Charity Commission advises on how to give to help in Syria
Howard Lake | 3 December 2012 | News
The Charity Commission is advising the public to donate to well established charities if they want to provide effective support for humanitarian work in Syria and surrounding countries.
The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has issued summary ./guidance on how best to help those affected by the ongoing conflict. It recommends giving to charities "which have experience of providing humanitarian assistance in high risk, insecure and dangerous environments" and which have ongoing relief operations in Syria and/or surrounding countries.
The public can find details on relevant charities by searching the Charity Commission's online Register of Charities.
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The Commission is also reminding people that funds raised for charitable purposes in England and Wales, even if they are not raised by a charity, fall within the Commission's jurisdiction.
Advice for charities helping Syrian people
The Commission has also published advice for charities that are providing humanitarian assistance to people in Syria or who have fled to neighbouring countries.
This advice includes:
charity trustees, their employees, volunteers and agents should avoid moving significant amounts of cash from one location to another on their person or in personal luggage.
charity trustees are legally required to declare cash over 10,000 Euros to HMRC when leaving the country. They must establish adequate financial controls and assurance procedures if charity cash is carried, and properly assess any risk to the personal safety of the people carrying the cash.
reviewing Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice against all travel to the Syrian Arab Republic.
carrying out due diligence checks on individuals and organisations in the region with whom the charity has partnered, so that the charity can monitor the use of the charity's funds.
www.charitycommission.gov.uk/RSS/Updates/syria_crisis.aspx
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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.