New governance guide for faith-based charities
20 November 2009

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has published a new guide for all faith-based charities to help them establish strong trustee bodies and good practice. It brings together into one document aspects of the legal and good practice framework which are most likely to be of relevance to faith-based charities. Faith in Good Governance has been produced as a result of ongoing work with and feedback from faith-based charities, who said that a tailored publication would be very helpful for the 30,000-plus charities on the Register that are identified as ‘faith-based’.

Dame Suzi Leather, Chair of the Charity Commission said:"It is important that trustees have the flexibility and freedom to decide what is the best way to achieve their charity’s aims, but at the same time they need good, useful guidance to help them in their work, which is why we have produced Faith in Good Governance. We hope trustees will find this new resource useful and that it will help faith-based charities become even more effective.”

Dr Harriet Crabtree, Director of The Inter Faith Network for the UK said: "Faith in Good Governance will be an excellent resource for faith communities across the country. It draws on good practice examples from many different faith contexts which can help faith-based charities be even more effective in their important work."

Faith in Good Governance uses the Commission’s experience of charities operating across many different faiths and includes the perspectives of a number of people associated with particular faith-based charities. It includes practical case studies as well as summarising the legal requirements that charities ‘must’ fulfil, and the recommended good practice that charities ‘should’ adopt. The guidance is aimed predominantly at smaller/newer charities whose main focus is operating a place of worship, but the basic principles would be equally applicable to other faith-based charities.

Click here to download a copy of the Faith in Good Governance Report () or visit Commission’s website at www.charitycommission.gov.uk for further information