OSCR said the World Suicide Prevention Project was “misrepresenting” itself as a charity.
A North-East charity has been reprimanded by a watchdog after “misrepresenting” itself as a charity.
The World Suicide Prevention Project (TWSPP), based ear Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, was formed in 2022 before closing earlier this year.
The group was initially registered as a community interest company (CIC), before setting up a separate limited company and registering as a charity in April 2023.
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) investigated the suicide prevention group, and published its findings, which state that they had been unclear about the difference between the two groups.
Writing in their report, OSCR said: “TWSPP CIC, also known as The World Suicide Prevention Project, was incorporated on 28 June 2022.
“On 12 April 2023, a separate limited company, The World Suicide Prevention Project, was registered as a Scottish charity. On this date, TWSPP announced on its Facebook page, and on LinkedIn, that TWSPP was now a registered charity.
“From 12 April 2023 the posts on the TWSPP Facebook pages are misleading and imply that the fundraising activities are being carried out by and for the charity when they are not.
“All funds raised by said fundraising activities went to TWSPP CIC, not the charity; TWSPP CIC has been misrepresenting itself as the charity called The World Suicide Prevention Project.”
The reprimand will be valid for six months from May 3, when the group was informed of the outcome.
An OSCR spokesman told the Press and Journal: “Our inquiries to date have identified that a separate organisation called TWSPP CIC has been misrepresenting itself as the charity.
“We have taken action to deal with this issue and this is explained in this report.
“The charity has been given our consent to wind up and our inquiries are ongoing.”
In a statement on Facebook, the charity’s founder Danny Thain - who is reportedly travelling, said OSCR “had to do their job”.
He wrote: “When we first set up TWSPP – as everybody knew – it was set up as a CIC.
“It was get up and go, you could set it up instantly and you could take donations safely and securely and trusted.
“We lost our deposit. The whole idea was to pass absolutely everything on to the charity.
“Our accountant said ‘do your accounts first for transparency and then pass everything over the charity’.
“By the time we did our accounts, I was extremely burnt out and ready to completely walk away and it’s brought us to now.
“Because we went to wind up the charity, OSCR has had to do their job.
“All the accounts have been done. OSCR has only done their job and has represented it the way that it was. It wasn’t because I was trying to hide anything.”
