Charity returns £160,000 after failed Blencathra bid
THE Charity Commission has urged caution over community fundraising efforts after a two-year battle involving funds donated to buy Blencathra.
Donors to the Friends of Blencathra charity, which had hoped to buy the Lake District mountain from the eighth Earl of Lonsdale, have until April 2 to reclaim their money after the peak was taken off the market.
The project descended into angry recriminations amid concerns that do- nors would not be repaid following the withdrawal from sale of the mountain – also known as Saddleback – in 2016.
The Earl had put it on the market in 2014 with a guide price of £1.75million to help pay a £9million inheritance tax bill. But it was removed from sale in September 2016 after the charity failed to raise enough money to buy it.
An opposition group, “Friends of Blencathra please say no”, was established on Facebook and donors lobbied the charity for their money back. A refund process for £240,173 in donations began early last year, with the final claims period ending next month.
The charity has repaid £166,426 to donors and another £21,013 has been released by supporters to be used by other, similar causes.
Another £52,734 belongs to donors who could not be found or identified.
Donations which are not reclaimed will be given to five conservation charities including Keswick Mountain Rescue Team, Mountain Heritage Trust and Friends of the Lake District.
Dave Wheeler, the chairman of Friends of Blencathra, said he was “fairly disappointed” that the bid had failed. “We got the pledges and offers of enough money to purchase it at market value and also to have a fairly good fund to set it up for five years of maintenance,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Problems arose when its valuations assessed the mountain as worth “considerably lower” than the asking price, and it was unable to pay over the odds because of its charitable status, he said.
He expressed disappointment that so much of the funds had been claimed back by donors instead of being released for other Lake District conservation charities.
Tracy Howarth, the head of regulatory compliance at the Charity Commission said: “The trustees and donors involved in this case clearly had the best of intentions to protect an area close to their hearts and their community and voluntary spirit should be commended.
“Setting up a charity is a serious commitment. If you are thinking about setting up a charity make sure you’re aware of what running a registered charity means, be mindful that you don’t let your good intentions take over.”