Liverpool charity faces watchdog finance probe

A charity in Liverpool is being investigated by a government watchdog after concerns about its finances.

CG Community Council was formed in the 1960s with the aim of improving the lives of people in the Croxteth and Gillmoss areas of the city.

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into the charity after discovering it had not declared any income despite owning the lease on 16 properties.

CG Community Council has been approached for comment.

The regulator told the BBC it was also "aware of connections" between the CG Community Council and The Big Help Project, another Liverpool charity under investigation by the watchdog.

The investigation was launched after the commission looked into CG Community Council's finances.

It found the charity was the leaseholder for 16 properties, and had recorded nil income for the financial year ending March 2023, and did not submit financial records in 2024.

The Charity Commission has already issued an order to prevent any of those properties from being sold or disposed of without its prior consent.

On the regulator's website, CG Community Council described its activities as providing support and social activities for older people as well as activities for children.

The inquiry will examine if its trustees have complied with their legal duties.

This includes whether the charity is "accounting for its funds and assets" in line with legal requirements, and whether it had suffered any financial loss as a result of misconduct or mismanagement.

The scope of the inquiry may be extended if other issues emerge, a spokesman for the regulator said.

The charity has two registered trustees, John Stephen Hornsby and Peter Allan Sealey, who were both appointed in November 2024.

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