Helen Stephenson has warned charities not to be led by “whim, fashion, or funding” in her final speech as Charity Commission chief executive.
Speaking earlier this month at an event organised by the Welsh Centre for Voluntary Action, Stephenson said she had seen charities both “achieve the impossible” during her seven-year tenure as well as “get it badly wrong”.
“When I reflect on what it is that makes the difference between a charity that succeeds and one that gets lost along the way, it is this: a great charity is one whose trustees and wider leadership, over time, are led always and alone by the charity’s purposes,” she said.
“Not by whim, fashion, or funding but by a shared commitment to delivering on the purposes that got the charity on the register in the first place.”
‘False dichotomy’
Stephenson also said there had been a “swing” in how the Commission is perceived over the years between a regulator that focuses more on enforcement and one that prioritises support for charity trustees.
“In my view this is an unhelpful, false dichotomy,” she told WCVA’s gofod3 event at Cardiff City Stadium on 5 June.
“If I’ve sought to achieve one thing during my time as CEO it has been to cement within the Commission a culture that recognises both support and robust enforcement are necessary poles of our work which should attract equal amounts of regulatory energy and investment.
“Charities are run by volunteer trustees who need and deserve our active guidance and support in understanding their legal duties and doing the best job they can.
“And public trust and confidence and the overall health of the sector requires that the Commission takes unflinching action when we come across the deliberate or reckless abuse of charities.
“The Commission has done a huge amount over the past seven years to strengthen both aspects of our work.”
Former deputy CEO at the Commission David Holdsworth is due to take over from Stephenson next week.
