Press Release

Charity Commission opens statutory Inquiry into the Lifeline for Gaza/Viva Palestina appeal

23 March 2009

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator and registrar of charities in England and Wales, has today opened a statutory Inquiry into the charitable funds raised for the Lifeline for Gaza (also known as Viva Palestina) appeal.

Through various public fundraising events, the appeal claims on its website to have raised over £1 million pounds in aid to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza, which resulted in a convoy, led by George Galloway MP, travelling to Gaza in February 2009.

Following initial enquiries, including a review of the appeal's governing document and other publicly available literature, the Commission's view is that the appeal is charitable.

The Commission has attempted to contact the appeal on repeated occasions over the last month in an effort to secure acknowledgement that the funds are held for charitable purposes. However, to date, the Commission has had no substantive response to the issues that have been raised, either from the appeal or individuals connected with it.

In addition, the Commission has concerns over financial governance arrangements relating to the use of funds. These facts require further investigation, and given the failure to engage with the Commission, have now led to the opening of an Inquiry under Section 8 of the Charities Act 1993.

The Commission will make no further detailed comment at this stage but normal practice is to publish a statement of results setting out its findings, once the Inquiry is completed.