Save the Children has passed an amendment to its governing documents to allow it to provide funding to Merlin, should it want to.
In a memo to the board of Save the Children dated 2 July, company secretary Andrew Willis stated that the amendment “allows the charity flexibility to provide funding in the form of a guarantee, should that become desirable in the future in relation to Merlin”.
Last week civilsociety.co.uk reported that Merlin would become part of Save the Children, though the two charities will stay as separate legal entities during the 18-month transition phase.
One civilsociety.co.uk reader, Imarullah Khan, posted a comment on the story stating that Merlin was “almost bankrupt” and that Save the Children “bailed us out”.
But a Merlin spokeswoman told civilsociety.co.uk that this was not true. She said: “Merlin is solvent, but as a smaller charity in tough times they have a long-term funding challenge and by joining forces with Save the Children they will have a much bigger impact for children and their families."
Explaining the rationale behind the amendment to the memorandum and articles of association, she said: “It’s not unusual when an organisation joins another one to ensure both organisations have the flexibility to provide financial support.
“Merlin has been unable to grow its unrestricted funding fast enough to meet its strategic needs and in tough times needed to find a long-term partner to secure a sustainable future for their life-saving work.”
The articles have already been amended by a special resolution of trustees.
New CEO for Merlin
Merlin has also appointed a new chief executive to oversee its transition to become part of Save the Children. David Alexander, former international director at the British Red Cross, will step into the role folllowing last week's departure of incumbent Carolyn Miller, who had held the post since 2005.
A statement issued by Jules Mason, head of the chief executive's office at Merlin, said: "Both Save the Children and Carolyn Miller felt it was appropriate that a new CEO was appointed, by Save the Children, to lead the organisation through this transition."
