Calls for answers over missing £625k as investigation continues
DOMINIC MOFFITT
HYNDBURN MP Sara Britcliffe has called on the Charity Commission to provide answers in the three-year long investigation into a Lancashire trust.
Ms Britcliffe has joined Hyndburn councillors and residents in calling for clarity over the financial dealings of the former Chaigley Manor Trust, later named To Inspire.
The Hyndburn trust has failed to submit financial records to the Charity Commission since 2008, with its 2014 financial reports now more than 1,700 days overdue.
A real bone of contention for Hyndburn community figures and residents concerns the whereabout of £625,000 which To Inspire were supposed to keep in a trust, and not spend, using only the interest generated by the money for charitable exploits.
“The residents want answers and they want closure, they want to know where the money went,” Ms Britcliffe told the Lancs Live. “I have contacted the Charity Commission to ask for this to be investigated properly.
“Obviously I think it is a very important issue. A lot of people have been very concerned about this; while it was running, the trust was a great service to the town. People want to know what happened from 2008, it is important that it can be looked at fully.”
Chaigley Manor was a former children’s home in the Ribble Valley which was bought by the people of Hyndburn in 1927 for use by the borough’s disadvantaged youngsters.
In 2001, the trust fell on hard times and sold the manor, leasing a farm house in Gisburn Forest for their accommodation and recouping some £625,000 from the sale of Chaigley.
The £625,000 was put into the a trust fund.
It was decided that only the interest generated by the money would be used to spend on worthy cases in Hyndburn and that the £625,000 was to remain untouched.
The trust later changed its name to To Inspire, and ceased operating in 2015. There is no clarity over whether the charity itself has wound up. No accounts have been submitted by the To Inspire or the Chaigley Manor Trust since 2008, with their 2014 financial review now 1,731 days overdue.
Judith Addison, Immanuel ward councillor, first called for a Charity Commission-led inquiry into the trust back in 2017.
“The residents of Hyndburn deserve answers,” she said. “I know some people have been baying for blood and wanted reparations but I would just like to know the full story.”
The councillor also revealed that a set of private documents concerning the trust’s provisional financial reports were sent to Hyndburn Borough Council, by the Charity Commission, back in 2017
They were only shown to her and other council officials but were never published.
She said: “I’m not at liberty to reveal what was in those documents. They were sent in strict confidence; I can’t reveal anything that’s in there. All I can say is they were three years of provisional accounts for the charity.
“I think they should be published and made public.
“What is the purpose of the Charity Commission, set up to investigate the operations of charities, to make sure they are completing their charitable objectives, if they are going to do none of that?
“The Charity Commission should be looking into them - we haven’t heard anything from them since 2017.”
The Charity Commission were contacted for comment by the Observer, regarding the ongoing investigation into To Inspire as well as the private documents mentioned by Coun Addison.
They say the investigation into To Inspire is still ongoing.
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “Charities should use their resources efficiently and effectively, and be accountable to the public and donors to demonstrate their worth. Our regulatory compliance case into To Inspire continues to examine long-running and complex issues, arising from poor governance within the charity.
“As this is an active case, we are unable to comment further at this time, but we recognise and are mindful of the considerable local concern and interest in our case, and intend to communicate about its outcome once it has concluded.”