Useless documents on the Charity Commission website
Howard Lake | 11 June 2010 | Blogs
I was researching The Gosling Foundation recently, and went to the Charity Commission website for a copy of their latest accounts. Unfortunately, when I tried to read the accounts for 2009, I got the following message: The file is damaged and could not be repaired. Guidestar UK only has the accounts for 2008.
When I raised this with the Charity Commission, I was told that the Foundation had submitted these accounts via the Online Service, and therefore the Charity Commission does not hold a paper copy. It is a shame that they do not check before uploading . However, someone at the Charity Commission has now contacted the charity and asked them to submit another set.
The Gosling Foundation is a limited company, so I obtained a copy from Companies House online (for £1).
If OSCR – the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator doesn’t have the funds to make accounts available online, could they run a scheme similar to Companies House online, and charge a small fee for these documents? It would make researching Scottish charities easier, and cheaper than it currently is.
Finbar Cullen
ResearchPlus
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.