The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales

Faith and Social Cohesion Unit

The Commission has launched guidance on Faith in Good Governance. The guidance is for charities established with a religious purpose whose main focus is religious worship and related activities. As well as tailored guidance, it contains a number of good practice case studies.

It incorporates helpful feedback the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit has received from several faith-based charities.

Copies of Faith in Good Governance can be accessed from the guidance pages on our website.

You can find more information about the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit, or about registering your organisation on the pages below.

Faith-based charities form a significant part of the charitable sector. The beneficiaries of these charities can be counted in their millions, and they make a huge contribution to communities across England and Wales.

Listening to faith-based charities

Following our successful consultation with independent and black majority churches, the Commission ran a series of workshops with a whole range of faith-based charities over the last two years, to learn more about the way they work and to help strengthen their governance and effectiveness. We held a total of 15 events and met with over 800 representatives of faith-based organisations. These included representatives from the Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindi and Buddhist communities, as well as delegates from the UK’s smaller faiths such as Baha’i and Zoroastrian. The events were hugely successful and have given the Commission a valuable insight into the main issues, concerns and tensions faced by these charities, and a clearer understanding of the benefits they bring to the communities in which they work. Summaries of the feedback from the events held with Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and Hindu charities are available below in PDF format.

An overall summary of the this work can be found in the publication Working with Faith Groups: The Charity Commission Faith Groups Programme 2004-07 .

Feedback from:

Faith and Social Cohesion Unit

Building on this project, the Commission has set up a dedicated Unit to work with and support faith-based charities. The Faith and Social Cohesion Unit will provide support and advice to faith-based groups through outreach work, capacity building training and guidance. It aims to:

  • engage with faith communities to identify and support organisations that could be but are not currently registered with the Commission;
  • assist faith-based charities to improve their standards of governance and accountability and thereby increase their effectiveness;
  • work collaboratively to achieve and promote well run and effectively regulated faith-based charities; and
  • improve the Commission’s and society’s understanding of faith-based charities.

The Unit will initially work primarily with Muslim charities and communities in four main regions; Greater London, the Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside. Launch events were held in London, the Midlands and the North West during 2008 and in Yorkshire and the Humber in May 2009.

A Project Board including representatives of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) has been established to direct the Unit’s work and to provide specialist advice. More information about MINAB can be found on their website: http://www.minab.org.uk.

The new unit is headed by Ghulam Rasool. With extensive experience of working with faith communities at the grass roots, Ghulam has been actively involved in interfaith initiatives, religious education, and has been at the forefront of capacity building within faith organisations and upskilling of religious leaders. Ghulam has also worked on innovative projects with young people to promote tolerance and understanding between different faith and ethnic groups.

For a summary of why the Charity Commission decided to establish the FSCU and the aims and work of the Unit, please read the following leaflet for an short introduction.

Newsletter

Issue 2 of Faith in Focus has now been published. You can view it and the previous issue using the following links.

Faith in Focus

Alternatively if you would like a printed copy, please contact us.

Further information for faith-based charities

Find out more

For a summary of information on registering as charity, and to learn how to take advantage of the benefits that registering as a charity can bring, read the following information leaflet which provides tailored advice for faith-based organisations:

An overall summary of the this work can be found in the publication Working with Faith Groups: The Charity Commission Faith Groups Programme 2004-07 .

How to register your organisation

An application for registration and all the relevant guidance notes you need can be found on the Registration Application Pack page on our website. This page also contains key documents including guidance for trustees, model governing documents and example objects.

Commission publishes first detailed survey of mosques

The Faith and Social Cohesion Unit of the Charity Commission has published the first detailed survey of mosques in England and Wales. The survey is an independent piece of research by BMG Research and provides useful insights into mosques and their activities, and identifies areas for further research and exploration.

Get in touch

To obtain hard copies of documents, or for any other information, do contact the team at the Faith and Social Cohesion Unit:

Faith and Social Cohesion Unit
Charity Commission
30 Millbank
London
SW1P 4DU

Telephone: 020 7674 2442
Fax: 020 7674 2300
Email