The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into the international aid charity Penny Appeal after concerns were raised about alleged governance and financial mismanagement.
A whistleblowing complaint, seen by Third Sector, alleges the charity is looking to make all staff at its Wakefield headquarters redundant, sell its head office and move its operations to Birmingham.
The charity denied all the claims but said it had commissioned an independent review into the complaints.
The complaint says the potential moves were discussed in a series of “secret, off-the-books meetings without proper documentation or adherence to approved protocols”.
It alleges several key stakeholders and senior staff members were excluded from these meetings.
“These actions, if executed, could jeopardise the charity’s overall assets, valued at over £9m, and undermine its ability to carry out both its domestic and international charity work,” according to the complaint, which was sent to the regulator in May.
Penny Appeal denied the claims and a spokesperson for the charity said it operated with “robust governance procedures to ensure transparency, accountability and proper documentation” across all areas of its work.
The commission notified Penny Appeal about the case on 24 June and the charity said it looked forward to co-operating fully as the concerns are assessed, its spokesperson said.
The Penny Appeal spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Penny Appeal has no current plans to sell or relocate from our Wakefield headquarters and there are no planned redundancies.
“As with all responsible charities, we keep our finances and operations under regular review and act accordingly – but we do not foresee any changes to our staffing levels or office location in the near future.
“We take all concerns seriously. In the spirit of openness, we have commissioned an independent review into the complaints, led by experienced external specialists.
“Penny Appeal remains fully committed to supporting our people, serving our communities and upholding the values at the heart of our work.”
A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said: “We can confirm that we have opened a regulatory compliance case into the Penny Appeal to assess concerns and determine if there is a role for the commission.”
The commission last year closed a regulatory compliance case into the humanitarian aid charity, months after it issued an official warning about the organisation’s records and financial accounts.
It came after the Fundraising Regulator found Penny Appeal committed five breaches of the Code of Fundraising across three of its programmes, including misleading donors.
In March 2024, the Information Commissioner’s Office said it had issued an enforcement notice to the charity after it sent 460,000 unsolicited texts to 52,000 people over a 10-day period.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said the Penny Appeal “inundated” people with messages, including at night, leading to 354 complaints.