Owls flying after struggle

ACTION with the Owls

A CHARITY has recovered after a former trustee stole more than £10,000 from the charity's bank account.

The Oldham Owls Disability Sports Club - known as the Oldham OWLS - were targeted by one of their own representatives who has since died.

The charity which provides active sports for those with disabilities reported the serious incident (RSI) to the Charity Commission for England and Wales in October 2013.

A report published this month (Feb 7) revealed that the OWLS (Outreach to Wheelchair and Less Able Sports people) have made a positive comeback following the Commission's extensive review.

Commissioners opened a "monitoring case" after club secretary Eileen Flanagon reported the theft and uncovered "some serious issues."

At the time the trustee who stole the money was the only individual who had full control of the charity's finances.

Eileen said: "The misappropriation of funds was discovered on the death of a member in 2011 when we collected all papers and handed them over to our accountant to be audited ready for an AGM.

"He was a long-standing member of the club who possibly, through ill health, made a gross error of judgement.

"Naturally the club members were shocked to learn of this transgression and as we wished to remain open and transparent to the public we reported the incident to the Charities Commission as soon as we found out."

No police investigation took place but in order to recoup their losses the OWLS instructed their solicitors to take court action by placing a charge on the estate of the deceased.

Eileen added: "The matter has now been resolved and all monies with interest have been restored to the club account.

"We have always remained transparent and honest with the Commission and they have helped us tremendously in getting back on track.

"Their report highlighted failures which we at the time were unaware of due to changes in committee members.

"We have always co-operated fully and following their advice and guidance now have new and stringent safeguarding polices and procedures in place.

"The club is now looking forward with positivity and purpose."

The group's accounts and Trustees Annual Report are now up-to-date and a report for 2016 is due to be submitted.

Future development lead Gary Dawson said: "I have known about this incident since I joined around 18 months ago. It has been really really unfortunate that this has happened.

"The focus is now on what it should always have been on - the advancement of disability sports."

The club was registered as a charity in 1975 to promote and encourage sport among those with disabilities.

Wheelchair basketball, table tennis and fishing are among the sports provided by the OWLS.

The club's basketball first team are also set to travel to Italy to compete in the preliminary rounds of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Euro Challenge Cup.

The Commission said in their report: "Our case identified some serious issues that needed to be addressed. However we were able to work with the trustees to strengthen the charity's governance.

"The new trustees were able to demonstrate that they were taking steps to get the charity on a proper footing, which included introducing stricter financial controls."

An investigation revealed the charity was late filing its accounts, failed to file annual returns, held out-of-date trustee details and outdated safeguarding policy.

Commissioners also raised concern over the lack of information accessible to the public via the charity's website.

But trustees have now updated the charity's details, submitted "outstanding" accounts and updated both their website and safeguarding policy.

At the time of the report the trustees had taken steps to recover funds totalling £10,000 and had also appointed several new trustees and updated key documents.

Commissioners said: "We were able to work with the trustees to resolve the issues that had been identified and help put the charity back on track."