Charity Commission inquiry into the Barnabas Fund expanded to four Christian charities

The Charity Commission has expanded its investigation into the Barnabas Fund (the 'Charity') by launching statutory inquiries into four Christian charities linked to the Charity as part of the 'Barnabas Family'.  Three of the linked charities, the TBF Trust, the Reconciliation Trust, and Servants Fellowship International, are grant-giving charities sharing the purpose of maintaining, advancing and promoting the Christian faith.  The other charity, the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life, has as its objects the advancement of education and the conducting and promotion of research for the purpose of promoting religious harmony for the benefit of the public. 

The Charity Commission announced in October 2024 that it was investigating the Barnabas Fund over serious concerns regarding its compliance with charity law and the use of charitable funds, temporarily restricting any transactions made by the charity over £4,000. The Commission extended these powers to freeze the bank accounts of the Reconciliation Trust and restrict any transactions above £2,500 made by the other three charities.

The scope of the Inquiry into each charity will examine:

• the trustees' compliance with their legal duties and responsibilities in respect of their administration and governance of the charity 
• if there is a risk to charity property   
• if there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees in the administration of the charity 

These follow the Charity's accounts reporting that, of its £19.5 million income, £14.6 million was 'principally' directed to a US entity, Nexcus, through ministry grants.  The Commission's interim report on the Charity found serious and repeated contraventions of internal policies and that some senior figures were responsible for creating a 'toxic' work environment, with evidence of serious financial impropriety.

The founder and international director of Nexcus, Patrick Sookhdeo (the original founder of the Barnabas Fund), was suspended from Nexcus after being accused of allegedly receiving £1.3 million between 2009 and 2024. Sookhdeo, alongside his wife Rosemary, the international director of projects Caroline Kerslake and her deputy Prasad Phillips, refused to resign following direction from the Chairmen of the fund's operations in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand.

The Commission's inquiry is ongoing, and we will provide further updates for our clients as it develops.

Authored in collaboration with Ethan Lees, a trainee at the time of writing.