|
Title Charity [Rowan Arts] trustees defend role in face of legal action threat Author Material Article External document The trustees of a leading Islington charity which suddenly collapsed after a funding crisis last year face the threat of legal action over the way it was wound up, the Tribune can reveal.
Rowan Arts had a stellar reputation for work on arts projects such as Islington Exhibits and Holloway Arts Festival, popular events which were thrown into jeopardy when the charity went into voluntary insolvency following a meeting of trustees in August.
Director Ruth Robinson insists the charity was still viable, but former staff have suggested that its problems went beyond financial disagreements among key players over how best to save the organisation.
This week, the Tribune discovered that the trustees could be held liable for the charity’s £41,000 debts if creditors, who include Ms Robinson and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) Bank, launch legal action.
The trustees deny having breached any of their duties and have downplayed any legal threat.
Rowan Arts operated through a limited company. In most circumstances, an insolvent company remains liable for its debts and the directors are protected by its limited liability. However, the directors do have a “fiduciary duty” to the company and can be held liable in certain circumstances.
Insolvency firm CVR Global, which was appointed as joint liquidator at a meeting with creditors in September last year, is investigating whether the trustees acted in the charity’s and its creditors’ best interest.
CVR Global said some of the creditors have expressed concerns over the trustees’ conduct shortly before they declared the charity bankrupt. This includes concerns over an overdraft agreed with CAF Bank three months before the insolvency.
The firm has concluded its investigations in this regard but its report is confidential. Legal action against trustees “remains a possibility”, the firm said. CAF Bank declined to comment.
In a statement, the trustees said: “It was with much sadness that Rowan Arts had to close due to insufficient funding and we would like to thank all former supporters, staff, volunteers and the wider community for their support over the years.
“As trustees we consider that, at all material times, we have acted reasonably and honestly in the best interests of the charity, its objects and creditors, and that we have not breached any of our fiduciary duties.”
Ms Robinson set up the charity with fellow Holloway residents Claire Hegarty and Verity Spence in 2003.
Former employees, who did not wish to be named, said last year they repeatedly raised concerns with the board of trustees about a challenging working environment. There had been a series of resignations last year.
One of Rowan Arts’ biggest projects was also thrown into jeopardy shortly before the collapse. The charity had been awarded £309,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for A Hundred Years of Pleasure and Pain, a project which sought to explore the heritage of London’s nightclubs. But the project was halted by HLF, citing concerns about “governance and project management”.
Speaking to the Tribune this week, Ms Robinson said: “I would like the rights and wrongs of the situation to come to light.”
She added: “I strongly believe that the legacy of projects, including Seven Sisters Stories and Islington Exhibits, will be protected and that’s not happening. I believe it’s crucial that access to the websites of these projects and the projects themselves should be passed on to another organisation. Then all that work would not be wasted.”
The trustees said they were not able to comment on that, as any decisions around the future of former Rowan Arts projects now lie with CVR Global.
Ms Robinson is, however, reviving Holloway Arts Festival as a series of pop-up events. The festival in June will have a 1950s theme and centre around notions of “respect and conformity”, she said. Notes Islington Tribune filed at A-Z periodicals (Islington Local History Centre) Audio
Keywords Geographical keyword Persons keyword
|
