UK Edition
Military charities could be failing veterans, Charity Commission warns
Military charities set up in the aftermath of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars could be failing to protect veterans, the Charity Commission has warned.
The watchdog said it was concerned that some of the charities set up to help former military personnel by people "with good intentions" were not being run properly.
In a report released today the Commission said its enquiries suggested that some charities did not consider users with mental health problems as a result of serving in the forces to be "vulnerable".
It said it had found a "concerning lack of safeguarding policies and practices" and that some charities were failing to carry out DBS checks on their workers to make sure vulnerable veterans were protected from exploitation.
The inquiry was prompted by "reports in local and national media and on social media" about poor practice in military charities.
It also said its own work suggested that "military charities appeared to be at greater risk of compliance and reputational issues, which could affect public trust and confidence".
The Commission said it had seen a rise in organisations set up to help veterans of Middle Eastern conflicts, with 187 new military charities registered since 2007.
One charity, the Excalibur Unit, had employed an outside fundraiser and there had been complaints from the public about "aggressive" tactics, as well as concerns that much of the money the fundraiser made was not going to the charity itself.
The Commission found that 80 per cent of money raised through the sale of merchandise was retained by the fundraiser.
It said it had "serious concerns" about the impact of the complaints on the charity's reputation. It added that the trustees had recently decided to wind it up entirely.
Another charity, Standeasy Military Support, only implemented DBS checks for a volunteer after the Commission's intervention.
The Commission added that "most of the military charities we engaged with did not have adequate policies in place to deal with complaints".
"Military charities often have a high public profile, so we would expect trustees to recognise this and be prepared to deal with complaints that are made," the report said.
Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Monitoring and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: "Some veterans may be potentially vulnerable for a variety of reasons because of what they’ve seen and been through, and charities set up to help them must make caring for them, and protecting them, an absolute priority.
"The public would be rightly concerned if veterans were exposed to harm through a charity supposed to help them."
She said that anyone thinking of setting up a military charity should "think carefully" before doing so.
"There are other ways of supporting the armed forces community, including supporting with money or time an existing, established veterans charity. Setting up a new charity may not be the most effective way to help," she added.
Charities also failed to exert sufficient control over their finances, and many did not have an effective financial plan.
There were also concerns about conflicts of interest with trustees potentially gaining "unauthorised" benefits in one case.
The Commission examined 21 randomly selected military and veterans' charities and visited five which it had serious concerns about.
As a result of the audit, a statutory inquiry was opened into one of the charities, Support the Heroes, which appeared in a BBC documentary, The Great Military Charity Scandal, last year. The inquiry is ongoing.
General Sir John McColl, Executive Chairman of Cobseo, The Confederation of Service Charities said: “We strongly support the Charity Commission’s scrutiny of safeguarding and fundraising practices, not just for the Military Charities on its register, but across the entire charitable sector.
"Service charities play a crucial, and highly effective, role in supporting the Armed Forces Community.
"Cobseo, The Confederation of Service Charities, strives for the highest of standards amongst its membership and will continue to work closely with the Charity Commission in pursuit of this goal.”