The bedrock of civic decency: charities in an age of hostility - Mark Simms OBE's speech to the Commission's Annual Public Meeting 2025

Mark Simms OBE's speech to the Commission's Annual Public Meeting 2025.

"Good morning all, and welcome to the Charity Commission's Annual Public Meeting.

I'm delighted to see so many in the room here today, and I extend a warm welcome also to those joining us online. Thank you all for being here.

This is both my first and last Annual Public Meeting as Chair of the Charity Commission, a short and mostly sweet 7 months and I'd like to start by thanking all those who have supported me in the role – notably the board – the Commission's expert and committed staff.

And most of all, to the many trustees, charity workers and volunteers I've met during my time as chair. I've had the great privilege of visiting charities across Wales and England, from a charity supporting young carers, a charity offering a safe place for women who have no home, to a charity working to prevent suicide, to a community kitchen – and many, many more. 

I've worked in the sector for over 25 years, but I am still inspired, every day, by the passion, diversity, tenacity, and sheer hard work of those involved in charities.

Now, I want to use this platform to reflect on an issue that really matters to me – as a citizen of this country, as a charity worker and of course as Chair of the Commission.

I make no apology for opening these proceedings on a downbeat note. Anyone who knows me knows I will always accentuate the positive – but I will also never hold back from calling out issues that threaten the strength of the charity sector.

One such issue is the growing hostility many of those involved in charities are facing. Not for any misdemeanour or shortcoming, but simply for doing their jobs, whether it's paid or as a volunteer.

Over recent months, we've seen charity workers verbally and physically abused on the streets. We've heard of death threats, threats of sexual assault, witnessed damage and vandalism done to charity offices. I have met with charities working with refugees and migrants to hear about the challenges they face, and I have been disturbed to hear about the measures some are taking simply to protect staff and their families from harm.

The charities targeted vary – some support women, some refugees or asylum seekers, some work with young people or homeless people. Some are places of worship. What unites them is that they are doing what they were set up to do – fulfilling purposes their governing documents set out, and which Parliament has ruled are charitable.

Later this week, NCVO will publish the findings of listening forums with its members, which will reveal, among other things, that some charities are living in a pervasive climate of fear, with staff feeling uncomfortable getting to and from work, and beneficiaries afraid to walk the streets.

Charities are not above the law, or beyond scrutiny. Their work should be open to challenge and debate. But nobody should face abuse for doing their job.

What I have found especially disturbing is how little surprise these events have sparked beyond the sector itself. If we accept as normal charity workers being abused on the street, their families threatened with violence, what will shock us?

There's something insidious about this normalisation – the analogy of the eroding shoreline comes to mind. Waves of violence crashing against land, day by day, wearing down, inch by inch, the values and norms we once took for granted.

And if we don't pay careful attention, we may fail to notice, until it's too late, that we are at the very edge of the cliff.

Let me tell you what gives me hope and why: charities exist precisely to address society's most difficult challenges. And far from being solely victims of these erosions, the sector is one of our greatest assets in reclaiming firm ground and building a stronger future.

Not just in the work they do, day in, day out, to support the most vulnerable, promote cohesion, and make communities safer and stronger. But also in the powerful example they can set in how they do that work.

Charities are not beholden to the electoral cycle, to the profit motive or to private interests. They are subject only to their own purposes, and by extension charity law, upheld by the Commission as regulator.

This means charities can be bold where others might be timid, audacious where others might be complacent. They can model a better way of doing things.

So what does this mean in practice?

I am not suggesting charities should, in the face of attack, be passive or turn the other cheek. But nor should they themselves begin to demonise and dehumanise – dismissing all those who hold different views as wrong, small-minded, or politically motivated.

Instead, charities have the power and the responsibility to talk up what's right, not talk down to those they think are wrong.

Seek to heal, rather than fuelling division. Don't split the world into us and them. Don't go on personal vendettas against politicians, commentators or influencers critical of your work.

Use your righteous anger to secure better outcomes for your beneficiaries, and bring people around by talking loud and proud about the work you do. Be unapologetic, but open-hearted in what you say and do.

Take steps to protect your staff and volunteers – trustees have a duty of care towards those who work for their charity. But try, all the while, to see every single person with whom your charity comes into contact as a potential supporter, not as a potential threat.

I believe meaningful dialogue is possible. And I believe charities are best placed to inspire, inform, and enliven that dialogue – holding a mirror up to society, reflecting what works, pointing out where there is work to do, and making the case for the communities and the society you would like to see.

The Charity Commission itself has an important role to play here. We are established by Parliament to promote public trust in charities by supporting trustees in meeting their legal duties – notably to promote their charity's purposes – and to intervene where that does not happen.

We are independent, non-ministerial, and we are answerable only to Parliament, and in the exercise of our statutory powers to the courts. So, much like charities themselves, we are purpose-led, and we can take the long view.

From this position, we can offer reassurance where there is doubt, and calm, where there is moral panic. And we can be unambiguous in upholding the law, and the right – indeed the duty – of charities to pursue their purposes in law.

This is our promise to the public: we assess every concern that comes to us. No complaint will be dismissed out of hand, no concern is ignored. But we refuse to be dragged into complaints that seek to weaponise the legitimate work of charities. Our job is to uphold charity law, the laws a democratically elected Parliament has passed.

We will not indulge those who seek to misuse the Commission as regulator to further political ends or to undermine the rights of charities under the law.

And we will continue to support trustees as they take measures to keep themselves, their staff and volunteers safe from harm.

Whilst transparency is an important foundation stone of the Register of Charities, we are sympathetic to trustee applications for dispensations from their names appearing on the public register where there is evidence that they may be targeted.

This morning, we published updated guidance for charities impacted by community disruption and violence – providing practical steers on how to keep their trustees, staff, and volunteers safe from harm.  

And we continue to meet with leaders of charities of all sizes, across Wales and England, hearing about the issues that matter to them, supporting them with formal guidance, and where needed, in casework.

My term ends next month, but the work continues. I handover with great confidence in my successor Dame Julia Unwin and the board and of course the Executive and the brilliant, committed staff of the Commission, with the continued excellent leadership of our Chief Executive David.

More importantly, I leave with confidence in you – the trustees and charity colleagues facing these challenges with courage every day.

The erosion I described is real.

But so is the bedrock of decency, compassion and civic strength that charities represent. That bedrock has weathered storms before.

And let me remind you just how substantial that bedrock is: 170,000 charities registered with us, governed by nearly one million trustees – the vast majority volunteers. These are people who have chosen to step forward, to take responsibility, to serve their communities. To stand firm in protecting the shoreline of a civilised, humane, hopeful society. Ours is not a sector in decline.

So stand firm. Speak proudly. Do your work with open hearts. And know that in doing so, you're not just serving your beneficiaries – you're showing this country what we can be at our best.

Thank you."