Cookstown charities named on default list for failing to submit accounts

Two Cookstown charities are among three in Mid Ulster that have been named on a list of those that failed to submit accounts to the Charities Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI).
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Mar 2017, 10:54 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2017, 11:07 BST
Three charities in Mid Ulster were on the list of 38Three charities in Mid Ulster were on the list of 38
Three charities in Mid Ulster were on the list of 38

Mid Ulster Child Contact Centre and Coagh & District Local History Group, along with McCartan’s Youth & Community Service in Augher, are now “in default” according the charity overseer.

CCNI said in a statement on Tuesday: “The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is today naming the local charities now in default after they failed to submit an Annual Monitoring Return in January.”

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Annual Monitoring Returns, which include submission of accounts, are now a legal obligation for all charities.

CCNI said it wrote to 88 charities whose returns were overdue on February 14, notifying them they would be identified as being in default on the public register of charities if they did not respond - and that the 38 charities on the list did not respond.

Commission Chief Executive Frances McCandless said: “The public want and deserve transparent, accountable charities.

“Any charity not completing its annual return is failing to deliver that.

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“They run the risk of undermining public confidence both in their own charities and in the sector as a whole.

“Any charity that has missed the deadline for submitting its Annual Monitoring Return, and has not contacted us to explain why, should get in touch with the Commission immediately,” she added.

Following the release of the list, CCNI said details of charities that have failed to submit their annual returns will be passed on to HM Revenue and Customs, while they have been marked as being in default in the online register of charities, where accounts are published.

The commission said it will also take further steps, including the use of its statutory powers where necessary, to ensure the legal obligation to submit accounts is complied with.

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Mid Ulster Child Contact Centre, which facilitates supervised visits between parents and children at Gortalowry House in Cookstown is listed, as well as

Coagh And District Local History Group, which is based at Derrygonigan Road.

St Macartan’s Youth & Community Centre on Irish Street, Augher is the final Mid Ulster charity on the list.