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Court appoints chartered accountant to manage the affairs of Wick Academy Development Fund


By Staff Reporter

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A CHARTERED accountant in Glasgow has been appointed by Scotland's top civil court to manage the affairs of a Wick-based charity.

The move comes after an investigation by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) following concerns raised by John Mowatt, vice-chairman of the Wick Academy Development Fund (WADF). He was concerned about its reluctance to distribute the money to local charities in accordance with the constitution and described WADF as "a closed shop".

John Mowatt contacted OSCR over concerns about the way the development fund was managed.
John Mowatt contacted OSCR over concerns about the way the development fund was managed.

The fund, which has no connection to Wick Academy FC, was set up to help provide social, leisure and recreational facilities for the town and surrounding area and was registered as a charity in March 2002. It has around £140,000 in its bank account but concerns were raised on a number of occasions about the way the fund was managed. OSCR, which first made inquiries about WADF in 2010, found it was not acting in "a manner consistent" with its stated aims. As a result a petition was lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to appoint a judicial factor to manage the fund.

In an email to Mr Mowatt - a copy of which has been seen by the John O'Groat Journal - OSCR concluded "there is no realistic prospect of activities being undertaken by the charity trustees in furtherance of its objectives." It said WADF is not "providing public benefit" and is at risk of being removed from the Scottish Charity Register.

"Should the charity be removed from the Register the trustees would remain under an obligation to apply the charity's assets in accordance with its purposes. We have no confidence that the trustees would comply with this requirement.

"Given the seriousness of the situation and our concerns about the charity’s funds, we considered it necessary on 13 October, 2020 to take interim measures to protect the charity’s property, directing the charity trustees not to part with it without OSCR’s consent."

The email explains that some of the trustees tried to get consent from the regulator to dissolve the charity and transfer the funds to other charities but that was not granted.

"Further attempts to engage with the charity trustees to address the issues were unsuccessful. OSCR therefore applied to the Court of Session to appoint a judicial factor to manage the affairs of the charity, and on 7 January 2021 the Court appointed Eileen Blackburn, Chartered Accountant, French Duncan LLP as permanent judicial factor to the charity."

Her appointment was welcomed by Mr Mowatt but he said: "All this could have been avoided. The money should have been allocated years ago rather than sitting in the bank. I hope this is sorted out soon for the benefit of the people of Wick."

Colin Stewart, a former chairman of Wick Academy football club and one of a number of people who raised concerns about the fund, said: "I am delighted a judicial factor has been appointed. It is good the fund will now be controlled properly and we will see how it develops from here.

"It is a big step forward and, hopefully, the fund will now be used for the purposes stated in the constitution. I would hope the matter can be resolved as quickly as possible but that is up to the judicial factor."

Attempts were made to contact the Wick Academy Development Fund but no one was available for comment.

Last year, WADF chairman, Jacky Gunn, said he had no concerns about the Court of Session hearing.

"We have done nothing wrong and are not worried about it one bit," he stated.


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