Financial Crisis and UK’s Cats Protection

Leading charities have tens of millions of pounds frozen in collapsed Icelandic banks, it emerged yesterday. The Government was locked in talks with charity group leaders amid an estimate that British organisations may have £120m tied up with Iceland’s trio of troubled lenders.

Some individual charities have admitted to having potential losses that may force them to seek additional donations from the public.

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo) said charities were facing a “perfect storm” of rising costs, falling incomes and reserves being wiped out, while at the same time trying to address rising levels of social need.

Many of Britain’s biggest charities such as Age Concern, Cancer Research and RNLI, have escaped being drawn into the Icelandic collapse. However several charities with money tied up in the banks or their UK subsidiaries were desperately trying to seek assurances that their money was safe.

Britain’s biggest cat charity, Cats Protection, has the largest-known sum of any charity with an Icelandic bank, with £11m – 16 per cent of its reserves – in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (KSF). The charity said the potential shortfall would not affect its work.

“Charities see £120m frozen in Iceland bank collapse”