New law to increase confidence in charities

11 February 2005 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action) has welcomed the announcement by government that it is consulting on new charity legislation for Northern Ireland. A similar process has already happened in Scotland and England.

NICVA Chief Executive, Seamus Mc Aleavey, commented: “It is time that the law governing charities was re-examined in Northern Ireland and we welcome this opportunity to see how needs and the environment have changed. We have never had a register of charities in Northern Ireland nor a Charity Commission as in England and Wales. This means there is no official list of all the charities here and no straightforward way to have a complaint investigated. NICVA’s figures show there are around 4,500 charities in Northern Ireland, but only a register will give us the real figure .”

Mr Mc Aleavey continued: “In recent years we have all heard of scams involving people posing as charity representatives or indeed charities being run in dubious ways. Although trust in charities has remained high, this is still damaging to all the charities in Northern Ireland which are providing vital services to the old, the young, the disabled and many others every day. People here who give so generously to charity have every right to be reassured that their hard earned donations are being used in the right way. Any measures that will help to increase public confidence are very welcome .”

NICVA will be holding a series of seminars across Northern Ireland in March and April to discuss the issues raised by government’s consultation paper on the proposed new legislation. Further information on these sessions is available from Georgie Finlay at NICVA ( 028 9087 7777 or georgie.finlay@nicva.org ).

Ends

For further information or comment, please contact:

Seamus Mc Aleavey
Chief Executive

028 9087 7777 (work)
07785 278929 (mobile)