The landscape facing charities throughout the UK in terms of compliance, fundraising, accounting and taxation has changed radically over the last decade.

Interlink was delighted to partner with Cohen Arnold, leading charity experts working with the Orthodox Jewish community, to present two half-day seminars in November for charity trustees and representatives. The events offered practical advice and guidance in light of the current requirements for charities throughout the country.

As well as attracting some of Interlink’s regular members, the events attracted a new clientele of grantmaking charities.  The seminars were opened by Rabbi Yehuda Baumgarten, Interlink’s treasurer and fellow trustee Avrohom Schechter, who both noted the changed compliance environment in respect of both the Charity Commission and HMRC.

The range of topics covered included governance requirements and the duties of charity trustees, financial controls, managing conflicts of interest, the areas where charities are expected to have policies,  VAT reliefs and other tax savings for charities and presentation of charity accounts.

Lively sessions covered the hot topics of how to be prepared for enquiries from the Charity Commission and HMRC as well as overseas donations with Mr Goldberg and Mr Rosenblum sharing examples of the many cases that they have dealt with. The sessions were interactive and delegates found the presentations to be very engaging and well presented.

Around 100 delegates attended each seminar, held at The Redmond Centre in North London. Rabbi Baumgarten noted, “We were delighted to partner with our longstanding friends at Cohen Arnold to present this timely seminar. The high number of delegates shows the keen interest among Jewish charities to understand and comply with the regulatory requirements and to hear guidance from the experts in the field. Feedback from the attendees noted how useful they found the sessions and we look forward to working with Cohen Arnold to present similar seminars in London, Manchester and Gateshead”.

Anyone wishing to register their interest in such forthcoming seminars should contact the Interlink office [email protected]