Over nine in 10 charities have experienced at least one banking-related difficulty in the past two years, according to new research by the Civil Society Group. The Civil Society Group published its Charity Banking Challenges 2024 report, which follows on its previous survey carried out in 2022, in November.

Some 92% of the 1,907 survey respondents, representing charities with annual incomes from under £10,000 to over £100m, said they had experienced one or more issues related to banking in the past two years. Three-quarters of respondents cited changing signatories on bank account mandates as their top challenge, followed by completing checks “not designed for charities” (40%).  

Attending a bank in person for signatory verification and setting up dual signatories on accounts were also highlighted as challenges by more than a third of respondents. 

The latest survey, which ran from March to May 2024, sought the views of people about the experiences of their charitable organisations in relation to banking services.

The report highlights challenges that fit into three main themes: the need for improved knowledge and understanding; the need for improved communication; and the need to reduce complexity and provide explanations.

On the difficulties of changing mandates, the report says that outdated signatories might remain on bank accounts, which poses “a significant risk to the organisation’s financial security”.  

 “Since trustees serve on a voluntary basis, the time-consuming procedures involved in updating signatories are particularly burdensome for individuals who may also have full-time employment or caring or other responsibilities which require their time,” it says. 

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The Charity Commission has unveiled a refreshed suite of guidance to help trustees protect their charities from fraud and cyber crime. 

This comes as the regulator reveals it opened 603 cases relating to fraud and a further 99 cases relating to cyber crime issues in the last year.  

Launching in Charity Fraud Awareness Week, the charity regulator has published bespoke guidance on how trustees can protect their charity from cyber crime and a separate shorter guide on fraud. These guides, which replace the regulator’s previous guidance, are more concise and easier to use.  

The fraud guide explains what to do if fraud or attempted fraud is discovered at a charity and provides tips on how to reduce the risk of fraud taking place. It explains the importance of having robust internal financial controls and signposts to the Commission’s more detailed guide about this.  

Cyber fraud is a key area of concern for many organisations that handle money and personal data. Through its casework, the regulator identified the most common type of cyber enabled fraud experienced by charities is phishing attempts. 

The Commission’s cyber crime guidance seeks to help charities protect themselves from this ongoing threat. It sets out the importance of establishing an internal culture of fraud and cyber crime awareness.  

The guidance has been developed with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre and their Small Charity Guide. It links to several free online training modules designed for charities of all sizes. 

Both guides highlight the importance of reporting all fraud attempts, including those that failed, to Action Fraud. Fraud is underreported, with many hesitant to report incidents.  Reporting enables trustees to get the support they need and means there is a more accurate picture of how fraud is affecting the sector. 

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Lisa Nandy described efforts to return the rare tome to its original location as ‘our country at its best’ 

A campaign to return a 13th-century copy of the Bible to its ancestral home in Salisbury Cathedral has been hailed by the culture secretary as an example of “our country at its best” – as it received a remarkable £10,000 donation.

The bible is one of only six manuscripts attributed to the Sarum Master, who was among the greatest artists of the medieval period and illuminated pages of vellum in his workshop in Salisbury. The campaign is aiming to raise £90,000 in 90 days to secure its return.

The generous £10,000 donation was gifted by the Old Possum’s Practical Trust, founded in 1990 by Valerie Eliot, the wife of TS Eliot, to promote literary and cultural initiatives through grants that honour the poet’s legacy.

 Funded largely by proceeds from Cats, the trust has contributed to numerous projects over the years, continuing Eliot’s impact on literature and the arts.

A spokesperson for the TS Eliot estate said: “We would like to see this extraordinary book returned to where it was originally written. It feels like poetic justice for this jewel of a manuscript to return seven centuries after it was written and illuminated on vellum.”

 The Sarum Master was known for his work on religious manuscripts, particularly the Sarum Missal, which was used for the liturgical practices of the cathedral, influencing English Christianity before the Reformation.

At the time, no other city apart from London and Oxford supported this scale of book production, and Salisbury became renowned as an academic and cultural centre.

Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said: “This campaign by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries to return a book handwritten by one of England’s most famous medieval artists to the place where it was made 700 years ago shows our country at its best.

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