The foundation helping charities benefit from Shropshire 'missing £7 million'

He is calling on people who know of inactive funds to contact them to identify if the money can be realised for the greater good.

The foundation is working with the Charity Commission on the Revitalising Trusts initiative, which allows existing charities and trusts to transfer their assets to a recognised community foundation.

Mr Adams cites the Goldophin Trust, which the foundation helped release almost £500,000 for good causes in the county after falling dormant due to changing circumstances.

The Goldophin Trust was set up in 1750 to help the poor grow their own food by administering allotment plots near Condover. But dwindling funds, and a lack of demand for its services led to the trust turning to the Community Foundation to meet the changing needs of today.

The trust transferred its funds and management to the Community Foundation which will manage its funds and widen its remit to focus on helping the disadvantaged improve their health and get more exercise.

Mr Adams says there are many charitable trusts across the county that have become inactive, or where the existing trustees are finding the management of the fund arduous or difficult.

"Their original objectives cannot be fulfilled, trustees may be ill or have passed away, and with little or no investment funds may have dwindled," he says.

"Trustees must be very careful about how they apply the funds of the trust, or who they pass their assets to."

Mr Adams says the Community Foundation has a long history of working with trustees of local funds to bring them back into use, ensuring that they help the community as the original donors intended.

"We reduce the administrative burden, grow their worth, extend the remit to find more beneficiaries and help ensure that the trust becomes fit for the future," he says.

Mr Adams says Godolphin Edwards was an active charity that was still in operation, but faced several difficulties due to changes in social need and legislation.

"The charity was quite restricted in what it could use the funds for, and the trustees were concerned that it wasn’t addressing the need that existed in their community," he says.

“Trustees had initially got involved because they wanted to help their community, but over the last few years there have been more legal and administrative obligations placed on them.

"A couple of the trustees wanted to retire, and there were no replacement trustees that wished to be involved. The trustees wanted to make sure that the charity’s future was secure, and that it would continue to support people in the area.

"This situation is very common and it’s why we find so many dormant trusts being lost to society. That’s why we need people to identify them, we can reactivate them and repurpose them to help more people."

Leanne Macpherson, head of programmes at the foundation, said: “We have widened the remit of the fund, staying faithful to the original deed but allowing it to adapt to current needs.

"It will help to safeguard it for the future and bring benefits to more people than ever before."

She adds that some of the original trustees will remain involved in the decision-making process, but the legal responsibilities of the fund, and the management and administration of it, will now be looked after by the Community Foundation.

Kathryn Davies, who is continuing as a trustee, says: “It is fantastic news that we now have a professional, expert team in place to relieve some of the tiresome burdens, grow the wealth of the fund, widen the remit and grant more money to those who need it most."

Mr Adams says the foundation's investment expertise also allows the trusts to increase the available funds to help more individuals and groups.

Another example is the Charity of William Hodges, just over the boundary in Staffordshire, which was struggling to attract new new trustees. From being worth just £11,000 it has now grown to be worth more £50,000 in just a few years and helps more people than it could have before.

Mr Adams says two more local trusts have transferred in the last couple of years, allowing them to focus on ensuring their funds go to where they are most needed, rather than spending time on paperwork and administration.

Anybody with information about dormant or inactive charitable funds in Shropshire can contact the Community Foundation on 01743 295900 or see the website shropshire.foundation