THE Charity Commission has extended its inquiry into the Barnabas Fund (also known as Barnabas Aid) to four other charities connected to it, after identifying “possible risks due to their shared premises, trustees and/or founders, and the flow of funds with Barnabas Fund”.
The charities — the TBF Trust, the Reconciliation Trust, Servant Fellowship International, and the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life — are all part of the “Barnabas Family”. Some trustees sit on the board of more than one of the charities. Caroline Kerslake is a trustee of four of the five.
Last October, the Commission announced that it was investigating the Barnabas Fund over serious concerns regarding its compliance with charity law and the use of charitable funds (News, 11 October). This included “allegations of unauthorised payments to some of the current and former trustees and related parties, allegations that the charity’s founders have inappropriate control or influence over how the charity operates, and possible unmanaged conflicts of interest”.
It also set out to establish whether the charity’s structure and relationship with Nexcus (also known as Barnabas Aid International), a US-based subsidiary, were in the best interests of the charity. Nexcus was founded by Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, the founder of the Barnabas Fund, in 2020. He remains a trustee.
The Commission used its powers to restrict temporarily any transactions of more than £4000. Citing “concerns that charitable funds could be at risk”, it has now frozen the bank accounts of the Reconciliation Trust and restricted any transactions above £2,500 made by the other three charities.
Last October, a statement from Barnabas Aid (published online without a named author) said that an investigation conducted by an independent firm had found “serious and repeated contraventions of internal policies; that some senior figures were responsible for creating a toxic work environment which resulted in staff feeling entirely unable to routinely voice concerns; evidence of serious financial impropriety.” The investigation had uncovered “evidence of theft and misuse of funds”, it said.
Dr Sookhdeo (international director) and his wife, Rosemary (international director emeritus), were required to resign, as was Caroline Kerslake (international director of projects) and Prasad Phillips (deputy international director). On the Charity Commission website, both Ms Kerslake and Mr Phillips are still listed as trustees. Dr Sookhdeo remains the chair of the TBF Trust.
A statement on the Barnabas Aid website, published last Friday, said that the charity welcomed the extension of the Charity Commission’s inquiry.
It continued: “We deeply regret that Barnabas supporters have received confusing correspondence from ‘TBF Trust’. Anything from TBF Trust has not been sent by Barnabas Aid. Those responsible are in possession of a historic mailing list, which we believe is from more than 10 years ago, and are using it without permission.” The incident had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the statement said.
In a statement reported in The Times, Dr Sookhdeo said: “For decades these charities have been helping persecuted Christians around the world. Now that my beloved Rosemary and I are both terminally ill, we are determined to stop the vultures circling around the £100 million assets which are desperately needed by those still suffering for their faith.”