CGL confirmed that a member of staff had been dismissed and said “this matter is subject to appeal and, as such, we are unable to comment further on the details of the case at this point”.

Cancer Research UK defends ‘Fight Club’ amateur boxing fundraising events

Cancer Research UK has defending its use of amateur boxing bouts to raise funds, despite calls for the unlicensed sponsored contests to be banned.

According to The Guardian, CRUK has a corporate partnership with a company called Ultra White Collar Boxing, which puts on amateur boxing bouts. A number of which have been held to help raise money for the charity.

The company and its bouts have been heavily criticised by the sport’s governing bodies but CRUK said that UWCB adhere to health and safety regulations and have raised over £3m for the organisation since 2013.