The Chair of the charity regulator is urging greater giving from those with deeper pockets, during visits to charities today and tomorrow where he is seeing first-hand the impact of voluntary organisations in north Wales.
Orlando Fraser’s comments came as he visited the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW) today with other visits planned for tomorrow (25th February) to three more charities as he celebrates Wales’s community spirit.
AVOW is the County Voluntary Council for Wrexham. It provides free advice and signposts local community and voluntary organisations. AVOW also provides health and wellbeing support to the local community in Wrexham.
The charity is one of many recipients to obtain funds through the regulator’s Revitalising Trusts Wales programme.
Last year, the Revitalising Trusts team helped a volunteer wind up Wrexham Care Association after it had fallen inactive but had remaining funds to spend. After identifying AVOW as a suitable charity to use the funds as intended, the regulator oversaw the transfer of over £30,000.
AVOW has been able to fund its Community Hubs Coordinator role for a further year, helping ensure vulnerable people can access local and voluntary services through community hubs based in Gwersyllt and Acton (Wrexham). The charity hopes to expand its network to additional locations and share best practices with other community-based organisations.
Today’s visit comes as the programme reaches £11.6 million revitalised in Wales alone, contributing to good causes, community foundations and charities across Wales. Since 2021, 346 Welsh charities have entered the programme, 80 of which are now operating again after years of inactivity. The remaining 266 inactive charities have all successfully transferred any dormant assets ensuring they continue to contribute to the sector.
Speaking on the Revitalising Trusts Wales programme, Orlando Fraser KC, said:
The Revitalising Trusts programme demonstrates how the sector and we as regulator have a common goal – ensuring public good rises above all else.
There are fantastic benefits to being a trustee, but we know it can be difficult to recruit, and due to pressures on charities, it can be hard to remain active.
Our programme, working with Community Foundation Wales and the Welsh government, offers trustees the support to get back on track or, if the decision to close is taken, helps them effectively wind up and transfer funds in a way that will ensure the legacy of their great work lives on.
Tomorrow, Orlando Fraser is expected to visit North Wales Recovery Communities, Clough Williams-Ellis Foundation and the Snowdonia Society. This forms part of a farewell visit as he concludes his term as Chair of the charity regulator for Wales and England.
Discussing his visits, Orlando added:
In my time as Chair, I’ve been privileged to see first-hand the fantastic charitable work across England & Wales, work made possible by dedicated trustees, staff and volunteers.
I’m grateful to AVOW, North Wales Recovery Communities, Clough Williams-Ellis Foundation and the Snowdonia Society for taking the time to meet with me.
There is a strong community spirit here in Wales – and, as my term as Chair comes to an end, I call on potential philanthropists here and further afield, to invest in this spirit.
Orlando’s call for more philanthropists comes as new research suggests that the UK’s richest people give a smaller proportion of their wealth to charity than the average person. The data from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) indicates that the UK’s millionaires (people with investable assets of £1 million or more) gave the equivalent of 0.4% of their combined investable assets in 2023 (equating to almost £8 billion) compared to wider UK public donations of around £14 billion to good causes in the same year, equating to 1.6% of their income.
Research by Centre for Cities also shows that while Wales is home to some of the most generous people in the UK (according to percentage of income donated), donations tend to go to national rather than local charities.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society. Find out more: About us – The Charity Commission (www.gov.uk)
- The Revitalising Trusts programme ensures charitable funds that are lying dormant are spent and make a difference as originally intended. The programme helps charities by supporting and advising trustees who find it hard to spend their income, recruit new trustees, identify beneficiaries, or find time to run the charity.
- If you are working with a charity possibly in need of our help, email the Charity Commission at CSrevitalisingtrusts@charitycommission.gov.uk for information and advice.
- For more Revitalising Trusts Wales case studies please contact our Press Office.
- Set up in 2014, North Wales Recovery Communities provides therapeutic housing and services to individuals affected by substance misuse, offending and homelessness. The Snowdonia Society was established in 1967 to protect and enhance Snowdonia. The Clough Williams-Ellis Foundation was originally established by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in 1972, to protect his property in North Wales and ensure its conservation for long-term public benefit.
- Research sources: ‘Donation Nation: The geography of charitable giving in the UK’, Centre for Cities, 2024. ‘Donation nation: The geography of charitable giving in the UK Centre for Cities’ and ‘High Value Giving: How The UK’s Wealthy Give’, Charities Aid Foundation, 2025. CAF High Value Giving Report
