I had the pleasure of launching the 2018 Annual Report for the Charities Regulator earlier this week.
The total number of charities on the Public Register of Charities at the end of 2018 was 9,799. As of December 31, there were 60,866 charity trustees.
Last October, as Minister for Community Development, I launched the Regulator’s Charities Governance Code, which has set the benchmark for best practice in the sector.
The Charities Regulator dealt with 686 individual concerns in 2018 that were raised in respect of 423 charities, mostly relating to governance, charitable status and financial control and transparency.
Charities do fantastic work throughout the country and it is important in terms of public reassurance that we help them achieve and maintain the best possible standards of governance.
I am pictured with the newly-appointed Charities Regulator CEO Helen Martin and chairperson Patrick Hopkins.