Kirsty Cumming defends sport and recreation trusts against suggestions that they don't deserve charitable status

As the national membership association for leisure and culture trusts, Sporta was disappointed with some of the inaccurate language used in the recent blog entitled What is a modern charity? and the Charity status investigation survey 2018 published by Third Force News.

In Scotland, all Sporta members are registered charities, having fully satisfied the charity test and been approved by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). We are aware of previous concerns around the governance and independence of so-called arms-length external organisations (ALEOs). In 2015 OSCR undertook a review into the charitable credentials of trusts. Their report made recommendations for improvement, but unambiguously concluded that trusts’ charitable status was justified and we continue to work with OSCR to ensure that remains the case.

Our members are independent charitable trusts, governed by a board with a mix of trustees, which have robust governance structures in place designed to ensure that community needs are met first and foremost. All Sporta members operate as non-profit distributing organisations where income generated through facilities such as gyms and cafes fund a widening range of programmes, many in partnership with national and local organisations, charities and sports clubs, that deliver significant social and community benefit, but are not financially viable in themselves. These include sport, leisure and cultural activities for people with a disability, long-term illness, mental-health problems, drug and alcohol dependencies, living in deprived communities and with little or no other access to regular exercise and social inclusion.

Examples of such initiatives include Glasgow Sport’s Good Move community physical activity programme, creating hundreds of activities across the city each week that have been designed with partners to target the most vulnerable and inactive, or Edinburgh Leisure’s Community Access Programme, offering free leisure cards for children, families and individuals in marginalised communities, working with over 250 partner organisations to enable thousands of people to access regular activity.

Charitable trusts deliver some services that could be delivered by local or national government, but that is no different to charity or third sector organisations in Scotland, and is wholly compliant with charitable status.

As a result of a constructive and positive working relationship with the Scottish Government in recent years, Scotland’s charitable trusts have reshaped their focus to align with key government priorities. All trusts have adopted the Active Scotland Outcomes into their strategies and business plans, and worked with government to develop an Active Scotland Outcomes Framework and evidence toolkit, and are currently discussing how to support the National Culture Strategy and the National Diet and Obesity Strategy among other national plans.

The growth in the older population and need for support around mobility, balance and dementia has led trusts to develop a range of new programmes for older people, from falls prevention schemes, walking clubs and football, and memories/reminiscence projects to creating dementia facilities in partnership with Alzheimer’s Scotland. For example, High Life Highland’s You Time programme, offering activities across the Highlands for older people through leisure, libraries and archive services, and an outreach programme connecting rural areas.

Trusts are genuine charitable organisations entwined in Scotland’s communities, supporting and driving programmes and partnerships that create demonstrable preventative savings on education, the NHS and the welfare state. The trusts’ wide programme of work, which includes significant interdependence and cross-subsidisation of culture and arts across Scotland, is contributing increasingly to the Scottish Government’s national outcomes, the programme for government, tourism, creative industries and economic growth.

Furthermore, as these charities develop into more independent, strategic organisations with improved partnership working, they have the potential to more effectively support health and social care, reduce the NHS burden and underpin a fairer, healthier Scotland.

We fully recognise that the charity landscape is confusing and would certainly welcome an open discussion around modern charity status, and would be happy to address any concerns regarding the status of leisure and culture trusts in Scotland.

Kirsty Cumming is engagement and policy manager at Scotland for Sporta, the Sport and Recreation Trusts Association