The Charity Commission widened the charitable objects of a historic almshouse to allow it to help its beneficiaries on a longer term basis, the regulator has announced.

A report published today explains that the commission accepted St Nicholas Hospital’s application to widen its objects to allow it to provide financial assistance to beneficiaries when they can no longer live independently in the almshouses.

The commission said it decided there was a legal case for widening the charity’s objects. St Nicholas Hospital’s beneficiaries were living longer, which combined with their health needs meant they had to receive specialist care.

St Nicholas Hospital demonstrated it had sufficient funds to provide the support, and the change being requested was considered to be within the spirit of the existing purposes.

In a statement accompanying the operational case report, Charity Commission chief operating officer David Holdsworth said the case had a good outcome for residents at St Nicholas Hospital.

Holdsworth said trustees have a duty to change their purposes to ensure the charity’s continuing effectiveness should the organisation’s official aims become outdated.

“If you are running a charity and want to change its objects, you need to read our schemes guidance. This sets out that you need to explain the grounds for changing the objects and how the requested change is the most appropriate for your charity and the circumstances that apply. You must usually consult with people before you apply to us though in this particular case a consultation was not needed,” Holdsworth said.

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