Charity chiefs' warning to mosque as they miss accounts deadline again

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS CRITICISMS AND ACTION PLAN IN WAKE OF ARENA BOMBING

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

DIDSBURY Mosque has been warned by the Charity Commission after failing to submit annual accounts on time for the second year running.

The mosque, a registered charity, filed its annual return and accounts for 2021/22 only in December 2023, some 171 days late.

Its annual return and accounts for the following year 2022/23 was due in September last year but on Friday the published register on the Charity Commission showed these had not yet been submitted and were 94 days overdue.

A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “Trustees of the Islamic Centre Manchester (also known as Didsbury Mosque) have not submitted their annual accounting information on time which has resulted in the charity showing as ‘in default’ on our register. We have contacted the charity to remind them of their reporting responsibilities.”

Trustees of registered charities are ‘legally responsible’ for making sure annual returns are submitted on time, according to the Charity Commission which can take ‘regulatory action’ against charities who are persistently late filing returns.

The mosque has also been criticised by a solicitor representing the largest group of families affected by the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack, which claimed the lives of 22 innocents and left hundreds of others seriously hurt.