More help for mosques from Charity Commission

Press Release

2 June 2009
The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has published practical guidance to help the trustees of mosques draw up their annual report and accounts. Many mosques are registered charities, meaning that they enjoy reputational benefits, receive tax breaks and can access free specialist advice and guidance from the Commission.

The online example of the trustees’ annual report is for a fictional mosque which also operates a community centre and sets out what trustees must do to comply with charity law when reporting on their activity annually. The fictional example highlights how the new requirement for charities to report on public benefit sits within the existing structure of trustees’ annual reports and illustrates how these reports can be adapted to include public benefit reporting.

Ghulam Rasool, Head of the Charity Commission’s Faith and Social Cohesion Unit (FSCU), said:

“We have produced this example trustees’ annual report to offer guidance to mosques on how best to report on their work, including the public benefit that they provide to their community. The example is not a template, but we hope it will prove a useful tool for trustees as they report on their public benefit for the first time in the next set of annual accounts published after 31 March 2009.

“The example allows mosques to envisage in a practical way how their own trustees’ annual report might look as they move towards reporting on public benefit. We are committed to assisting charities to comply with the new reporting requirements and this guidance has been produced in response to requests from the sector. There are currently 455 mosques registered as charities, I would encourage any mosques with questions about charity registration and governance to visit our website for advice and guidance.”

The new example report accompanies the Commission’s existing public benefit guidance and is available from the website at www.charitycommission.gov.uk under ‘Public benefit guidance’.