The Trustees of any charity are bound by law to ensure that the charity that is entrusted to them is run properly.
The Gov.UK advice offers six main points that all trustees of all charities must abide by- by law.
These are:-
1.Ensure your charity is carrying out its services for the public benefit.
2.Comply with your charity’s governing document and the law.
3. Act in your charity’s best interests.
4. Ensure your charity is accountable.
5. Manage your charity’s resources responsibly.
6. Act with reasonable care and skill.
Last week each of the Age UK Trustees was contacted and asked specifically how they feel about what Age UK are doing trashing Miss Jennings legacy.
This is the response that came back on behalf of the Age UK Trustees:
Monday, 29 September 2025
By email
Woodcot – Age UK property on Cliff Road, Salcombe
Thank you for your email to each trustee which has been passed to them. I have been asked to respond on behalf of the Board of Trustees to acknowledge these emails and to thank you for them.
Please be reassured that Trustees are fully sighted about Woodcot and regularly updated.
Age UK’s position was set out in our response to the Mayor of Salcombe on 8th September 2025, and nothing has changed since then.
Yours sincerely
Alasdair Stewart
Director of National Services, Age UK
That is a lie.
Age UK were approached by a substantial regional charity who offered to take Woodcot on and run it in line with the covenant. On 25th September Age UK arranged a meeting with them and turned them down flat.
That is a change.
Why is Age UK still trotting out lies?
Where is the accountability in that?
So. It seems that the Trustees are quite ok with this sort of behaviour.
They must believe that is perfectly acceptable for a charity to use its money to pay lawyers to overturn a covenant put on a gift to prevent exactly that outcome.
To ignore an approach by another charity willing to do what Age UK are not and honour the wishes of its donor.
And then pretend that nothing has changed.
It’s a big fat lie.
Quite how the trustees of Age UK can allow the CEO Paul Farmer and the Board of Executives and Directors at Age Uk to behave in the cavalier manner that they are is concerning.
Their complicity in this will have far reaching consequences for other charities.
It is shameful behaviour.