Pen Farthing’s charity probed by commission

PEN FARTHING is being scrutinised by the Charity Commission after concerns were raised over the spending to get his animals out of Afghanistan.

The former Royal Marine launched a campaign, Operation Ark, to evacuate the staff and the rescue animals of his charity Nowzad when the Taliban seized power.

Mr Farthing raised more than £200,000 from supporters within days, and he arrived in Britain along with more than 170 cats and dogs on a privately funded charter flight on Aug 31.

However, the Charity Commission is now examining how the use of charity funds for the evacuation furthers the charity’s purpose. It has contacted Nowzad for further information.

“We will assess the information provided by the trustees to determine whether or not there is a role for the commission,” the Charity Commission told the BBC.

Nowzad, which reported income of close to £1million last year, said it acted correctly. It told the BBC: “The trustees are wholly confident that Nowzad’s life-saving work in incredibly difficult circumstances was both the right and only thing to do and was absolutely in furtherance of the charity’s purpose.

“The trustees of course recognise that it is entirely proper for the commission to gather more information regarding this high-profile and unprecedented operation and are very happy to provide the information requested.”

The charity operated an animal clinic, dog and cat shelter, and donkey sanctuary in Afghanistan, and trained and employed local Afghans as vets.

Mr Farthing and his supporters launched an evacuation campaign and the 67 staff who worked for Nowzad made it safely out of Afghanistan almost two weeks after Mr Farthing, in the biggest Uk-aided evacuation since British troops left Kabul.

A Charity Commission spokesman said: “Earlier this month, we contacted the charity Nowzad for further information in relation to its recent fundraising initiative Operation Ark. We will assess the information provided by the trustees to determine whether or not there is a role for the commission. We cannot comment further at this time.”

Nowzad was contacted for comment.