The Charity Commission has disqualified the trustees of a Christian charity for inadequate financial and safeguarding practices.
The regulator published its inquiry report today into Salvation Proclaimers Ministries Limited, also known as SPAC Nation, which was wound up by the High Court in 2022 after failing to account for more than £1.87m in expenditure.
Its report concludes that the charity’s trustees are responsible for serious misconduct or mismanagement over safeguarding practices and financial failures “over a substantial period of time”.
The Commission said the trustees failed to act with reasonable care and skill, including while the inquiry was open, and repeatedly failed to address the regulator’s concerns.
It disqualified three current trustees in November last year from being a charity trustee for 12 years each, and a former trustee for 10 years, all of which took effect from 5 January, the report says.
Use of cash criticised
SPAC Nation held religious services at venues in London and organised community and outreach events.
Founded in 2012, the church group initially received positive reviews and media attention for its work with vulnerable people, youth, and offenders.
But by late 2019, SPAC Nation was subject to media scrutiny following allegations by former church members they had been financially exploited by senior church personnel.
In December 2019, the Commission opened an inquiry into SPAC Nation after it identified serious financial, governance and safeguarding concerns, including that most of the charity’s income and spending was not going through a bank account.
It found that the SPAC Nation’s safeguarding practices were inadequate and the relationship between the charity and houses set up to support the local community was unclear.
The Commission found that safeguarding risks were mitigated during the inquiry as the charity stopped holding services and other events in person due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and it also subsequently ceased to operate.
It found that the charity’s financial record keeping was inadequate, including for payments that could have posed a reputational risk to the charity.
The inquiry was critical of the charity’s use of cash, with donations and expenditure not properly recorded and a lack of segregation of duties between the pastors and the trustees.
As the assets of the charity were not held centrally, the trustees did not have oversight and control of the charity’s assets, and these were exposed to the risk of misapplication or misappropriation.
The Commission directing SPAC Nation to bank all of its cash in December 2019 but the trustees informed the regulator that they had decided to stop collecting donations, which the regulator said it was not convinced was in the best interests of the charity.
After conducting its own investigation, the Insolvency Service applied for a petition for a public interest winding up order against the charity in 2022, which the High Court accepted in June that year.
It was then removed from the Commission’s register after ceasing to operate.
The charity was also reviewed by police, but no criminal investigation was launched into the allegations.
‘Repeated serious failings’
Amy Spiller, head of investigations at the Commission, said: “The community placed its trust in this charity and its leaders and was sadly let down by repeated serious failings in its financial and safeguarding practices.
“Safeguarding should be a priority for all charities, and the trustees should have considered doing more to strengthen its safeguarding practices.
“Operating in cash also exposed the charity to risks such as loss, theft and the cash being used outside of the charity’s purposes.
“Our intervention prevents three current trustees and one former trustee from holding trustee or senior roles in other charities and so helps to protect the wider sector.”
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