The charity’s objects include urban and rural regeneration, relief of poverty, advancement of education, conservation of the environment, and the advancement of education in African Caribbean heritage and culture within Moss Side, Hulme and adjacent areas of Manchester.

In October 2017, the charity was included in the Commission’s inquiry into charities that had defaulted on their annual reporting obligations two or more times in the last five years. The charity filed its outstanding financial information and was removed from the class statutory inquiry on 29 March 2018.

However, it has now again failed to meet its statutory requirement to file its financial accounting documents on time. The Commission states this is a serious regulatory concern and evidence of misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity, the annual accounts of which indicate an average yearly income of around £200,000 and expenditure of around £300,000.

The financial information submitted by the charity has also raised further regulatory concerns for the Commission in relation to potential unauthorised payments to a trustee, and other breaches of charity law affecting the management of the charity.

As a result the inquiry will look at the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity.

In particular, it will consider the trustees’ compliance with their legal obligations for the preparation and filing of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns, and the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.

Additionally, the inquiry will examine the extent to which there has been any unauthorised trustee remuneration.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.

Report by Pat Sweet