Charity boss seeks legal action over regulator's behaviour
England and Wales’s fundraising watchdog has been accused of bullying by the director of a leading health charity.
Nick Philips, who is the director and founder of Cancer Research and Genetics UK, says he is looking to take legal action against the Fundraising Regulator over an ongoing issue regarding his charity’s use of a charity bag collection company.
According to Civil Society, Philips claims the regulator threatened and bullied him.
It centres on a letter from the Fundraising Regulator which he claims said was going to “drag” him and the charity in front of the Advertising Standards Board.
Philips told Civil Society: “The Fundraising Regulator decided right away to escalate the complaints to a full-scale investigation. They sent me a letter. This letter was very threatening – they threatened to drag us in front of the Charity Commission and the ASA.
“I’m a cancer patient myself and they’ve asked me to go and monitor the collections. I can’t do that. It’s totally unreasonable. They also gave us timescales, telling me to reply to this letter within five days. It’s completely unreasonable and demanding.”
He said the watchdog threatened to “name and shame” him and his charity if he does not stop using the company in question - Recycle Proline. The company has previously been rapped by the regulator over non-licensed bag collections for charities in England.
A spokesman for the Fundraising Regulator said: “The Fundraising Regulator does not comment on investigations before they have concluded, and before the parties have had the opportunity to review a draft decision for factual accuracy.
“Investigations are focused on identifying breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice and advising on options for redress if necessary but, above all, for learning and better practice in future”.
