Barnabas Aid is an international, interdenominational

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

aid agency that supports Christians who face

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

or persecution as a consequence of their faith. It was established in 1993 and channels aid to projects run by national Christians in more than 50 countries. It also campaigns in particular for the abolition of the Islamic apostasy law. Its operational headquarters are in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, Wiltshire, and its registered address as the charity Barnabas Fund is at The Rectory in Pewsey, Wiltshire. In 2015, founder Patrick Sookhdeo resigned as leader of the charity after he was found guilty of sexual assault and intimidating witnesses. He later started working again for the charity as an adviser and later again as international director. In early 2024, Barnabas Aid commissioned an external investigation by law firm Crowell & Moring into "allegations made by multiple whistle-blowers against the Barnabas founder, Patrick Sookhdeo, and other senior leaders within the organisation". In April 2024, several senior leaders were suspended pending the investigation. in June 2024, the international chief executive, Noel Frost, was dismissed. In September 2024, the Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Barnabas Aid, and banned it from making payments over £4,000. There had been allegations of excessive spending on corporate payment cards, including on flights to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, and inappropriate payments to trustees. There was concern there could be an unexpected £15 million overspend in charity finances. In January 2025, the Charity Commission extended its investigation into four further charities linked to Barnabas Aid: TBF Trust, Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life, Reconciliation Trust and Servants Fellowship International. Trustees of the organisation's international board have ordered an independent investigation. The charity has admitted it has let supporters down through a situation which has been described by those within as ‘chaos’.

References

External links

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Barnabas Fund Official siteBi-monthly magazine
Evangelical parachurch organizations Organisations based in Swindon 1993 establishments in England Religion in Wiltshire {{Christian-org-stub

See also

References

External links